The Commons is the online hub for college union and student activities professionals to learn what is going on in the field and discover new ideas. Presented by the Association of College Unions International, this online resource delivers opportunities for education, updates, and interaction so that you can sustain your professional development and learning using new media.

 Hubbub - What would you like?
Filter the content of The Commons so you can find what you are looking for.

By category: You can find five types of posts in The Commons and filter content by clicking on the category of your choice: 

  • Education—Learn new ideas that you can apply on your campus through informative articles about best practices, new tools, research, and other resources. 
  • Campus News—Stay in the loop about building projects, programming trends, and news related to your colleagues through descriptive updates about what is going on in college unions. 
  • ACUI News—Keep up to date on ACUI programs and services, member benefits, volunteer opportunities, and more through posts about association business. 
  • Perspective—Take a break and get to know colleagues through these “no private thoughts” glimpses into their personal opinions about the profession and about life. 
  • Marketplace—Find a solution to a challenge you are facing by reading about new products and promotions that can make a positive impact on your programs, facilities, and bottom line.

By tag: Focus on an area you want to learn more about by clicking on a tag for that topic, and you will receive a feed of related posts. Tags are located on the right column of every page, as well as at the bottom of every post in The Commons. 

By date: Use The Commons archives to narrow down your search. Click on a date to receive an index of posts from that month and year.

 Hubbub - How would you like it cooked? 
We all have our preferences for how we like to get our information. Well, The Commons has options. 

E-mail subscriptions: If you like funneling all of your information through your inbox, receive e-mail notifications when new articles are posted. Sign-up for one of three subscription options: immediate notifications, daily digests, or weekly digests.

RSS: If you like to keep your news feeds separate from your inbox, use RSS to subscribe to The Commons, or add it to feed readers or aggregators you already use. It’s really simple. 

Bookmarks: Some people are just really good about remembering to check their favorite sites regularly. So for you all, add The Commons to your favorites or social bookmarks. We still recommend a subscription until this becomes a habit.

Follow us for updates: ACUI will also use Twitter and Facebook when new articles are posted to The Commons, if you prefer to just follow us through these tools. This sounds a little like cheating though, so again, we recommend an actual subscription.

Hubbub - Would you like pickles with that?
In addition to the core content, The Commons experience relies heavily on your participation. So help us make it the community tool for your profession that you want it to be. 

Share: If you enjoyed an article or you see some information that a colleague would appreciate, use the social sharing bar at the bottom of every post to spread the love. 

Comment: Chime in with your thoughts after reading a post by leaving a comment. You know you like to ask presenters questions or chat with your neighbor during education sessions at a conference—this is no different. 

Contribute: Authoring posts for The Commons is a great way to share your knowledge with others and contribute to the profession. Volunteers can become regular contributors by agreeing to post monthly, or they can submit a one-time guest post. To contribute, submit your interest on the Online Engagement Volunteer form. 

Hubbub - Anything else we can help you with?
If you have any questions or feedback related to The Commons, feel free to contact the ACUI Central Office staff coordinator of The Commons, Elizabeth Stringer, at elstring@acui.org.