Effectively pass your knowledge and experience on to future leaders!

“[An] effective leadership transition is the process by which past and future student leaders in an organization work together to review and learn from previous events and programs and prepare for the upcoming year.”  -Adrienne M. Craig

The transition from old to new leaders is vital to an organization’s success.  Leadership transitions allow members to reflect on the past and plan for the future.   Chloe Chavez, a former Vice President of the Hispanic Business Student Association (HBSA) at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) had a very positive experience:

At the end of each school year our current officers hold a transitional meeting to brief incoming officers on the success and debacle of that year’s events, the most attention would center around the largest events that consistently brought in the most revenue and/or provided the most benefit for our members.  Our leadership transitions run especially smooth because our leaders create soft copies of important files such as event planning that future leaders may use as a How To Guide; this gives them a head start for the upcoming year. Efficient transitions enable the professional progression of our organization, officers and members.

Chloe’s situation is definitely the exception.  Other organizations lack a systematic way of transitioning new leaders into their organization.  Some new officers are even left with the responsibility of contacting a past officer, sometimes even after they’ve graduated, to gain needed event or contact information.  Some have no luck and have to start their planning from scratch.

In this situation, this leader’s valuable experience of what works and what does not work is no longer existent; the organization can no longer benefit from this leaders hard work and will have to, basically, reinvent the wheel over and over again until an effective leader transition system is implemented.  Sadly this is a problem for many organizations.

So how can organizations avoid this dilemma? Adrienne M. Craig, director of Student Activities at Johnson & Wales University-Florida, in an issue of Campus Activities Programming by NACA (May ’09) gives a few tips for effective student leader transitions:

1. Plan a retreat. Allow leaders to focus on having a successful year for their organization.
2. Create a map of the organization’s journey. Reflect on the past, in order to plan for the future and maintain traditions.
3. Be honest about the past and realistic about the future. Discuss and assess past events that way past mistakes will not be repeated.
4. Take time to learn your available resources. Whether they may me past food deals or other resources from staff.

What tips would you give students who are transitioning into a student leader position?

Blog by: Cody Olsen, OrgSync Campus Liaison, Dixie State College

Just like many others, I am fully aware of the recent uprising of the mega-internet platforms now known as social media. Their increase in popularity has brought a new level of communication and interaction to all groups and ages, especially on college and university campuses.

As a full time student I know that social media has become just as effective as e-mail, text messaging, and phone calls because of the instant communication capability. Many times on campus I witness arguments between friends because someone failed to receive an invite to the latest social event. It’s clear that these students have already jumped on the social media train, but what about the rest of the campus population: the faculty and administration?

Untapped Resource for the Classroom
Many educators tend to adhere to the tried and true teaching methods of the past. Unfortunately, students are changing, and those once effective teaching methods are becoming stale. Faculty, and campus administrators, can utilize social media as a tool for creating new ways to engage students by posting relevant articles, research and websites to these social media sites that students are frequenting on a very regular basis; hence, encouraging outside the classroom learning.

Extend Learning Beyond the Classroom
Using these social media tools educators are able to reach students through new communication mediums and provide students with exposure and experience to valuable tools.  Providing their students with the experience of blogging, developing podcasts and building professional networks, equips students with skills they will likely need after college due to the multiple mediums that all outlets are reaching out to with these social media tools. Allowing students to hone these skills inside the classroom, giving appropriate and constructive feedback, plays both into the traditional mode of teaching/learning as well as the know-how of the future tools.

Teach People, Not Lectures
Many of the postings and updates on social media sites are fully searchable and identifiable to a particular user or author. With the proper skills, educators can track and follow the indications of the comprehension and understanding of specific lectures, lessons, writings and assignments of their students over the duration of the class. Using social media posts, along with student interaction in the classroom, educators may now base their teaching on custom plans centered not only on the needs of their students, but the overall student participation level over these various social medium platforms. This bridge is easy to cross for the faculty member by indicating in the course syllabus the specific social media sites that they will be monitoring/tracking/participating in along with their students and then granting a certain percentage-point amount for participation, frequency, cogency, and relevance to the course materials.

These perks are only a small taste of the fresh new style that social media can bring into the world of higher education. In addition, we will see the potential for higher productivity, better student accountability, and increased participation because when faculty members are reaching out to students where they currently are, the internet, it establishes credibility of both the student and the faculty member. With new technology breeds innovation, and with the best and brightest minds utilizing this new medium, the possibilities for overall effectiveness are near infinite. It’s clear that the use of social media can have a great effect on the lives of students and educators alike. It’s time to throw away the stale, and to embrace and create a fresh new environment where education can thrive.

Blog by: Angel Quicksey, OrgSync Campus Liaison, Claremont McKenna College

Today’s world is smaller, flatter, and more connected than ever before. Places and people that once seemed remote are now only a click away and virtually right next-door.  Neighbors that once chatted through a fence are now chatting online through a social network such as Facebook, Twitter or AIM. Young people – students, especially – use the internet to stay connected, as it’s easier than ever to reach out to the classmate across campus, parents back home, or even the friend made while studying abroad.

Yet, students can use such technologies to reach out in a different way. Young people on campuses around the world already promote social justice and create change. Clubs raise money for relief actions in war-torn countries, they prod politicians and their fellows to take action on environmental issues, they support campaigns for AIDS relief, clean water, and health care. But if one club on one campus can raise a few thousand dollars for Darfur or Burma or the environment, imagine what could be accomplished if those students came together to accomplish something even greater. This is where social media comes in. Recall what students can do without our new technology:

•    The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s – the group, begun at Shaw University, staged many of the sit-ins and freedom rides of the civil rights movement and had a leading role in the1963 march on Washington.
•    The students of the 1970s and ‘80s who protested apartheid in South Africa – beginning with students of Stanford University in 1974, these young people divestment from companies involved in South Africa during apartheid. By 1988, 155 universities had partially or fully divested funds from the country.

These students saw a need for change and combined their efforts across the nation to guarantee civil rights in America and abroad.

Today, students have even more tools available to them to create social change. Through the internet, particularly social media sites, students can easily spread information by broadcasting videos, photos and headlining news.

The power of these sites has become especially apparent in recent weeks as students and opposition leaders in Iran used Facebook and Twitter to spread their message and capture images, like the death of Neda Agha-Soltan.

While perhaps not facing the same immediate strife as the people of Iran, many college and university students tackle other important issues at home and abroad. Yet, most campus organizations seem to work independently, though they may be working toward a similar goal.  Why not take advantage of this new age of social networking and connect with others at your college, in your area, or in a similar branch of your club? Then, once these connections are established using social media, you can create larger events, campaigns and movements that will greatly impact your campus, your nation and even the world.

Blog by: Daniel Ware, OrgSync Campus Liaison, University of Alabama

As many know friendships that are made in college tend to be friendships that last years even after college. Now many colleges and universities are jumping on the bandwagon to make on campus living mandatory for freshmen. Many freshmen are being put into dorms with large amounts of students, and it is up to the freshmen and their Resident Assistants (RA’s) to build a community among themselves.

When asked what he believed helps build a strong community, James Wright, an RA at Paty Hall at the University of Alabama, said:

“Communication between residents and RA’s is absolutely crucial to building a strong and functional community. In halls such as Paty, where constant exposure leads to understanding and frequent communication by word of mouth, flyers, and Facebook, the foundation of good community is easily laid. However, in halls like Riverside, where the most communication a resident can expect is a note; community is not as strong.”

Residence halls usually use flyers to pass on information to students, but unfortunately they are often thrown away and sometimes not even read.  In addition, they can amount to a huge waste of paper, and many schools are beginning to support going green. Word of mouth sometimes can be a good tool for communication in small residence halls but are less affective for larger dorms. Also, the main message tends to get distorted as people relay the message to other people; kind of like the elementary school game, telephone.

Facebook, email, and other on-line tools are usually the best line of communication for college residents and their RA’s.  Most students use social media outlets such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter and usually check them often.  The tools are online and so are the students, so residence halls can easily keep students updated on involvement opportunities and build a community around residence hall life.