A number of changes affecting Sinclair Community College student leadership clubs and organizations are set to happen within the coming months.
“We’re planning to heavily focus on events with a combination of activity planning and volunteer outreach to the community,” Tom Roberts, advisor of Ohio Fellows, said.
Traditionally, the Student Government Association (SGA) has helped organize many of the events on campus, according to President of Student Government Frank Browning. However, it was recently announced that SGA will not exist after this academic school year.
“We had a rough year,” Browning said. “There was a very poor turnout for students who wanted to run for student office, and several officers had to quit their positions halfway through the year.”
Because of the minimal involvement in student government, a student activities board is being considered as a replacement for SGA, according to Roberts.
“The experiment with Student Government has not been as successful as I wanted it to be,” Roberts said. “However, we will continue to offer leadership workshops with a key focus on volunteerism, activity planning and of course student engagement.”
A “Campus Activity Board,” or CAB, is the likely model to replace SGA, according to Roberts and Director of Student Affairs, LaRue Pierce.
“It’s a different approach,” Pierce said. “SGA may not be the best model to get involved on this campus … We didn’t get a very good response during the last SGA elections. We need to work on developing some sort of an advisory board.”
Both Roberts and Pierce said CAB will still be involved in organizing campus activities, networking between various campus clubs, engaging with students and offering student leadership opportunities — much like SGA was.
“The difference is the sense of governance that was involved in SGA,” Roberts said. “CAB won’t hold elections, we’re hoping for it to be an advisory board that is diverse, hopefully with representatives from the various clubs around campus, but any student can join.”
Pierce said his vision for the new advisory board also included a stronger sense of community engagement.
“I don’t believe we do enough volunteer service in and around Dayton,” he said. “We want to make sure we are participating in these volunteer services and focusing on them more.”
According to Pierce, the recent name change of the “Student Leadership Development Office” to the “Student and Community Engagement Office” is one part of the attempt to get involved in the community. The Student and Community Engagement Office is located in the Ponnie Kendell Student Activities Center, in the basement of Building 8.
Although it hasn’t been decided who, Roberts said Sinclair will eventually be hiring a new manager for the Student and Community Engagement Office, possibly sometime this summer.
“With all the changes, the question becomes how do we still become the voice of the students. That’s what we have to work on,” Roberts said.
Browning agrees, “ The goal of SGA was to represent the opinions of the entire student body, and I really think any program, no matter what, has to have consistency. I just hope Sinclair can find that,” he said.
If the campus clubs and students embrace CAB, and can interact consistently, Roberts said he believes the advisory board can be a success.
“In the past, when we organize and market activities, students come out and they enjoy themselves. They have fun and they learn outside the classroom, and that’s something we want to continue,” he said.
Browning said he has great hopes for the future as well, as long as it’s done correctly.
“If CAB isn’t micromanaged by advisors, and as long as the agenda is truly about focusing on student leadership and event planning, I think it could be great success,” he said.
For more information on how to get involved in CAB, or the other clubs and organizations associated with the Student and Community Engagement Office, contact Tom Roberts at tom.roberts@sinclair.