Cultural Organization ABC’s Nortee Panpinyo

Cultural Organization ABCs

By: Nortee Panpinyo

Five years ago, I applied to the Asian Student Union as an intern at 11:59 p.m. (or honestly like 12:30 a.m. because someone on ASU forgot to close the intern application form) and from then on, I’ve gained experience on what the role of a club can be, as well as different metrics that can help determine the success of a cultural organization’s future. Obviously, me writing this will be more biased, but hopefully some of my insight will be interesting to you all as readers looking for a behind-the-scenes thought process of the organizations that facilitate many of the social connections within the Binghamton community.

2018 - 2019 2020-2021

1. What is the role of a cultural student organization?

While this varies per organization,Ibelieve that all cultural student organizations (orgs) at their core exist to be a space for people who identify with, or are interested in, the culture of the org. On top of that, each org usually works off some specialities, on the spectrum from hyper-professional to hyper-fun. While many organizations reach for both, professionalism and having fun end up being conflicting goals. On the professional end, we look for highly structured and efficient methods to improve. This means increasing turnout and engagement, as well as the overall output in events and quality of platforms, events and graphics. On the fun end, we look to increase the overall happiness of both our executive board (E-Board) and general body (Gen-Bod) through: bondings, planned or impromptu; flexibility and “laxness” over mandating things; interpersonal connections made outside of organizations; and family systems.

2021-2022

Structure:

Most orgs define how well they’re doing by structural metrics — including what is in place to ensure running an org goes smoothly. Such structures can include the event-planning to graphic-making pipeline, the frequency of check-s and work delegation. Future Proofing:

Future proofing has proven to be essential due to many orgs suffering from a large pull out of senior E-Board members due to graduation. Placement of strong interns, representatives or transitionals, as well as encouraging underclassmen to take on leadership roles and personal projects, ensures that your org will have a solid foundation for the future.

Fun:

Creating a welcoming and warm environment where people enjoy the time they spend in an org is another important metric. The trick here is distinguishing between a group of friends just hanging out versus an actual org and trying to bond with, or increase social outreach to, people who aren’t your friends yet. Purpose:

A org’s purpose is as important as their actions. An org without purpose is one with no future. Direction is important because it provides a common goal.

2019-2020 2022-2023

Reputation and Respect:

Reputation is important because it is what precedes an org; it implies the collaborative capabilities of an org, as well as the turnout, which stems from how an org treats its Gen-Bod and collaborators. A well-respected org can have a strong support system from its community if it ever runs into trouble.

Innovation:

Innovation allows an org to break away from tradition and to take input from younger members, or from more niche sources. This helps the overall feeling of freshness that invigorates your org members. Uniqueness:

Uniqueness is the final quality – an org needs an identity. If it copies everything from other orgs, is it truly its own? Uniqueness helps orgs find their niche audience and it’s important to provide as many diverse spaces as possible for students to feel welcome. I believe no org should try to monopolize these spaces, as it’s what makes orgs what they are.

3. What can the role of a cultural student organization become in the future?

The role of student organizations in the future should be centered around the community — both on campus and off campus. Student organizations that are hyperfocused on their own E-Board tend to neglect what the organization was created for in the first place, whereas orgs that are hyper focused on the community can often neglect the bonds of their own E-Board. Thus, it’s important that student leaders make it clear as to why it’s important to invest into the community, whether on or off campus. Nothing in my time here has made being in an organization as valuable as providing opportunities for other students to grow, or contributing to the local community by meeting people who make Binghamton what it is. If we, as active members of the community, create safe spaces around campus, orgs are capable of becoming homes for people — and beacons for lifelong bonds after college.