2021 SUMMER CAMPUS LIFE TRENDS (CLT) MAGAZINE

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SUMMER 2021

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FALL CONFERENCES ANNOUNCED WITH IN - PERSON AND VIRTUAL OPTIONS ~Find out more, page 20

— READ MORE ON INSIDE COVER...

*CO-CURRICULAR EVENT CHAMPIONS ~ page 8

IN THIS ISSUE

*2021 SPRING VIRTUAL AWARDS COMPETITION WINNERS ~ page 13 *HOW COVID CHANGED ME FOR THE BETTER~ page 18 *THE 3 REALMS OF VIRTUAL FACILITATION ~ page 24 *NATIONALS- HERSHEY HERE WE COME! ~ page 31

UPGRADE your Campus Life Connections in the APCA Virtual Community Workplace! ~ page 6 WWW.APCA.COM

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CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

What is the APCA Virtual Community Workplace?

This year, amidst the social distancing protocols, we were tasked with pivoting to a virtual conference environment. It was then that the APCA Virtual Community Workplace was born. It has become so much more than a virtual event platform.

One low price and a one-time registration for the entire year of virtual networking and access. *INCLUDES Virtual Ticket to Summer Workshop Series, Fall Programming Conference, and Spring National Conference!!*

Want to learn more? Check out page 6 for all the great benefits of joining the APCA Virtual Community Workplace!

CLT Magazine | Summer 2021 EDITOR:

H EATHE R LA MB E RT GRAPHIC DESIGNER:

KR I STY LAV E L LA THANKS TO ALL THE SCHOOLS, ASSOCIATES, AND SPEAKERS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THIS EDITION OF THE CAMPUS LIFE TRENDS MAGAZINE.

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CONTENTS 4

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ERIC LAMBERT

KATHY MATSON

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FROM THE DESK OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

VIRTUAL COMMUNIT Y WORKPLACE

"HOW COVID CHANGED ME FOR THE BETTER"

FALL REGIONAL CONFERENCES FEATURE ARTICLE

FEATURE ARTICLE

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"CO-CURRICUL AR EVENT CHAMPIONS"

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"THE 3 REALMS OF VIRTUAL FACILITATION" DAN MILLER

DR. CRAIG "PRO SKILLS" SKILLING T HE A PCA CAM PUS L I F E T R E ND S M AG AZ I N E I S PUBLI S HE D E AC H S EM ES T ER .

SUBM I S S I ONS FOR A RT I CL ES MUS T B E E M A I LED TO : MARK E TI NG @ APCA . CO M T HE CAM PU S LI FE T R EN D S MAG AZ I NE I S A TRA D EM A R K OF TH E AS S OC I ATI O N F O R T HE PROM OTI ON OF CA M P U S ACTI V I TI E S . A LL R I GH T S R E S E RV E D. NO A RTICL ES O R IMAG E S OF ANY K IN D M AY BE RE PRI NTE D FRO M T H I S MAG AZ I NE W I TH O U T T H E WR IT TE N PE RM I S S I O N O F T HE A S S OC I ATI ON F O R T H E PRO M OTI ON OF CA M P U S ACT IVI TI E S . A NYONE S EEKI N G PERM I S S I ON S H O U L D FORWA RD THE I R RE Q U ES T B Y EMAIL TO: I NFO@A PCA . CO M 86 5 .4 2 9 .9 1 2 3

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"YOUR STUDENT GOVERNMENT IN A POST-COVID WORLD"

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"THE FIRST-YEAR SOPHOMORE!" DAVID COLEMAN

DAVE KELLY

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SPRING VIRTUAL CONFERENCE GRAPHICS COMPETITION WINNERS FEATURE ARTICLE

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"EASING BACK INTO LIVE EVENTS" DEL SUGGS, M.S.ED.

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2022 NATIONAL CONFERENCE FEATURE ARTICLE

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CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

FROM THE DESK

OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECT OR

Eric Lambert APCA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR elambert@apca.com

REFLECTIONS ON MOVING ON I remember watching a show on the history channel once. It was documenting a bombing raid that basically leveled a small English city. You could visibly see the city had been destroyed beyond recognition, and yet the things that struck me were the pictures of the town today. It’s as if the bombing never happened. There are some plaques that memorialize the event, but life there just carried on.

This pandemic has caused some serious damage to our profession as well. Mental health issues, employment upheavals, loss of experience and

even loss of life has occurred in an unprecedented manner. Many programming structures and traditions have been leveled, and many of us did not survive professionally in our former positions. Some have lost peers in the market. Some have lost jobs and some have lost their will to stay in this profession. This pandemic has taken a toll on all of us. Yet, we are still here. Different, to be sure, but still here. There is only one thing to do: we must move on.

CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

In the coming months, APCA will be initiating new training for our students and advisors centering on developing programming that matters right now, in this pivotal moment. We will address and program towards immediate concerns like recruitment of postpandemic students, orienting second-year virtual students into live settings, preparing for a return to the in-person experience, and reinventing protocols for risk management in live events.

Our Summer Pivot Your Programs™ advisor training will still be available and free to all advisors in student life, and will be enhanced with follow-up workshops exclusively for advisors who are participants in the APCA Virtual Community Workplace. In-person conferences will be reinstated this fall, with appropriate social distancing and virtual options for those unable or preferring not to participate in a live setting. The focus of training there will be next steps and lessons learned from student life programming during the pandemic that can help our future efforts.

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The takeaway from all of these developments is simple. We are moving on. There is no future in living in the past. We will not stay stagnant and try to program as if it were still the good old days before Covid. We must acknowledge that the increased role of virtual participation in society has changed student life programing forever. We will start from where we are, rearrange the pieces and move forward. One day, it will all be a memory.

But like that beautiful town in rural England, it will be a memory that reminds us that we can make it through anything.

Till next time,

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CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

VIRTUAL COMMUNITY WORKPLACE The New Annual Pass

Only $169 per person annually for APCA members!

Attend Conferences LIVE

This year, APCA will provide virtual access to our in-person campus activities programming conferences! Students and staff This year, join your fellow APCA schools in our unable to travel to the conferences can enjoy virtual environment platform! The APCA livestreamed showcases, participate in Virtual Community Workplace is ADDED VALUE honds-on service projects with APCA Serves!™, to your student engagement efforts, NOT ONE and participate in real-time Cooperative MORE THING added to your already full plate. Buying to save hundreds or thousands of Passes can be purchased in advance (and the dollars on your campus activities bookings! names and email addresses activated whenever you’re ready), or you can purchase EASY and Intuitive to Use passes throughout the year.

Each person who registers for the Virtual Community Workplace receives their own What’s New in the APCA Virtual personal profile. The profile pages are set up just like facebook pages, and you will have the Community Workplace? ability to access groups of peers, video and This year, the APCA Virtual Community document libraries and even attend live Workplace features: programming conferences, institutes and workshops through the platform.

• Summer Certification Program (weekly) • Virtual attendance at a Fall Regional and the Spring National Campus Activities Planning Conferences. (Conferences will be held in-person and live streamed into the Workplace for Virtual Delegates) • Access to the archives of all Pivot Your Programs Webinars • All virtual professional and student development seminars and events offered throughout the year • Access to hundreds of resources for Advisors and Students • 24/7 networking and engagement with your peers around the country!

CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

Why should I register my students for the APCA Virtual Community Workplace?

With the APCA Virtual Community Workplace, students in clubs, programming boards, leadership positions, SGA, etc. will not only be able to interact in a fun, engaging way, they’ll also have access to: • Hundreds of resources for Student Leaders • Student workshops • Virtual attendance at APCA programming conferences • 24/7 access to advisor and student board meetings and projects • Ability to interact with student board and peers across the country in real time Your students will have fun and stay connected, and they’ll get training on how to provide engaging experiences to all of their peers on campus.

Why should Student Life Professionals join the APCA Virtual Community Workplace?

Raise your hand if you’re overwhelmed right now. There are so many unknowns these days, and the thousands of blogs, social media groups, and webinars are a chore to sift through. The APCA Virtual Community Workplace is designed to add value to your profession and to simplify your life, not add one more thing to you plate. The Workplace is a safe, extremely familiar and easy-to-use space that is shared with your student boards and your peers around the country, and in your APCA region. You’ll be able to network, ask questions, share examples and best practices, watch valuable webinars, learn from the pros, attend keynotes and professional development

seminars and round tables, and have fun!

We’ve created Advisor Groups that are for ADVISORS ONLY. You will be able to talk to each other in a private space reserved for you and your peers. Workplace is not connected to any of your personal social media accounts, so what you share here stays here! Your Advisor Groups are always for advisor eyes only. Students have their own space too, which is always monitored and safe.

Why is the Virtual Pass so inexpensive… what’s the catch?

Here’s the truth: APCA is a family-owned and operated organization, and our passion is student engagement. We know that engaged students are retained students, and we understand that Student Life professionals and programs make a tremendous difference in the leadership development, learning, and lives of college students. We want to do everything possible to help you do your jobs and create an unforgettable and amazing college experience for your students. We’re all in this together, and in the APCA Virtual Community Workplace, we can work together to innovate, grow, and effectively engage our campuses.

The Best Value for Your Campus Activities Engagement

The 21-22 Annual Community Workplace is only $169.00 per person for APCA Member Schools! Non-members can also register for $299 per person.

I have more questions… can we talk?

Absolutely! Just email us at info@apca.com.

We’d be happy to chat, and even take you inside the Workplace and show you around!

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CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

DR. CRAIG "PRO SKILLS" SKILLING

Co-Curricular Event Champions was a student and staff champion of providing students with high level entertainment.

Imagine yourself as a campus events professional, securing an off-site 17,000+ arena and paying tens of thousands of dollars for headline talent, only to have your event flop. I have seen this happen firsthand at a university in my early years in higher education as a career advisor, adjunct hospitality industry instructor and freelancing agent for exclusive musical talent.

Juggling a career, family and business was challenging, but nothing prepared me to be a sports, entertainment & event management professor and consultant more than my time in higher education. I reflect on the failed event not as a critic, but as a motivated champion of enhancing the overall student experience and achieving university goals through strategic, co-curricular programming.

Learn from Your Past Experiences

The original event’s talent lineup included a headline performance by Grammy award winning artist Ciara and a multi-platinum award winning artist named Omarion among other named talent.

As a campus champion myself who wore many hats, I could see the effort in promoting the event that took place 30-35 minutes away from the campus.

The Coordinator of Campus Activities at the time was also a student of mine finishing up his bachelor’s degree in Event Management. The Director of Student Activities was new to the campus as well, so the Coordinator was empowered to lead the charge as he had been with the university for some time and

Unfortunately, I could tell from experience that the model to host almost six figure concert budgeted events was not sustainable for a small private institution. The student body at any campus, however, needs to feel like they are getting value and experience beyond the classroom. In recognizing the two issues, I also saw future collaboration possibilities.

I reimagined that 17,000-seat arena show as a more realistic co-curricular program. There was an opportunity to have a course under the University’s Hospitality program where curriculum objectives included creating a budget, booking talent and executing an event. This was a perfect marriage.

The tricky part was convincing senior leadership to support that, especially when budgets were drastically cut the next year following the failed campus spring concert. As an educator and champion of campus activities that enhance the student learning experience, I immediately prepared a proposal requesting academic funding to have the Hospitality department partner with Campus Activities.

I proposed executing a strategic, end of year, co-curricular live entertainment campus event experience. Notice I did not say “concert”. I left the door open for the live entertainment to include “musical talent or other”. I was able to share a sustainable vision to have courses that supported Campus Activities' goals and program curriculum objectives merged into a programming plan that provided value-added results.

I vividly remember getting the call by my then Director of Career Services who said, “Craig, the Campus President and leadership team would like to

CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

invite you to present at their annual summer leadership retreat." I was excited for the opportunity and immediately worked on my proposal to be sure I crossed my t's and dotted my i's. You have one shot to get it right. The proposal answered questions and provided solutions to problems that I'd learned about by frequenting campus events and having the ear of most campus stakeholders.

Recruiting Your Champions

If you consider how to apply this example of increased DIY programming on your campus, you’ll probably realize the identities of potential cross department champions for many situations.

Everywhere, multiple campus departments from the Career Center, the DIY division, various clubs and organizations, and even Criminal Justice departments all have event calendars. Don’t we all have the same goal of educating and providing a rewarding student, staff and/or faculty and community experience? Why try to reinvent the wheel and duplicate efforts? Events need buy-in from all sides to be inclusive, raise awareness and to provide a reason to attend beyond “something to do”.

For instance, I know that some Campus Activities programmers implement virtual event initiatives just to meet an administrative spending directive.

Many of them have a challenging time getting students, staff or faculty to support yet another online event. Students are simply no longer as enamored by the novelty of virtual or hybrid events.

They need a more pressing reason, like in-classroom exposure or even faculty syllabus directives for credit.

Be more strategic! Join in with each other. Streamline those conversations. Have one master calendar and proactively have departments submit joint approval for similar events. Partner up and align budgets for more impact. Collaborate to at a minimum secure impactful speakers, performers or events that look more official and not low budget.

A Psychology Arts and Science course might include as a course objective that students showcase the various forms of mental awareness when faced with tragic media images. The college chair could then task an instructor to execute a fair or speaker event regarding that same topic. A co-curricular champion will try to be sure that as many students, faculty, staff and/or community stakeholders as possible attend the event.

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The main idea is to foster a co-curricular collaboration between all programming stakeholders looking to conduct similar programming.

Search Out The Greatest Showman on Campus!

The dictionary definition of a champion is “a person who fights or argues for a cause or on behalf of someone else.” If it is not my problem, then why should I fight for it? We’ve seen this mentality by some during a year filled with virtual over-programming and uncertainty due to the pandemic along with political and social justice uproars. One could easily find themselves wanting to do more to help a cause, but their voice tends to fall on deaf ears.

As we look ahead post pandemic there is an opportunity for student programming to shift to a more strategic and collaborative approach. To do this, Campus Activities Advisors need to identify their super campus event champions and then work with administration to meet larger university goals.

We know instinctively who co-curricular champions are. They are educator superheroes who will consistently attend your calendar of events although they have a busy life outside of campus. They are the PT Barnum’s of their campus. PT Barnum (the founder of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus) was known as a master showman and hype man long before social media existed.

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CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

DAVE KELLY There is a bright future ahead for student governments with all that we have experienced and learned. Use all tools available to you and keep the interests and concerns of your students foremost in your thoughts as a student government member, leader, or advisor and you will do great! ~ DAVE KELLY

America's Student Leadership Trainer YOUR STUDENT GOVERNMENT IN A POST-COVID WORLD Imagine a dystopian world where people stay inside their home most of the time, wearing a mask when they do go out, avoiding human contact, and any contact or communication that happens is controlled by machines…

The latest Terminator movie? Maybe. But truth can be stranger than fiction and, of course, this has been our experience for over a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some states and many countries are still in various stages of lockdown or quarantine, businesses are closed or at less than full capacity, and college and university campuses are still missing some or all of their students. I have worked with a lot of student governments during this past year and I am amazed and encouraged by the outstanding leadership they have displayed. These SGA leaders have pivoted how they do business, serve and represent their students, and make the educational experience at their school the best it can be despite the difficult circumstances.

It seems that the path forward for the 2021-2022 school year continues to evolve for large numbers of campuses with regard to class attendance, activities, programs, and student government. Some of the schools I have spoken with still expect to be either fully virtual or will implement a hybrid virtual/in-person plan for classes and campus events.

Others will be in person while wearing masks and socially distanced, as some did this past year. Also, I read recently that over 300 universities will require COVID-19 vaccinations in some form for the start of the 2021-22 academic year. What is still unclear is if non-campus personnel (speakers, bands, comedians, novelties, etc.) will be allowed on campus and how clubs, organizations, and student governments will function. I do not think the post-COVID-19 world is going to look the same as it did pre-COVID-19, so adopting a new way of working for the various aspects of student government functioning will be necessary.

Technology First, consider how technology affects the future of your student government.

Prior to last spring, the only online virtual platform I had ever used was Skype and then only to talk with my family when traveling. In the last year, my experience with virtual platforms has mushroomed: I have presented on Zoom, BlueJeans, Cisco WebEx, Blackboard, Microsoft Teams, and in a virtual world as an avatar. I have done over 140 virtual programs, along with countless meetings, while looking at a webcam attached to my laptop. I know you have spent much time in front of your computer, as well. In fact,

CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

we have all spent so much time looking at screens that there’s a name for it: Zoom Fatigue.

Despite all the looking at screens for hours, dropped connections, and people hidden behind profile pictures and names, there are positive uses of technology for all campus clubs and organizations, including student governments. Virtual meeting platforms enable people, who might not otherwise attend due to conflicts and other commitments, to participate from home, work, or wherever they may be.

If they can’t attend live, they can view a recording. You can increase the representative reach of your student government by including online students and those at satellite and extension campuses by using a virtual platform to bring them to you. Study Abroad and internship students may no longer need to resign their positions just because they are spending a semester away from campus. In short, technology has the ability to meet everyone where they are and allows more opportunities for engagement.

So, even when you are completely back on campus, I strongly encourage you to continue using the virtual options available to you during meetings, rallies, programs, events, advocacies, etc. A real world example is my Kiwanis club (a community service organization).

We were allowed back in person, socially distanced, by the state last July. We have 20 members on our roster. About 9-10 come to our weekly lunch meetings on-site, another 3-5 attend through Zoom because of work, travel, health, and other issues. We record those meetings and place them on YouTube and our Facebook page which gets us 4-7 more members who watch those videos each week. We are getting near perfect attendance, whereas it would be only half without the virtual elements! Think about how this example works for you with student issue forums, SGA election campaigns, and getting representation in multi-campus settings.

Go Hybrid With Your Meetings Student governments are the voice of the students, and hearing diverse opinions benefits the work that you do on behalf of your student body. Many schools that I work with have a representative body of clubs and organizations. They may be included in the Senate, as a separate house of the SGA legislature, or in a Presidents or Clubs Council. Getting full participation from clubs and organizations can be a challenge. Provide the option for involvement using a webcam on a laptop or even an app on a cell phone

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such as FaceTime or Google Meet. Use an external webcam and aim it at the meeting room. My Kiwanis club uses multiple devices to show all parts of the room and everyone who is present. You can dramatically increase your engagement by doing this and encourage the virtual participants to unmute, have their cameras on for accountability and connection, and use chat to express themselves during discussions. Assign someone or even several people to monitor the chat so those voices are heard.

Explore Your Options You can do things virtually that may be impossible in person. I have had occasions where I have done four or five programs a day with schools from across the country. Imagine how much more engaging, productive, and interesting your student government would be if you use technology to bring experts and advocates into your meetings to discuss current issues and topics relevant to your students and campus community. You can reach out to legislators and other decision makers to share your opinions on upcoming bills or policies and have many student voices share their thoughts rather than just a couple who may be able to make a trip to the state capitol or a city council meeting. On top of having a diversity of speakers, you can also incorporate surveys, quizzes, polling, voting, break-out discussions, and more with the plethora of free and low-cost tools that are now available.

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CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

Some Issues To Address

Update Your Guidance

Technology aside, there are other concerns student governments should consider in the post-COVID-19 world. Your SGA is the representative voice of the students. That voice needs to be heard on issues such as:

Finally, this is a good time to make sure governing documents such as your constitution, by-laws, standing rules, and policies and procedures are updated and reflect current realities. Look for redundancies, outdated gender usage (he/she instead of they/them), and other concerns raised by the pandemic. I have reviewed many governing documents this past year and observed some pandemic-related issues. A big one is that these documents did not provide for circumstances such as extended campus shutdowns. Several schools did not have a line of succession. This was especially problematic in one case where both the SGA president and vice-president dropped out of school. The governing documents did not have a clause that allowed the replacement of those officers. I was able to help them by applying parliamentary procedure to their situation and then helped them write the clauses they needed.

• Policies for the 2021-22 school year related to how classes will be conducted, if students can come on campus for events and programs, whether mask wearing and social distancing will continue to be required, and how they will be enforced. What will the ramifications be for those who violate policies either intentionally or accidentally?

• Will coronavirus testing and/or vaccinations be required? What will this standard be? As stated earlier, over 300 colleges are planning on requiring vaccinations in some form this fall. How long will those requirements be in place? In perpetuity or until a set time?

• Where does your student government stand on vaccination passports? Who can request that a member of the campus community prove that they have one? When can such a request be made? Can faculty members require it before a student can attend class in person?

• How can your student government encourage and facilitate discussions of social justice and advocacy around issues and incidents that have happened during the time away from campus?

• Are mental health services available for students who need help going from isolation to trying to integrate into the campus? Remember, you may have two classes of students coming to campus this fall who have not yet stepped foot on campus.

There are going to be other issues on campus and in your community as reopening occurs. Your student government needs to be ready to address them and to pivot to new and ever-changing realities.

A few schools could not elect anyone to their student government because their governing documents required candidate petitions to be signed by 25 to 100 fellow students. How do you obtain student signatures when no one is on campus? While you could use online petitions in a pinch, it is more important that your governing documents include an Emergency Powers clause. Here is one that I wrote for a student government that you are welcome to copy and adapt for your school: In addition to any other emergency powers numerated in this constitution, the advisor shall have the authority to supersede portions of this document in order to continue the proper functioning of the SGA. These emergency powers can be invoked in case of local, state, national, or global crisis, emergency, or pandemic, in response to a declaration of emergency by government officials, and/or at the direction of the College President or designee.

CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

CONGRATULATIONS !

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CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

EASING BACK INTO LIVE EVENTS So how do we ease back into live events? It will be a multi-factored process. Also, since the actual beginning of the Fall term is several months away, everything is still fluid. However, most of the statistical indicators and medical experts suggest that the coronavirus pandemic will continue in decline.

The Season is Your Friend

We can be confident that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations will include being outside. Take advantage of the fresh air and the seasonal climate of Fall to take your programs outside.

DEL SUGGS, M.S.ED. It may be Summer, but you and I (and our colleagues) work at least three months out-- so “Happy Fall” to you.

While we may still be wrapping up last year, it's time to plan out the upcoming academic term.

This Fall will be like no previous term. Most students and faculty will be returning to campus, many for the first time since the Spring of 2020. And you'll have a double dose of First Year Students: you'll have those true freshmen who are just starting college, and you'll have those returning students who began study during the pandemic. Neither of these two groups have had what we might consider a true “college experience” of activities and engagement.

Your campus administration, or for some schools the state or local government, will determine how “open” your campus will be. Some schools may still be mostly virtual, while other schools may recall the pre-pandemic era. We know it will be challenging, but we also know that most students are ready to be back on campus. They will be looking to get engaged with student life. Let's hope they will appreciate the programs and events that they used to take for granted.

This is a prime opportunity to evaluate your campus for new outdoor venues and performance sites. You may already have a courtyard or patio where you've done programs in the past. Plan on utilizing these spaces by scheduling many of your programs and events there.

Perhaps you haven't done outdoor events much in the past. Perhaps students congregated in the student center, the cafeteria, or the lobby of the student union and you did programs there. It's time for a new default location.

Take a stroll around your campus, and look for those spots where you could present a program. There are a lot of elements to consider.

New & Improved Outdoor Venues

First, find a space where students naturally gather. It's pretty simple. Students will hang out where they feel most comfortable. If you're in a hot climate, it might be a shaded area. If you're in a cooler latitude, it might be a sunny space.

Second, observe the traffic patterns. You might want to present these outdoor programs and events where there are a lot of students walking. It makes sense if you think about it. Let your students help determine the locations.

When I was in college, the university built a new classroom building near the middle of campus. They built one sidewalk to the building, and waited. By the

CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

end of the term, there were clear, well-worn paths where students walked from other buildings to the new building. The next semester the school paved those paths. They had let the students determine the sidewalk locations without even asking them. Brilliant.

Last, check out the infrastucture. Nearly all programs need electricity. Where is the closest outlet? Be aware that outdoor outlets may be kept off, or on a timer. If so, find out how to get them turned on and test them now. Also look for water lines, if your program might require running water.

Welcome Back Week

You are likely already thinking about those wonderful “Welcome Week” events from the past, those annual traditions we look forward to each Fall. Some of them may look a bit different this year.

That cookout may require more sophisticated food handling than in the past. You may have just offered pans of burgers and hot dogs for the students to serve themselves. This year, you may have to have servers putting burgers and dogs in buns, wrapping them, and then serving students fast-food style.

You may also need single-serve condiments instead of sharing squeeze bottles. Chips may need to be in individual packages. Same with desserts. Start thinking now about how your “Welcome Week” may need to be revised.

Activities Fair, Club Rush, Involvement Expo

Your clubs and organizations need your involvement more than ever. Those clubs who have managed to hang on through the pandemic drastically need new members. Club membership has likely taken a hit because of all the restrictions on social gatherings and events. Everyone needs to recruit.

But don't forget all those incoming (and “returning”) first-year students. They are excited to be on campus, and they want to get involved. These students want to connect and feel like they are a part of the campus community. Your clubs and organizations provide that

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outlet along with the opportunity for students to become engaged.

If you are still dealing with distancing concerns in the Fall, here is a simple way to keep students apart.

Instead of providing each club with a single table for their materials and information, give each group two tables, one in front of the other. That makes that typical three-foot table become a six-foot deep table, and provides the recommended distance for safe social interaction.

Marketing and Promotion

While your students may be back on campus IRL (in real life), we still need to market to them virtually.

We've all been living online for over a year, and we're not going to stop looking at screens any time soon.

Make sure you are utilizing your social media to the max. If you aren't using HootSuite.com, you seriously need to check it out.

With HootSuite, you link all of your social media-- Instagram, Twitter, Facebook-- to this single account. Then you can open the HootSuite app or login on your computer and update all of your social media at one time.

There are two things I love most about HootSuite. First, I don't have to go from app to app to update my status or make a post on all my different social media accounts. I can do it all from one single app or webpage. Second (and I love this the most), I can schedule posts in advance.

I don't have to remember to update my status at 4 pm and remind students of an event coming up. I can schedule the update with HootSuite, and it just rolls out automatically and on time.

Old School Effective Promotion

When students hit campus in the Fall, there may be a heightened awareness of their surroundings. That means you can utilize some traditional marketing even more effectively. Let's talk about posters and flyers.

Understand that the first few times students see a poster they actually look at it. After two or three exposures, it becomes wall paper. Here are two easy ways to get students to read your posters.

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CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

One: make it a challenge. Have you ever seen the famous psychedelic posters for concerts from the '60s? Intricate writing, scrawling visuals, beautiful art-- not just block letters. Do a quick image search for “Fillmore Ballroom Posters” online. See what I mean?

Beautiful art, and intriguing to read.

Or maybe you could take your usual posters and hang them upside down! Or this: print out your poster in a mirror image, backwards reversed, like Leonardo Di Vinci's famous notebooks. That makes them a challenge to read, and that means when students read them, they will remember them.

Two: refresh your posters. When you refresh your posters, students see them like the first time. They stop being wall paper and stand out.

Perhaps you could put up your posters for a couple of days, then go back and turn them all upside down. Then a day later put them all back upright again. Or try this: on the day of a program or event print out bumper-sticker size strips that read “TODAY!” or “TONIGHT!” and paste them on all the old posters.

Because you've refreshed them, they will stand out to students again.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment

We've gotten spoiled with our virtual events over the past year. With one click, you can see how many students were logged in to the program. It's much more difficult to do that with a live event.

You should always have learning outcomes for your events and programs. I mean all of them, not just those that are obviously educational, like training or a speaker. You should create student learning outcomes for your comedy shows, your concerts, your novelty programs with take-aways; every program should have a learning outcome.

Your campus likely seeks to adhere to one of the student development models such as the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Education (known as CAS), Learning Reconsidered from the National Association of Student Personel Administrators, or another source. Student Development theory looks at how we want students to grow and develop during their college experience.

Your programs and events actually help students grow in specific areas of student development. I've written extensively about this, and there is a lot of information about it in the “Resources” page of my website (DelSuggs.com).

Develop Student Learning Outcomes for your programs to validate the important role that your office plays on campus. You can demonstrate that attending a comedy show on campus helps to develop humanitarianism, the appreciation of other cultures.

Attending and participating in a novelty event helps in the development of interpersonal competence.

Develop your learning outcomes and be able to demonstrate your students' mastery. Student development is a vital function of higher education, and you are making that happen.

Engagement

Live events are simply a vital means of getting students engaged. We know from the work of the National Survey on Student Engagement at Indiana University that engaged students are retained students. Engaged students have higher graduation rates.

Your office creates student engagement. In these times, where enrollment may be falling and budgets may be slashed, you need to be validating your work.

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Take it Easy

This Fall maybe frantic, with excited and active students. You can provide the opportunities that students need to connect with your campus community and become engaged.

Be prepared for all that's coming. Now is the time to get ready with your planning and scheduling. Create your student learning outcomes for your programs and events. Get the acts booked. Start the marketing and promotion. Get those students engaged!

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In the end, you may be seeing a "new normal" that is the best of both the virtual and the live campus events. Even with the return to live events, we'll still have a virtual element, whether it's streaming a live event for students who can't attend, or using all of the adopted technology to market our in-person shows!

Get ready now, and use your new-found knowledge to ease back into live events.

DR. CRAIG "PRO SKILLS" SKILLING: CO-CURRICULAR EVENT CHAMPIONS - CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 Imagine having one or two faculty PT Barnum's on your campus who can meet their course curriculum program objectives while working with Campus Activities' staff members to strategically collaborate on-campus events. They can help avoid red tape and internal politics, and they can help make collaborative events between academic and other college department stakeholders a reality.

Co-curricular Events Check More Boxes

On the education side, students would get to experience the hands-on component of planning and executing events. The Campus Activities programmers would get a champion to hold students accountable in partnering with their department to meet their annual programming objectives.

The model also crossed over into athletics where the challenge was getting campus stakeholders to attend home games. For most of the large-scale events (including a spring concert and fashion show) the university saw an increase in participation, attendance and overall student satisfaction by embracing the co-curricular collaboration. As for student engagement, instructor feedback in courses that embraced co-curricular programming saw high reviews and student satisfaction leading to increased program retention.

Conclusion

In our society we recognize the professional sports champions who hoist trophies above their heads after all their hard work and efforts. In the world of higher education there are champions just waiting for campus programming leaders to reach out. Together they can combine their efforts to be much more impactful. All it takes is a champion!

About the Author: Craig "Pro Skills" Skilling is currently a college professor under the award winning Chaplin School of Hospitality Mega Events program at Florida International University, Miami, FL. The soon to be Dr. Skilling is an award-winning educator, speaker, event producer, consultant, connector and industry influencer. As a dynamic speaker, he has traveled across the globe engaging audiences with his charisma and positive vibes.

His research interests include race, culture, activism, co-curricular involvement and student achievement.

Professor Skilling has been able to bring youth, teens and adults together to recognize their own influence while separately teaching responsible gaming to campers through his Esports Skills Academy curriculum and special events.

Craig has toured with multiple named recognized musical talents and has been contracted to staff and produce several Super Bowl events.

As a minority educator of the year award recipient, Professor Craig Skilling or “Pro Skills” as his students call him, continues to mentor and teach diverse sports, entertainment, event, and business management students as well as career professionals on being ready from day one while building their personal stakeholder brand.

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KATHY MATSON Assistant Director of Student Life at Mount Wachusett Community College

HOW COVID CHANGED ME FOR THE BETTER

L

ike all of you, I’ve learned many things over the past 15 months, and those lessons have changed me forever in more ways than I could have ever imagined.

Many people suffered greatly during this pandemic, most managed to survive, and a few flourished. Wherever you found yourself, I’m sure you too have changed. Are those changes good and are they long-lasting?

I was one of the few that flourished during the past 15 months, and the biggest reason I can give for that is the fact that I thrive with change. Because COVID forced us to change just about everything we did in both our personal and professional lives, anyone that doesn’t like to change, whether good or bad, experienced a much more difficult time during the pandemic. Everything from learning how to use Zoom and connecting virtually, to shopping online and working from home made us rethink what we did on a daily basis.

Here are three positive changes that have occurred in me in my role as a student activities professional because of the pandemic:

LESS STRESS – Prior to COVID, I tended to stress

quite a bit over event details. Whenever we had a large event or speaker scheduled, I would have many sleepless nights trying to ensure all the details were fool proof and flawless. This also meant many “meetings” with presenters, spreadsheets filled with information sorted in 15 different ways, a plethora of volunteers, and enough signage to direct you from Massachusetts all the way to California.

When events went virtual, I found myself embracing the inevitable “glitches” such as sound problems, lost internet connections (this happened to me on three occasions), presenters forgetting that they were in a different time zone (this happened once), and the vast variety of issues we never imagined could ever be a problem. Instead of stressing about what might go wrong, I expected problems and simply learned to roll with the punches.

When we do get back to in-person events on our campus, I will have many more logistics to oversee again, but I am determined not to let them create sleepless nights and stress-filled days for me again.

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MORE FLEXIBILITY– Creating virtual events

meant being innovative and not following the same pattern or schedule we had in the past. Our in-person events typically occurred Monday through Thursday at 12:30pm with the occasional evening or Friday event thrown in based on our class schedule. When our classes changed format to primarily virtual, I discovered that the 12:30pm time slot wasn’t always the best time for an event.

My calendar is now very unpredictable.

We may have a 3pm event on Tuesday, a 5:30pm SGA meeting on Wednesday, and a workshop on Friday morning at 10am.

Creating flexibility on my calendar has allowed me to reach students that might not normally attend events, such as web students that would never have been on campus, student parents that were home with young children, and students in high demand programs that had little time for co-curricular events.

For our campus, virtual events will always remain an option, even after we are fully back on campus and allowed to host in-person programs. We will continue to meet the needs of our students that don’t follow our standard schedule. My schedule may never be routine again, but I’m perfectly okay with that.

BETTER CONNECTIONS WITH STUDENTS –

Ironically enough, because of the need to social distance and conduct all of our student interactions via Zoom, I have found that my connection with students has vastly improved. While I might not have “seen” as many students as I would on campus, those that have come to events and programs consistently

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have been much more authentic and real in their interactions with myself and their peers. I have seen students in their homes, met their children, siblings, significant others, and pets all while allowing them to see who I really am too. We have built a rapport through these meetings as we’ve travelled on buses and in cars, met in kitchens and living rooms, and been interrupted by children and pets all while connecting on Zoom.

My hope is to continue to stay connected to my students in a real way, not just as an advisor at their college, but as a real person that has real struggles every day just like they do. I have never considered myself to be an empathetic person, but meeting students where they are at has definitely given me a more compassionate attitude. I certainly hope that doesn’t change.

How has COVID changed you? Did you resent the changes or did you embrace them and more forward?

Did you experience positive changes that you plan to keep in place going forward? Has your attitude about change evolved or do you still struggle with change?

Maintaining a positive attitude and going with the flow is often the best way to handle unexpected change; be an example to your peers and your students by making the best of what COVID has dealt you and moving forward. Students look up to us as advisors, so be sure to give them a great reason to look.

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2021 APCA FALL REGIONAL CONFERENCES UPGRADE YOUR CAMPUS LIFE EXPERIENCE! APCA to Hold In-Person Fall Conferences in 2021: This fall, APCA will be returning to IN-PERSON conferences, presented in a HYBRID format. Schools will be able to attend conferences in person at three separate locations or use our virtual platform to attend from their campuses.

The theme of this year’s fall conferences is “Upgrade Your Campus Life Experience!”. The conferences will focus on new best practices resulting from our collective experiences over the last academic year.

2020 was the most challenging time in the history of Student Life programming. The advent of virtual programming has been both a blessing and a curse for our campus staff members. Innovative programming for online populations has been plagued by technical and logistical issues, despite the best efforts of dedicated student life professionals.

Throughout the process, one thing has become very apparent; everyone is becoming strained by online fatigue. Student connections are best made through in-person, connective events that bring us together.

Thankfully, those in-person events seem much closer to safely happening again than they have seemed for a long, long while.

We must be prepared, however, to reopen our live events with the care and caution that honors the sacrifices that have been made to return us to a state of normalcy. We should be ready to adapt to circumstances by providing in-person examples of best practices to protect our campus populations.

UPGRADE YOUR CAMPUS LIFE EXPERIENCE will still feature the APCA™ core conference elements: Showcases, Exhibit Halls, Cooperative Buying and educational opportunities. There will be ample opportunity to find talent and receive massive savings for your budgets to justify the expense of attendance through our Cooperative Buying program.

Showcases / Cooperative Buying We will be introducing new marketing and engagement techniques, and enhancing Cooperative Buying and Showcasing logistics to include virtual options. Esports, virtual game shows and new, more affordable options in campus programming will be introduced at the events. The Showcases will also demonstrate CDC compliant audience distancing and sanitizing measures to keep attendees at the events and on their campuses safe.

All schools attending the event will be able to participate in the APCA™ Cooperative Buying process via our synchronized virtual and in-person Cooperative Buying sessions. All schools, whether attending virtually or in person, will be able to save on programming costs on novelties, talent, and speaking options for limited budgets.

Educational Sessions The APCA in-person fall conferences will feature Educational Sessions and live examples of: • Safe food distribution and packing procedures

for events on campus • Entrance admission and screening suggestions

for returning to live events • Seminars and live demonstrations of secure

set-up, production, and tear down of different

safety levels for socially distanced events • Risk assessment sessions on event scheduling

and production of live events • Safety guidelines for handling novelties,

make-and-takes, and crowd participation • Social distancing best practices that enhance

engagement and maintain safety • How to choose appropriate social distancing

and masking safety protocols for your schedule

of events

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2021 APCA™ APCA™ FALL CONFERENCE DATES AND LOCATIONS: Houston, TX

Oct 22-24 Marriott Westchase Hotel 2900 Briarpark Drive Houston, TX 77042 P: 713.978.7400 Hotel Rooms (check in recommended on Oct 21) $139.00 + 17% tax Reservations - Made by individual attendees directly with Marriott reservations at 800.452.5110. MAKE SURE TO MENTION YOU ARE IN THE APCA BLOCK.

Chicago, IL

Nov 12-14 Lincolnshire Marriott Resort 10 Marriott Dr. Lincolnshire, IL. 60069 P: 847.634.5938 Hotel Rooms (check in recommended on November 11) $139.00 + 17% tax Reservations- Made by individual attendees directly with Marriott reservations at 800.288.9290. MAKE SURE TO MENTION YOU ARE IN THE APCA BLOCK.

Orlando, FL

Nov 19-21 The Florida Hotel & Conference Center 1500 Sand Lake Road Orlando, FL 32809

Hotel Rooms (check in recommended on November 18) $139.00 + 17% tax P: 800.588.4656 Reservations - Attendees will make their own reservations by contacting the hotel directly. They may do so by calling the hotel reservations department at 800.588.4656. Guests should identify themselves as attendees of Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities or APCA. Individual reservations may be cancelled without penalty outside of 72 hours prior

to arrival. If cancelled within 72 hours of arrival the Hotel will charge for the 1st night's room and tax. A no-show reservation will be charged 1st night's room and tax. MAKE SURE TO MENTION YOU ARE IN THE APCA BLOCK.

Pricing / Registration for Schools (For In-Person Attendance) Early Bird Registration $249 - Member $299 - Non-Member Regular Registration After Sept 24 (Houston), Oct 8 (Chicago), Oct 29 (Orlando) $299 - Member $349 - Non-Member Delegate Fees include: 4 catered meals (2 dinners and 2 lunches) • Over 50 showcasing acts • APCA Cooperative Buying • Hybrid options to broadcast the event to non-attending board members • Social distancing measures to assure safety • Professional development for advisors • Leadership and organizational training for student boards • Certification programs To register for the APCA™ Fall Conferences, visit us at www.apca.com.

Registration opens June 23 at 12:00 PM EDT

Artists and Agents The fall conferences will provide a wonderful opportunity to reach out to college buyers and make the connections you need to get booked on campuses this fall! APCA™ will showcase comedy, music, speakers, novelties and more at our fall conferences.

More information on showcase pricing and availability can be found at www.apca.com.

For artists and agents interested in showcasing, please contact our APCA Associate Coordinator, Jodie Gilbert at associate@apca.com.

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FRIENDSHIP There's no

better way to collaborate than with your APCA friends- "APCABABY!"

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How do you create a truly engaging experience in the virtual world? When I think of my most memorable moments in life, I think of them in terms of sound, smell, touch, taste, and feel. For instance, the sound of clinking climbing gear and the feel of the rock on my first multi-pitch climb, or the smell of home cooking at my grandma’s house on Thanksgiving. At first it might seem a futile task to try and tap into these senses in the virtual space, but what if we could? Maybe we could even achieve this right here in these words. Stop reading and listen for a moment...what do you hear?

Now put on some of your favorite music. Find something nearby that smells good and smell it. Did you think that all we could do here was read? Now snap your fingers, find a beat and get ready to explore the 3 realms of virtual facilitation.

DAN MILLER

THE 3 REALMS OF VIRTUAL FACILITATION

When conducting group work over a virtual meeting platform, a facilitator should be aware of the multiple layers of interaction that can be happening at any given time. The first, and most often overlooked, realm of virtual facilitation is the actual physical space from which a participant is connecting. They might be in their basement, or their office, or their mother’s house.

Whether you acknowledge it or not, they will be interacting with that space all the time during a virtual program. Ways to intentionally incorporate this space into your program are plentiful: • Be compassionate in inviting participants to manage distractions like kids, animals or roommates without fear of judgement.

• Use activities that incorporate their actual physical space (simon says, share a meaningful object in the room, chair dancing, follow the leader, etc.)

• Avoid making assumptions about their level of comfort with technology or the quality of the technology they are using. Be able to help them troubleshoot problems whether they are on a Mac, PC, tablet, phone, or desktop computer.

• If you are facilitating a meeting that is longer than an hour, it is imperative that you incorporate some movement. At a minimum, this could be a scheduled break during which you encourage participants to take a lap around the house, stretch, or anything else that gets them away from the screen.

The next realm is the platform you are using for your virtual meeting such as Zoom, MS Teams, Skype, etc.

This is likely to be where most of the interaction is going to happen and it is worth your time to become an expert on the platform you are using. Masterful use

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of your meeting platform is what can make some aspects of virtual facilitation even better than in-person. Chat, for example, is an excellent way to invite participation from folks who may be less inclined to speak in front of the group. Let’s take a look at a few common built-in tools and how you might use them during a program: • Chat - While commonly used with simple prompts like “type your answer in the chat,” this function has a wide variety of applications. Here’s a few: First of all, you should clarify HOW you would like your audience to use the tool. Some facilitators are fine with the audience using chat for side conversations while others only want them to use it in response to prompts or questions.

Get a pulse on the room by asking fill-in-the-blank questions like “The topic that I want to explore further is ____” or “So far, my day has been ____.”

Ask participants to type the answer to a question or prompt in the chat but WAIT TO HIT ENTER until you say go. Then you get to see a lot of opinions that have not been influenced by anyone else’s answer.

Use the responses in chat to find a thread that you as the facilitator would like to follow and then ask the person who wrote it to elaborate.

• Breakout Rooms - It can be challenging (but certainly not impossible) to have a productive discussion with more than 6 or 7 people at one time. Breakout rooms are a very useful tool to create space for verbal processing and/or authentic connection as well as to increase engagement with the material. A classic tool in the facilitator toolbox is the ‘pair & share’ approach. This is just as effective in the virtual space as it is in person.

• Video Options - We usually encourage participants to keep their video on when possible, but remember this can be used as a tool as well. For example, consider offering a journal prompt and inviting participants to turn off their video to reflect and write for a period of time. You can also create a unique virtual atmosphere by having everyone turn their camera off, asking a question, and then having them turn their camera back on only while they are sharing their answer. It’s like having people step into a spotlight on a stage. You

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will also want to maintain awareness and coach participants on appropriate times to switch between gallery view and speaker view.

• Audio Options - One wonderful aspect of the virtual space is that you can pipe in sound quite easily to add an audio element to the experience. It can be really pleasant to throw in some music while people are just coming into the meeting, during a break, or while they are filling out a poll. A quick round of ‘Name That Tune’ can be a great unofficial start as folks are just signing in. In addition to recorded music, you can play an actual instrument! While it is still not possible to have all your participants jamming out in sync while unmuted, you CAN still jam! Some companies are even hosting virtual songwriting workshops where participants compose and perform a song during the session.

• Screen Sharing - Utilizing dynamic visuals during a virtual program will greatly enhance engagement and most meeting platforms offer some form of screen sharing to accomplish this. Hopefully you already know that striking, high quality, visual images work much better than words on a white background. Text can certainly be used, but if you really feel the need to share a lot of written words with your audience then you are better off sending them an article to read on their own instead of trying to put all that info on the screen. A great virtual program will have a steady mix of visual aides as well as discussion time in gallery or speaker view. Pro-tip: Remember to stop sharing your screen when it is no longer relevant.

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• Annotation - This feature allows participants to contribute to a screen being shared with drawings, text, and stamps. A classic example of this might be to put up a picture of a map and ask participants to place a stamp where they are from.

It adds a kinesthetic element to virtual presentations and increases engagement.

• Supplemental Information - This bucket catches everything else. Simply providing a link to an interesting article or video will add to the dynamics of your program. A trip to your favorite vacation spot using Google Earth can be a fun diversion as well! Many of these tools can also be used asynchronously.

The third realm includes the myriad of applications that exist outside of your meeting platform and can be incorporated into your virtual program. The options are massive and growing everyday. They can be grouped in the following buckets:

If the attention span of the average adult is 20 minutes, then that same adult will probably only be able to stay focused during a virtual meeting for about half of that. This means you will need to provide visual stimulation or interaction prompts (type in the chat, select an image, write a poem, complete this poll, raise your hand, stretch, etc.) about every 5 - 10 minutes during a program. With all of the tools available in each of these realms, you have more than enough options to keep participants engaged. Be aware, you may see a decline in engagement anytime you linger in one of these realms for too long.

• Visual Enhancements - Applications like Powerpoint, Prezi, Flippity, Bitmoji, and others allow you to create customized visual aides. Whether virtual or in-person, adding visuals to a presentation helps you cater to more than one learning style and will increase engagement.

• Polling and Choice - Some meeting platforms will have a built-in polling option, but those are usually limited in functionality and visually unsatisfying.

Platforms like MentiMeter and Poll Everywhere allow the facilitator to set up a variety of poll types (multiple choice, open ended, ranking, etc.) and visually stimulating ways to share the results.

• Interactive Sandbox - These platforms allow participants to enter a shared virtual space in which they can interact with additional tools alongside each other in real time. Applications like Google Slides, Jamboard, and Mural are great for adapting experiential activities to the virtual environment or replacing classic brainstorming sessions that necessitate sticky notes and white boards.

By varying our activities between our participants’ actual physical space and the meeting platform they are on, as well as utilizing outside platforms for additional methods of interaction, we can deliver outstanding virtual programs. Engaging participants in all three of these realms will lead to increased retention and, most importantly, more fun! For the facilitator it also unlocks new avenues for creativity and sequencing. Mastering all these tools allows you to tap into the senses of your participants and draw them into a truly memorable experience.

Dan Miller is the founder of Fifth Pillar Consulting and works passionately to help improve the safety and quality of outdoor, experiential, and virtual education programs.

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DAVID COLEMAN THE FIRST-YEAR SOPHOMORE! Unconventional Times Require Creative Measures as We Orient Two Classes A Unique Time for Rising Second-Year Students

Can you feel it? We are beginning to see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. Face covering and social distancing restrictions are being lifted, people are coming back together (in person!) to enjoy one another’s company, and a sense of relief is emerging as we look to the future with hope and promise. For what seems like forever, we quarantined, distanced, pivoted, coped, adapted, zoomed and showed remarkable resilience to navigate the seemingly endless obstacles that Covid threw in our way. Please allow me a moment to applaud you for your "never give up" attitude and your exceptionally courageous spirit.

As graduation ceremonies are being celebrated nationwide, many campuses are making plans to reopen in the fall and find themselves in the initial stages of planning for New Student and Transfer Orientation. New Student Orientation has long been accepted as one of the most important programs of the year due to its impact on student success, retention, and a student’s overall sense of satisfaction. What is becoming clear is that due to the highly unconventional academic year our rising sophomores faced in ’20-21, and the far from standard freshman year experience they received, many secondyear students need the same guidance and assistance normally reserved for new students.

It is generally assumed that a returning second-year student would know the campus and surrounding community well, have interacted and formed close friendships with their classmates, developed rapport and a personal connection with faculty and

staff, attended a variety of on and off-campus events, and united in a common bond of enthusiastic school spirit. They would have created and honed a successful academic routine, held leadership positions in several campus organizations, and formed a clear plan of progression to follow in the years ahead to realize their career goals. However, given the rigid guidelines and protocols we were forced to follow during the pandemic, the scenario described above may be far from reality. Our sophomores, in many respects, are new students as well.

What makes this all the more important is that few campuses provide programs specifically designed to address the specific needs of second-year students and the unique position they hold and the role they play on campus. Sophomores often struggle to define themselves- to determine what they want to do.

Without intentional programming and consistent interplay with others, they often flounder and find themselves at a loss as to where they fit in and what their logical next move should be.

Sophomores seek personal growth, meanginful connections, a sense of ownership, defined purpose, a feeling of belonging, and to make their impression on campus, yet many rising sophomores spent precious little time this past year interacting (non-digitally) on campus or in direct interplay with others. At a time

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when their relationships should be maturing and deepening, many may find themselves meeting others and forming friendships for the first time. They are finally going to be exposed to upperclassmen and receive educational, vocational and co-curricular advice, tidbits, modeling and guidance, and be expected to do the same for this years' new students.

In a traditional rite of passage, our new students and transfers will naturally look to sophomores for vital information and guidance, but in this unique year, our sophomores may not have the answers and may even need them themselves!

Sophomores are the ones we recruit to move in and welcome new students, lead and fill many campus organizations and support and applaud upper class students for their contributions. The last thing we want is for them to feel confused and unsettled, feel embarrassed to seek out help, get poached by another campus and end up going through the process all over again. To assume that this year’s sophomores are already acclimated, comfortable and dialed in would be a mistake.

Where do we fit in and how do we help?

So, what does this mean for those of us who are fortunate to work with, teach, advise and entertain this year’s rising second-year students? The bottom-line premise behind the idea of The First Year Sophomore is to create an orientation experience whereby second-year students are inspired to learn about, celebrate and embrace campus and the college experience (in a way that was inhibited in ’20-21) without feeling as if they are deficient or being treated as new students all over again. They showed tremendous resilience and adaptability in successfully completing last year’s academic schedule and should be applauded and rewarded for their courage and diligence. They chose courage over fear and have developed a strong mental muscle memory that will serve them well in the future when potential problems or crises arise.

Sharinda Welton, the Director of Student Activities, Commuter Services and Leadership Development at The University of Findlay offered her seasoned perspective: "We always strive to empower students to train new leaders and have a quality transition of leadership.

This could not happen, as easily, in the ’20-21 academic year. Programming and interactions were “abnormal”. There was no shadowing. Students were busy

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being reactive to COVID-19 guidelines and protocols. No one went to live conferences to book talent, network or receive leadership training and exchange

ideas with other students from around the country. This would have been an opportunity for first year students to get better connected, begin to consider moving into leadership roles and have a voice in the events booked for the upcoming academic year. With current student leaders, we were able to use the dramatic changes to have theconversation regarding the important life principles of being flexible, practicing resilience and thinking outside of the box. If a leader is well prepared, it’s easier to practice flexibility. Their confidence level will be higher, so they are more easily able to brainstorm and adjust as situations arise. This was a conversation transpiring with current student leaders serving on E-Boards. It did not happen with last year’s new students (this year’s rising sophomores) as they were the ones in the audience attending programming and events. So, rising sophomore leaders will not have received the peer-to-peer in-depth training, shadowing or had the conversations that the past leaders had on flexibility, practicing resilience and forward thinking. Additionally, as we move into the new academic year, programming is once again transitioning to more “normal”. However, for the sophomores our “normal” will feel extremely “abnormal”. We work and move forward from a frame of reference from our life experiences. This new generation of leaders will at times feel “lost” as the rest of the campus returns to “normalcy”. Our juniors and seniors have a point of reference for what “normal” feels like.

They will happily return to pre-covid standards. However, sophomores will potentially feel like they are spending their second year once again “catching up” as many will feel “new” again. This year's rising sophomores will require an extra dose of understanding from their peers, from their educators and those we bring to campus (such as David) to aid in the college experience.

Additionally, they will need resources and contacts that recognize the special place they find themselves."

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DAVID COLEMAN: THE FIRST-YEAR SOPHOMORE! Sophomores may need to acclimate to the physcial campus and surrounding community, learn the best places to eat, study, exercise, and find supportive employment. They will need to build rapport with their professors and instructors and pick up valuable tidbits from upper class students that would have manifested during a more normal first academic year.

An exciting element to look forward to is actual students sitting in actual seats, rooting for and supporting their classmates and attending programs and events as they embark upon their chosen involvements. A culture of connection can once again begin to form, and the students can unite and bond behind a common spirit and sense of purpose that was lost to rigid pandemic protocols.

With all the texting, chatting, phone calling, facetiming, zooming and other various electronic communication platforms that defined our pandemic routines, will our students' personal skills be up to interacting more directly and receiving an individual’s reaction in person? Time will tell, but we will no longer be able to hide behind our static screen image and mute our involvement as we will once again be communicating face-to-face.

Interactions with other students may alter vocational aspirations as well. When communicating with classmates, vocational options are often discussed.

Students become more in tune with their educational choice and start getting more serious about their major. But will having to acclimate to campus, much like a new student, stunt this important stage of development? Students were primarily locked virtually into their curriculum and involvement in ’20-21, but now, coming back to campus and interacting live and in person may have a profound impact on their area of study, the involvements they choose, and the relationships in which they engage.

Orientating Our Sophomores

In looking to orient our rising second-year students, some areas of importance emerge that might not seem standard, including: • Acclimating them to the physical campus and community (perhaps for the first time) • Learning the offices, services, and personnel available to assist in their success • Understanding the most common struggles second-year students face

• Learning the unique advantages and responsibilities of being a sophomore • Developing and maintaining true friendships as well as casual acquaintances • Creating and honing a solid routine that leads to academic excellence • What co-curricular opportunities exist and how to engage in leadership programs • The positive impact of being involved and engaged on campus • How to manage and navigate long-distance relationships • Developing, managing and maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships • Dating and relating from afar may transition to more face-to-face in nature • Learning to transition from a more sequestered lifestyle to one of group engagement • Finding and cultivating (a minimum of three) mentors • Serving and leading others with intention and purpose • Being an outstanding classroom participant and engaged scholar • Academic endeavors become more refined, defined, saturated and time consuming • Transitioning from distance learning, in person or hybrid to whatever lies ahead • Becoming a walking ambassador of the campus and community This is just the tip of the iceberg: if there was ever a time for all of us who are blessed to interact with and positively impact the lives of college students to selflessly come together for their benefit, that time is now. They deserve our focus and our best effort.

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2022 National Campus Activities Planning Conference

Sweeten-Up Your Events!

80+ Showcases and Novelty Acts 50+ Educational Sessions, Keynotes and networking opportunities for Students and Student Life Professionals.

Block Booking discounts on entertainment, novelties, speakers and training.

Save t he Da tes!

Hershe March y, PA. 24-27, 2022

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CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

JOIN US EVERY THURSDAY AT 2PM (EST) FOR OUR PIVOT YOUR PROGRAMS WEBINARS! Discussions and interviews with leading professionals in the campus life & talent industries regarding programming during and after Covid-19 Missed previous Pivot Your Programs webinars?

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TOPICS INCLUDE: • • • • • • • • • • •

VIRTUAL & LIVE PROGRAMMING IDEAS MARKETING STRATEGIES ONLINE RECRUITMENT VIRTUAL TECHNOLOGIES VIRTUAL DIVERSITY PROGRAMMING ONLINE RESOURCES AND TOOLS INTERVIEWS WITH CAMPUS LIFE PROFESSIONALS INTERVIEWS WITH TALENT AGENCIES VIRTUAL ENGAGEMENT Q & A WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS AND MORE!

RS INA !

B E E W FRE ARE HERE K CLIC TO R ISTE REG AY TOD

CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

MEET THE APCA STAFF

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CLT Magazine | Summer 2021

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