Decades ago, universities were places for only the academically outstanding and those who seek a life committed to research. Nowadays, most universities offer both a wide range of academic and non-academic services like mental health consultants, tax consultants, dental clinics and academic advisors. Despite this move towards treating students more holistically, many universities overlook a significant part many students’ lives: dating, with all the struggles and turmoil it causes. University of Toronto Cupid’s Arrow (UTCA) club is created to meet this need. The club is designed to bring people with different experiences and backgrounds together for the purpose of meaningful social interactions, safe group activities, and most importantly, responsible dating. Our “Theory of Change” An average North American goes into a happy marriage with the 7th person they date; this usually means they will experience 6 heartbreaking fall outs before they find the right person. How come? We attribute the causes to lack of experience, guidance, and opportunity. If there was a platform for young adults to safely meet others with the same romantic intentions, but still avoid the awkwardness of two strangers trying to woo each other, wouldn’t dating be much easier, and broken hearts be less frequent? UTCA is such a platform. How We Operate It gathers love-seekers together for fun group events such as evening socials, laser tag and movie nights, while still providing opportunities for alone time if a couple is interested. Members feel more assured since there are more friends around if they need support, and UTCA executives can act as reliable chaperones. The events UTCA hosts are not just places for love-seekers to couple up, they’re also great opportunities to find like-minded friends, and to seek the advices of more experienced members. At first, the only requirement for being a member was showing up to events. With this low threshold we quickly expanded to over 100 members. However, it became obvious that due to the intimate nature of the club members were sensitive to the words and actions of other members and more needed to expected of each member’s conduct. In particular, we received reports of unwelcome jokes by certain members. Alarmed, we quickly moved to establish ethical guidelines for all member communications in the group. Conversations in the large group is closely monitored by executives and people exhibiting inappropriate behaviour are warned once and then immediately removed upon second offense. Now that UTCA is better prepared and established, it is certain that the council can provide even better service and events to all of its members.
0 Comments
Approximately 465 people suffer from brain injuries daily in Canada, resulting in a brain injury every 3 minutes. The extent of brain injury outnumbers breast cancer, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and HIV/AIDS-combined. Traumatic brain injury is a major public health concern yet it does not receive a lot of attention. Brain Awareness Movement (BAM) club is a group at the University of Alberta comprised of students who are determined to reduce the prevalence of brain injury. BAM club was started in 2009 with a mission to educate the public about the preventive measures of brain injuries, support brain injury survivors and their families, and to advocate for brain awareness throughout our community. Acquired brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability for Canadians under the age of 35. It is clearly the number one killer of young adults. The fact that brain injuries can be prevented made the Education Program the main focus of our group’s mission. As the BAM club, we want to inspire our community to be safe and aware of the risks associated with brain injuries. We do this by delivering presentations to schools and explaining the importance of protecting the skull by exposing our audience to varying degrees of brain injuries. Brain injuries can happen to absolutely anybody. They can happen to people of any gender, any age, any ethnicity, your neighbour, or even your child. We focus on supporting brain injury survivors and their families. We work directly with support centres for brain injury survivors like the Brain Care Centre (BCC), and Networks Activity Centre (NAC), by providing volunteers to both these centres. Our volunteering experience is unique because our volunteers gain knowledge of what it is like to be impacted by brain injury as they work one on one with brain injury survivors. They take that experience with them and educate others about how brain injuries can have a huge impact on one’s life. Our volunteers also get to raise funds to donate to the BCC and NAC. We also hold fundraising events, and our main annual fundraising event is the Big BAM Fundraising Gala, which provides an opportunity for the brain injury survivors to share their experiences in order to educate our volunteers and others. Because our focus is to reduce the occurrence of preventable brain injuries, one of our values is to advocate for brain safety by campaigning on campus and throughout our community. We do this through advertising campaigns for example we participate at STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) oriented events in Edmonton, such as the TELUS World of Science and the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even though our members have always sustained the group’s core values, which are to educate, support, and advocate, we have faced challenges. And that is because when we talk about brain injury we lack that deep understanding of its severity. We continue to face a main challenge of getting a lot of members who share the same vision as us. Initially the members were mostly from the Science background, but we have increased our scope of members by participating in the campus clubs fair as we continue to reach out to people who are moved by our cause. Our desire is to have more organisations that are raising awareness on brain injuries. TOGETHER WE CAN SAVE LIVES: JOIN THE BAMILY!!!!! Ruvimbo Maranga Director of Education Brain Awareness Movement University of Alberta Birthdays. They come without fail each year, often an unwelcome reminder of sprouting grey hairs and wrinkles. Yet, you may recall as a child how you eagerly waited in anticipation, counting down the days on your calendar. This hopeful longing is also felt by many children who experience hardships, but they are forced to shift their priorities to align with the harsh realities their families face on a daily basis. Instead of wondering about which toys or coloured balloons their parents may buy, they are plagued with worries like… Will we have food today? Where will we sleep tonight? What happens tomorrow? The list goes on indefinitely. While there are many organizations working to alleviate poverty and homelessness, our club aims to bring a little brightness into the lives of these children. Founded at the University of Calgary in the fall of 2013, Birthday Wishes fundraises to organize group birthday celebrations for children and their families at local homeless shelters. We are currently working with Calgary-based Brenda’s House to deliver celebrations, but have worked with Inn from the Cold in the past. The inspiration to start the club arose from what was then a recently-founded local charity, Children’s Birthday Miracles. We have a shared mission to provide birthday celebrations to children living in homeless shelters and now frequently partner with them to organize celebrations. Some of our founding members directly worked with Children’s Birthday Miracles (CBM), and fortunately had knowledge and connections prior to launching our campus club. However, the majority of our members were recruited by word of mouth and at annual Clubs’ Week events… we all jumped in wholeheartedly, without knowing entirely what to expect. We believe in making a big impact with few resources. An average birthday celebration (for 20-30 children plus their families) costs less than $200 CAD to cover decorations, food and loot bags—CBM sometimes helps cover the cost of gifts. We typically have met or exceeded this amount in a one or two day fundraiser event like a photo booth, bake sale or bottle drive. The amount required is further reduced by acquiring in-kind donations from local businesses and through generous volunteers happily sharing their time as magicians, face-painters, princes and princesses. Additionally, funds can be used even more efficiently to sponsor celebrations abroad with partner organizations, as the cost for goods is much lower: about $50-100 CAD will cover a group birthday, including gifts. Bringing joy, however, comes with some important responsibilities. When working with children and vulnerable individuals, their privacy is highly important us. This is why we never share photos of the children on our displays or website, and typically only take photos with volunteers. Confidentiality is vital to protect the identities of the families staying at homeless shelters. We work directly with the shelters and establish and follow their protocols during celebrations to maintain safety. For similar reasons, we also limit the number of volunteers that can attend a birthday celebration. Understandably, amazing people are the cornerstone of our club! Our club could not be run without the hard work of all our members and volunteers, especially in contributing to organizing fundraising events. The very relatable and unifying mission of our club also means that we attract students from multiple disciplines, like Business, Arts, Engineering and Science. This is wonderful as we can share different perspectives and backgrounds to tackle problems collaboratively. For anyone looking to start a similar club: go for it! If your motivation comes from within, you will impart joy to these children, and enrich your own lives in the process. It is easy with good people at the helm and open communication: we maintain group chats to discuss progress and respond to problems in real-time. If the associated costs concern you, garner support from those around you! We have received a considerable amount of positive feedback on our aim from the university community and local businesses. The response in your community will likely be similar. Moreover, you are not limited to working with homeless shelters. There are many organization positively impacting the lives of children to whom you can reach out—for instance those assisting new immigrants to Canada. Think outside the box! Above all, disregard any notion you may have that initiatives like ours are unnecessary or superfluous. As soon as you enter the room, the dynamic and energy makes it readily apparent that the children we impact do not feel this way. More than presents, cake or any material object we could provide, we offer them an experience. We bring them an opportunity to make lasting memories. We give them time to relish in that special feeling of simply being a kid. If only for a day. Natalie D'Souza VP External Communications Having been a part of student clubs and organizations for several years, I am very familiar with the huge rate of member turnover student groups experience from one year to the next. I originally found this refreshing, and noticed a resurgence of creative energy following every executive change up. High member turnover seemed to set the stage for change by bringing in new ideas and new perspectives, but it did not always guarantee that change would occur. Despite the continual desire for change and progress, I found that many student organizations remained stagnant. Many procedures would be maintained purely due to it “always having been done this way”. This was frustrating for me, as it seemed many traditions were needlessly bureaucratic and seemingly arbitrary. This brings me to the question many students and staff have asked themselves: Should we change or remain the same?
Although change can be good, it is not always easy. Change requires a lot of work and a lot of knowledge. You cannot walk into an organization and start changing things from day one. Change requires a firm understanding of the needs of the population you are serving, in addition to an understanding of the current resources at your disposal. This is the main reason change does not happen as much as one would predict. Knowledge seems to be lost from year to year. By the time students gain a firm understanding of their role, the year is over. It is easier for students to enter a position and use the wheel that has been left behind, than to engineer a new one. Although change can be difficult, it should not be avoided because of the above reasons. My recommendation to students and staff wanting to implement change is to first answer these three questions:
Change is good, as long as it is purposeful. Jennifer Halden Clubs Administrative Coordinator Central Student Association, University of Guelph This post is part of an ongoing series we will be running showcasing clubs that are doing innovative things acros the country. If you think your club fits that bill, then get in touch!
The Student Affairs Society (SAS) is a student organization based at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. SAS offers programs and activities for all U of T students who are interested in pursuing a professional and/or academic career in Student Affairs/Services and in Higher Education. The SAS was founded in 2014 by OISE students. In the same year, the Department of Leadership, Adult and Higher Education (LAHE) launched the Master of Education (MEd) Program in Student Development and Student Services in Higher Education. These events signaled a growing demand for teaching, research and discourses in student affairs. The main goals of SAS are to foster a sense of community and connectedness; provide platforms to share knowledge and resources; and to offer professional and research development opportunities for students, practitioners and scholars in the field of Student Affairs in Higher Education in Canada. A group of new and senior graduate students at OISE have formed the leadership team of SAS (the leadership team) this year. At the beginning of this academic year, the team decided collectively to organize events for students at U of T aimed at facilitating career exploration. Another goal for SAS program offerings was to create safe space for important and sometimes difficult conversations. The group serves as an important bridge for emerging professionals. Through the SAS, students new to the field have the opportunity to explore careers, and discuss topics of conversations such as equity, diversity and inclusion. The leadership team believes that these themes are critical not only for student success, but also for fostering a diverse and inclusive academic and professional community where everyone can flourish. With these specific goals and the broader goals of the SAS in mind, the leadership team has planned and executed various programs and activities for 2016. In the Field was an event where students were invited to speak with current practitioners working in student affairs and to raise any questions they might have. The purpose was for students to get hands-on knowledge of what it is like to be working in various roles in student affairs and provide them with information that help them make important career choices. In an effort to further support students’ career aspirations, SAS has also planned events such as Mock Interviews and SAS Goes to CACUSS (Canadian Association of College and University Services) in the upcoming semester. Within the past few years, SAS has grown from a small student group to a thriving online and in-person community. Much of this success has come from understanding our audience, and providing opportunities for practitioners to engage in our events. By opening up opportunities, we have created space to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Furthermore, members have had the chance to engage informally with professionals in the field. If you'd like to get learn more about the Student Affairs Society, visit our website: studentaffairs.sa.utoronto.ca, or connect with us by email ([email protected]) to be added to the mailing list, and follow us on Twitter: @SASocietyOISE. Cassidy Gong |
Categories
All
Archives
October 2017
Have an idea for an article?
Want to connect with one of the authors? Want to help out with the blog? Shoot us an email at campusclubscanada[at]gmail.com |