Guest Blogger: Evelyn Wang, former OrgSync Marketing Intern, Student at the University of Texas at Austin

As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I have come to the conclusion – communities matter. Before coming to college, I never fully comprehended the importance of having a group of friends and belonging to a community. Not to say, I didn’t have friends before college, but from elementary to high school my classes were filled with the same 30 students. Everything was familiar and structured; I knew where I belonged and fit in.

However, everything changed after graduating high school. We all went our separate ways – different colleges and different life paths. From my class, I was one of the three people that went to The University of Texas at Austin. When I arrived at UT, things were certainly different. I felt like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and I was definitely not “in Kansas anymore.” Like most freshman, I had a difficult time adjusting to college. Actually, that might be an understatement. I had an extremely difficult time adjusting to college. Everything about it – the unfamiliarity, the people, the campus size, the crowded sidewalks and hallways, all the idle time I had, and the absolute lack of freedom from not having a car in Austin, it spun my world around.

As a freshman, I would have never thought I’d stay at UT long enough to graduate, let alone miss UT. But here I am, attending my last semester at UT, a bit disappointed that my college career is almost over.

So, how did I manage to turn things around, succeed and have a different opinion about UT? In hindsight, it was definitely the people I connected myself to through the communities I joined my first year in college. By joining a Freshman Interest Group and an organization called Christians On Campus, I was able to meet and befriend people who shared my interests that would ultimately be the support I needed to succeed at UT.

With encouragement from these friends, I soon joined a business club, the McCombs Diversity Council and was able to expand my network and become more involved in school. I can say with absolute certainty I would NOT have continued my studies at UT if it were not for my involvement in these groups. I would be living at home in Dallas, attending UTA, never leaving my comfort zone, and definitely not growing as a person.

The three student organizations I joined early on helped me form a group of friends and become a part of a community. I met peers that helped me enjoy my college experience, and who have probably influenced and impacted my life in ways I will never know. This was essential to my development as a student and in many ways saved my college career. Student organizations and communities on campus matter more than most people realize. Connections keep people growing and developing, and I was certainly no exception.

It was not that long ago I graduated from college.  Granted current freshman were only 6 years old at the time, but I remember it vividly.  I remember the ensuing job search and the difficulties of finding my first “real world” employment.  People made it sound like I could walk off stage with my diploma in hand, and employers would line up to offer me a job.  The reality was much different.

OrgSync works with many great student leaders, and we want to help them find their first job. Students, given the current economic situation, we understand that times are tough.  So you should be prepared and at your best.  OrgSync will be providing resources for showcasing your skills to future employers including resume writing, co-curricular transcripts, and more.  In the coming weeks, several guest bloggers will be giving their take on career preparation and their insight into conquering the job search.

Today’s Guest blogger is Glen Baumgart, a longtime friend of mine in higher education. Glen has been working with higher education community engagement programs for over 12 years, and  currently serves as the Director of the Volunteer and Service Learning Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

If you work in higher education, then you have heard this line before, “I learned more outside the classroom than in the classroom” as students reflect on what they have learned and how they have grown. There is a lot of truth to that statement. In the classroom, students wrap their minds around theories, concepts, lessons, and content. But it is outside the classroom in student organizations, internships, community service activities, leadership programs, and other experiences where students are challenged with putting this new knowledge into action. And its not just putting knowledge to action, but integrating this new knowledge into the fabric of their lives, their morals, values, goals, and social interactions.

Universities and colleges seem to be well aware of this. Look at any institution of higher learning, and you will see a number of professional positions aimed at outside the classroom learning and programming. And the learning is very intentional. Ask any leadership, housing, community service, career, or programming staff what students learn through their programs, and they are sure to rattle off a laundry list of learning outcomes. But ask how that learning is measured, and you would likely hear staff mention a lack of assessment, or mention reliance on evaluation surveys or on quick reflection discussions. The assessment or measure of learning seems much less rigorous than that of an academic course with its grades, assignments, measures, and evaluations.

But it is possible to beef up the rigor of co-curricular programs in a way that matches the rigor often seen in academic coursework. To do this, we start by looking at the abundant research on college classroom learning. We know what works, and can identify the most important elements in classroom instruction that lead to learning. So, lets apply what works to achieve learning outcomes in the classroom, and apply them to our co-curricular programs.

The following components are used most often by teaching effectiveness professionals in higher education and used in research on classroom learning to help faculty improve their course structures. Lets use these elements, but adjust them to fit or co-curricular programs. Think of it as creating a co-curricular syllabus:

1. Identify the learning outcomes

Sounds easy, but this is likely the hardest part. Most college courses only have three to five learning outcomes – understand this theory, know this lab skill, etc. Three to five, and that’s when the instructor has three hours of student attention per week. In co-curricular terms, its wise to start with just one specific learning outcome. What is the most important learning outcome your program teaches?

2. Evaluation or measurement system

How will the student know they have met the desired outcomes? Try to describe in measurable terms what the learning outcome would look like. Is there a certain behavior? Do students respond to a survey in a certain way? How would they demonstrate the desired outcome?

It is important to start with these two components. It is from here that one build the rest of the co-curricular syllabus.

3. Students MUST understand the learning goals

This is the most missed component in college courses, but one of the most important. If your goal is for students to learn a specific outcome, then tell them that at the start. Students who understand the goals from the start are more likely to cue into the instructional techniques. A good practice for this is to make sure the outcome is part of the recruitment / application process.

4. Estimate prior knowledge

What do the students know in regards to your learning outcome prior to joining the program? A simple survey or questions on an application can help you understand where your students are coming from. In course lingo, we call these “prerequisites”, and most co-curricular programs have them too, but are seldom stated. What experiences or knowledge should the students in the program bring with them? If a certain prior knowledge is important, then that should be part of your recruitment or advertising.

5. Estimate motivation and interest in the learning outcome

Any course should be designed to peak the student’s interest by not being too difficult, but not being too easy either. This is why the prior knowledge is so important. Students must have some motivation or interest in the topic, otherwise it unlikely they will learn. This will help in designing the logistics of the program to help determine what might be boring, or what might be overwhelming. How does your program maximize students’ interest? How will it keep them motivated to finish?

6. Now develop the actual instruction logistics

Huge mistake by instructors and program coordinators alike, we tend to jump into the program’s logistics before we think about learning outcomes, measures, prior knowledge, or motivation. We tend to start creating a program, then looking back to what is being learned. Try, and its hard to do, but try to answer the first five components first before any thoughts on how you’ll do it.

7. Identify the learning moments

Another often missed component in course construction as well as co-curricular. As you plan the instruction, think hard about when instruction is actually taking place. If it’s a course, then you know you have time in a classroom when the instructor teaches, and that assignments must be done for grades. So, it is during these times you know students are interacting with material. In co-curricular it is much harder to identify the time. Some groups meet only once a week. So, during that hour meeting, when is it and under what circumstances do you know students are paying attention to instruction? Is there a time for reflection? What about online chats? Tweets? If you can identify the most likely time the student learns, the more impactful the program will be.

8. Evaluate and adjust

Look at your measurement instruments, your surveys, and make adjustments for next time. Try to be creative in your evaluation. Lets say your learning outcome was the understanding of a certain leadership concept. Then send the students an online survey during the following semester. See if they still have that understanding. If so, success! Now you can really say that they learned that concept.

These steps are often used to help increase the effectiveness in college courses. Shifting them a little, one can use them to help ensure a rigorous learning experience in the co-curricular program.

Also See our interview with Glen when we were on the UT campus this past summer.

We have been extremely busy this summer with the launch of our new user interface, Help Desk and Campus Launch Program among many other things.  We are excited about the new school year and will have new blog posts up soon.  We have several guest bloggers lined up for your reading pleasure, so be on the look out for some great material coming soon.

We hope everyone had a great summer!

Before getting into the complexities of a college campus, it is best to step back and look at the big picture. People, in general, need a community to call their own, to live as a healthy individual. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs values this necessity to be in a community as number 3 of the 5 categories.  This proves even further that this necessity is even more crucial during one of the greatest growing phases in a person’s life, their time in college.

College students grow up with multiple cohesive communities such as their families, close group of friends, church, and other extra-curricular groups. They are nestled in these groups for so long, and most are unprepared for the dramatic shift from high school life to college life where they are forced to go out and find new communities. This is where the institution and the student affairs department come into play. Their role is to provide a gateway to the new opportunities for on campus involvement, so the student can choose from a variety of inviting communities.

The unfortunate part of the college transition is that most students fill their insecurities with even more seclusion. This can affect student academic performance. A study by the American College Health Association revealed several factors that affect performance including: stress, alcohol abuse, and depression/anxiety (American College Health Association, 2002).  Students can battle this by forming bonds and reaching out to other students which can be best developed on a “healthy” campus.

How can institutions make their campus “healthy?”
According to an article by Teanca Shepherd, assistant coordinator of Student Activities at The University of Memphis, four essential components must exist to maintain healthy campuses which are:
1.    Vibrant Student Organizations
2.    Co-Curricular Resources
3.    A Wide Variety of Academics
4.    Surrounding Community Involvement

What are the overall benefits of healthy campuses for both students and the institution?
Teanca Shepherd lists the following benefits:
•    An increase in student enrollment
•    Increases in funding for programs and organizations
•    Better recruitment of faculty
•    Increases in funding for programs and organizations
•    Better recruitment of faculty and staff
•    Students providing innovative ideas for better policy development
•    An increase in diversity
•    An increase in alumni support and involvement
•    Growth of the surrounding community as a whole

When a healthy campus has been achieved, the institution can combat those security walls that students put up and invite them to find the organization to foster development, experiences, and new friendships. In the end, these experiences are what truly set a part a successful college graduate from another graduate who missed out on them.

Today’s guest blogger, Kate Klingensmith, is Director of Research for Inigral, a San Francisco-based education startup company.  With a degree in Cognitive Science and four years experience with teaching high school biology and physics, Kate has a strong interest in college matriculation, technology integration in the classroom, and student engagement.  Her blog, Once a Teacher, is a record of her quest to research and collaborate with others to find ways of incorporating web 2.0 tools into both education and administration.

What is a PLN?

If I had to define what a ‘Personal Learning Network’ is, I would keep it simple and broad:

n. – the entire collection of people with whom you engage and exchange information, usually online.

Personal Learning Networks, or PLNs, have been around forever. Originally, they were your family and friends, maybe people you worked with, but as the internet and web 2.0 tools have become nearly ubiquitous, PLNs can include tons of different communities – social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, social bookmarking tools, LinkedIn, and so many more. Basically, anyone that you interact with is apart of your PLN, whether they are social contacts, professional peers, or experts in their field. Most of the ‘learning’ takes place on-line now, because it is simple to find and connect with others with similar interests from around the world.

PLNs have immense value!

So, why bother thinking about your PLN? Whether you’re a full-time mom, a full-time administrator, or a full-time student, your PLN can be extremely interesting and helpful. The beauty of people communicating online is the ease of finding and sharing information and – if you ask for it – the group feedback that you get on ideas and projects.

Here are some ways that people are using their PLNs:
- Professional development – learn from experts in your field
- Locate free resources, such as websites and software
- Get event and marketing ideas
- Learn about new technology and how to integrate it into your role
- Find collaborative solutions
- Find interesting links to higher ed news

When you have a large group of people combing through vast amounts of information and collectively identifying the most useful, entertaining, or valuable parts, it makes a lot of sense to tap into this collective knowledge!

Build Your Own PLN

If you’re interested in expanding your PLN, here’s a directory of some of the best web 2.0 tools:

Category	Value	Examples and Guides
Social Networking	Keeping up with personal, more social contacts like friends, family, and alumni	Facebook, Myspace
Microblogging	Populated with professionals from around the world who share best practices, resources, and other fun stuff in short bursts	Twitter, My guide to Twitter, Plurk, Utterli
Professional Profiles	Find other professionals and experts in your field	LinkedIn, Brightfuse
Wikis	Community-monitored sites that can function as websites or for group organization and projects	Wikispaces, pbwiki, wetpaint
Blogs	Great sources of information such as recruitment best practices as well as personal opinions; Blogs monitor the heartbeat of new trends in every field and the commenting back and forth leads to many great ideas and relationships	WordPress, Blogger, Typepad, Alltop – top blog headlines by subject, Technorati – a blog search engine
RSS Reader	RSS means “Real Simple Syndication” – an RSS reader is a tool that allows you to keep up with many of your favorite blogs, all in once place (see this video ‘RSS in Plain English’)	Netvibes, (My Netvibes), PageFlakes, Google Reader
Nings	Communities of people interested in similar topics, with forums and messaging	Ning, College 2.0, College Admissions Professionals
Social Bookmarking	Share bookmarks with others, see what others are bookmarking; you can join groups and get email updates on new bookmarks	Diigo, Diigo Groups, Delicious
Webinars	Live, on-line presentations or conferences, with real-time chat, hosted by experts on specific topics; Great way to learn about new things and to meet new people	EdTechTalk Live, Elluminate – host your own!, Dim Dim
Backchanneling of conferences	When there are neat (and expensive) conferences that you can’t attend, follow conversations and links about the highlights	Twitter search – use acronyms like ‘#educomm’ or ‘#heweb09’

What to Expect – Stages of PLN Adoption

There are certain stages that most people seem to go through when building their PLN before settling into a comfortable niche. It may take a little time, but you’ll eventually find that a rich PLN can elevate both your personal and professional life to new heights.

If you’d like to connect with me, click here.

The OrgSync team is dedicated to educating the higher education community about experiential learning, co-curricular management, leadership development and other important issues challenging higher education professionals and student leaders. Our series of educational webinars is developed for both higher education professionals and student leaders to learn, teach and collaborate with one another to better the higher education community as a whole.

Higher Education and Social Media

Friday May 8 2:00 pm (PST)

More info & Register

Case Study in Launching a Campus

May 28  10:00 AM (PST)

More info & Register

(This webinar is focused to current and potential community members)

Integration Enables OrgSync to Release a Premier Treasury Solution for Higher Education

OrgSync is excited to announce that it has integrated PayPal into its co-curricular management platform.  With PayPal, student leaders and campus administrators can electronically issue invoices and collect payments online.  The integration brings convenience and security to collegiate treasury management while decreasing administrative burdens and saving campuses time and money!

“We are pleased that OrgSync has chosen PayPal to provide student organizations and campus administrations with a safer and more convenient way to send and receive money online,“ said Glenn P. Lim, General Manager of Alliances and Vertical Markets at PayPal.  “We look forward to working with OrgSync to make the security and convenience of PayPal available to college campuses everywhere.”

OrgSync continues to evolve, offering campuses a partnership to build the ultimate campus management solution together!  “PayPal’s payment service is a great match for the needs of OrgSync’s technology platform,” said Eric Fortenberry, CEO of OrgSync.  “OrgSync has developed an unparalleled company culture, forming unique relationships with each one of our campuses.  We share a vision with our clients to build a solution that will benefit the Higher Education community as a whole and accelerate student involvement and success.  OrgSync has found the same zeal and values in PayPal and is excited to provide additional treasury benefits to its clients.”

You can view the press release here.

As a past officer of a UT business student organization, I know the challenges of communicating with 120+ members on a moments notice. Any student organization officer can tell you, it takes time, effort and skill to know each member, obtain member preference information, and inform them of last minute event details and changes.

What is the solution to these timeless organizational communication challenges? Simply put, OrgSync. On one hand, this Austin based company, OrgSync, Inc., hosts a platform to equip universities with the tools to oversee and manage their students and student organizations. On the other hand, OrgSync’s platform can also be used by student leaders, like me, to manage our organizations, committees, members and events.

My executive council initially wanted to use our website and our forum to inform and interact with our members. One entire year was devoted to creating a new “user friendly” website, and in the end that idea was scrapped because of time consuming inefficiencies with updating web content on a continual basis. After all, we were not a computer science organization teaching our members how to write code to build and manage a website. Our main purpose is to mold our members into young professionals with leadership experience.

After realizing that our website would not be an efficient method of communicating with our members, we focused on communicating through email and sending our entire member list serve [very lengthy] weekly emails, which listed out all events’ detailed information. Needless to say weekly e-mails were very tedious and time consuming and were merely a band-aid to our communication problem.

As a student and an officer, I know the importance of being time efficient and cutting out unnecessary tasks. Our time consuming communication efforts could have been cut in half simply by using OrgSync’s platform.

OrgSync’s SMS/Texting tool could have been the quick and simple solution to informing our members of event updates and details. We would have never needed to dabble in finding, creating, and managing a forum that never held up to our standards. Instead, we could have used OrgSync’s poll feature to interact with our members and to obtain unbiased and anonymous opinions and feedback on events. We would have even had an alternative to the pesky weekly emails. With OrgSync’s event and meeting tools, any officer could have uploaded event information and segment event invitations by specifying which committees and members to invite to specific events and meetings.

Kennie Blanco a graduate from the McCombs School of Business and a past President of a student organization said, “Finding a centralized and user friendly medium of communication was difficult. Our website was never advanced enough to facilitate communication effectively… it was not very easy for a member to go online to find information or to even ask questions about an upcoming event.”

In fact, OrgSync offers everything suggested by this experienced officer. With the tools that its platform provides OrgSync efficiently facilitates communication within organizations. I would recommend it to any school and organization looking to have a higher level of efficiency and effectiveness when communicating and interacting with their constituency online.

OrgSync has logged a few thousand miles over the past couple of weeks, attending two NASPA Regional Conferences (Long Beach, CA and Hyannis, MA), ASGA (Dallas), and ILA (Los Angeles).

ILA gave us a great opportunity to interact with current clients, and have face-to-face conversations with potential partners. We spent a lot of time with Dr. Corey Seemiller, the Director of Leadership programs at the University of Arizona. UA uses OrgSync to manage student organizations, and to track progress in their co-curricular leadership programs. UA and Corey were instrumental in helping OrgSync develop our 2.0 version of the co-curricular transcript and resume builder. We had great discussions over dinner about new and future developments and Corey was able to introduce us to other leadership faculty and program coordinators at the conference.

The last night of the ILA conference was inspirational. Leadership Studies is still in the early years of research and publishing so it was a great feeling to be in the same room as the trailblazing theorists and authors during the ILA book signing. Almost every major leadership author was present and made themselves available to the next generation of leadership educators.

This was our first time to attend the ILA conference and it was an excellent experience. It is always nice to spend time in sunny California, and the ILA staff was kind, courteous, and very helpful. We look forward to further conversations with the friends we have met during our travels over the past few weeks.