2008 - 2009

Student Activities

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Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement

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Plan for continuous improvement

FY 09 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - STUDENT ACTIVITIES

For 08-09, Student Activities primarily focused on performance measures and successfully met outlined criteria. Upon evaluating our findings, we noted to gather additional data for future years and will appropriately modify our measures in order to expand our evaluation. While we will continue to focus on important areas such as student involvement in relation to retention and offering programs to meet student needs, we will also transition to focus on learning outcomes and the direct effect Student Activities has on student learning both inside and outside the classroom.

The mission of Student Activities is to cultivate intellectual and holistic growth among a diverse student body in a fun and safe environment by promoting academic success and leadership development to encourage students to become productive members of society. We also support the university's mission by providing services and programs while fostering student learning both in and out of the classroom. Over the past year, Student Activities set goals in the following areas: cultural awareness, university spirit/traditions, leadership development, and student retention. The following analysis will summarize the ability of our office to effectively follow our mission statement and meet our goals for the 08-09 academic year.

In relation to cultural awareness (diversity), our office has exceeded set indicators in both number of programs offered and number of participants before year-end. To meet the demands of current students, we added a women???s symposium that was highly attended and praised, based on content and program effectiveness. Our multicultural coordinator also assumed the role of advisor for the International Student Organization and programmed the international festival which entertained 500 participants, the event???s largest attendance to date.

To satisfy our intent to allow students to increase pride and learn university traditions, we also exceeded the requirements set forth before year-end. Spirit Programs performances included new appearances at the traditions camp counselor retreat and will continue at all sessions of the new traditions camp (Bearkat Camp). This enables students to learn the traditions and build Sam Houston pride that is displayed through our spirit squads during the school year. The All-girl cheer squad competed nationally for the first time; this fosters a higher performance level from the squad, which directly benefits student satisfaction at university events. Student Activities also implemented Bearkat Spirit Fridays, which encourages students to display their Sam Houston spirit and pride. Student feedback evidenced that a majority of participating students were more likely to don school colors because of this program. This enhances the campus atmosphere of Bearkat pride.

In order to develop effective leadership opportunities for students, several initiatives were acted upon. Through restructuring office duties, we created a Greek coordinator that advises all Greek life councils. This allowed for further development and promotion of a highly visible program; culturally different groups were able to communicate on a more efficient level and set the foundation for students to make a great impact on campus. Because we encourage students to be productive members of society, Student Activities also hosted a student trip to Austin to participate in a legislative session. Based on student feedback, this program will continue more frequently.

Student retention is a very important goal to which other stated departmental goals directly contribute. The Office of MISS sponsors the SAMentors program which enables freshmen to be mentored by upperclassmen, with a focus on broadening their cultural awareness. The 08-09 success of SAMentors was through a solid foundation of participants that did not waiver throughout the year. Involvement was consistent and further efforts will be made to track program effectiveness on participants throughout their tenure at Sam Houston. One of our main retention focuses is encouraging membership in student organizations. These groups provide excellent environments for growth in the following areas: leadership development, time management, budget management, general commitment and responsibility, social responsibility and diversity issues. Based on student feedback, students that are involved in organizations feel more connected to the university, establish a network of friends for accountability and exhibit positive character changes that are useful in other areas of their lives. Our office consistently adds 8-12 new organizations each semester.

Several areas in our office have already transitioned to the learning outcomes mindset and will further implement and develop this assessment practice. We will balance our current successes in programming with further focus on student learning outcomes, leading to development of transferrable skills for use in a post-graduation work environment.

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