My Simple Community

February 7, 2011

I get the chance to speak to many groups across the country about building more engaged community.  Of all the wonderful things that have happened in NCAA Division II schools because of the community engagement strategy that has been in place since 2005, THE one story that resonates the most comes from Emporia State, the story of the senior prom for senior citizens.

Before all is said and done, I bet more than a million people will have seen this picture.  Seriously.  The woman is looking up in his eyes saying to herself “I never thought I would do this again….” And he is saying two things:  “1-2-3 and 1-2-3” and “Dear God don’t let me step on her foot.  I know I’ll break it.”

But seriously, you know he will be much more comfortable with senior citizens because of one simple act of kindness.

As I understand the story (Emporians, please correct me if I am wrong), they took our call to action to heart and looked beyond the property lines of the school, finding a senior citizens center.  They decided to hold a dance, play music from the 1940s and 50s, learn simple dance steps and matched a student date with each of the 30 or so who RSVPed that they would come. 

That was four years ago and every year it gets bigger and better.

That’s what I understand.  Here is what I need to know.  I have heard:

-       It’s not just the student athletes doing it now, the music & arts students and others are involved

-       The seniors are on campus for more activities

-       Many more DII schools are now holding Senior Proms (I have heard as many as 50 – I’d love to verify that!)

Anyway, this is a story that needs to get out and I would appreciate anything you can share that helps see how far this has spread.  Just reply in a comment here.

Thanks

January 24, 2011

“How satisfied are you with your community life?”

In December of 2010, SAAC students from the nine schools of Division II’s Sunshine State Conference worked with me and Commissioner Jay Jones to create a study on the quality of community life at college called “Life After College.”

This is the first in a series of quick reports on some of the findings from that study.  This first is the breakdown of responses to the question: “How satisfied overall would you say you are now with your overall current community life?”

If you are like me, you probably looked at the chart before you read this text.  But what do you think? Do the results sound right to you?  Great news, only 5% are not at all satisfied and more than three quarters are at least somewhat satisfied.

Here’s another question for you – student, professor, whoever you are – was this the first time YOU thought about student satisfaction with community life?

·         The NCAA DII Sunshine State Conference (to my knowledge) is the first conference in the NCAA to conduct a cooperative research project simultaneously on all of its campuses.  With the approval of campus leadership, it was my pleasure to work with Commissioner Jay Jones along with SAAC students and university advisors to design the intent and content of the study.  The students themselves collected the data.

·         The study was called “Life After College” and had two primary purposes.  First, it was a study to better understand how students think about the next step after graduation.  Will they stay in-state or go out-of-state for their first jobs?  This is a critical issue for states who are facing severe funding shortages and, at the same time, “brain drain” – investing in college educations for students who then leave and benefit other states. 

The second purpose was to begin to understand how important college community is to students: as a selection criterion for attending, as part of the college experience, and as a potential factor for staying and living in their college community.  Research on both purposes are firsts.  They will form baselines for subsequent study in the Sunshine State Conference, but hopefully will also encourage other conferences to do similar research.

·         To my knowledge, this is the first time an NCAA conference will produce research of any kind for the purpose of improving the quality of college life or better understand college life beyond the sports sphere.

·         This is a first in how it shows the power of what SAAC students can do when they work together for something good – like the cause for community engagement.  They clearly took the same teamwork principles they use in competition to produce something of value beyond the field.

·         And they did it in record time.  The final report will be out by the end of February.  From the time the idea was first introduced within the conference to the time of completion will be less than six months.

I want to thank the SAAC students from the Sunshine State Conference for making this happen and for clearly demonstrating what SAAC can accomplish if given the opportunity to take the lead.

Stay tuned for the results from the inaugural “Life After College Survey” report in February.

August 23, 2010

Welcome back to school. If you are a freshman, I hope the excitement never wears off, but the nervousness definitely will. If you are returning to school, you have a great opportunity to have a meaningful and powerful impact on an incoming freshman. Offer a hand, carry a load, ask if they need help finding their way around. Offer to be a resource to get connected. It may never mean more than during the first week of classes.

If you are staff of faculty, you have been down this road for a lot of years and it is easy to forget how big a transition this is. In many ways, your reaching out with a kind gesture is a better offer of community than that coming from a fellow student because you represent the new extended community of young adults away from home for the first time.

Yes, it’s true. Students would rather connect with other students. But a very important part of college education today is to teach/remind ourselves as well as students that we need broader community beyond our family and closest friends. Those who work at colleges are in the best position – and the first week is the best of the best – to extend that hand.

July 6, 2010

If you have anything to do with a college or university, the odds are you have a bit of down time right now. So NOW is the time to think about and take in community around you. When you are back in school in the Fall you will be fully engaged with academic pursuits – which is a good thing.

But almost without exception, that pursuit will take place on one of America’s most amazing potential centers for community activity, the college campus.

While you are out of school and off campus take a moment to do an inventory.  What do you have on campus that you do not find in your community? Whatever that is, it is an asset that could draw your campus neighbors to your school and increase the interaction between your school and the town where your school is located.

Think of it as another kind of homework. Yes, I am asking you to take a bit of work home as the traditional definition implies. But think of it as considering ways you can make your campus more a home come, more a community, for everyone around.

Good part is, there will be no grades for this assignment!