Virtual Student Organizations Institute
Join ACUI and NACA for a virtual Student Organizations Institute, June 23–25!
If you manage student organizations, whether a new or seasoned professional, the Virtual Student Organizations Institute offers you opportunities to learn valuable skills and practices from experts and colleagues in the field.
Hosted by ACUI and NACA, this virtual format will explore best and promising practices, learn strategies for online engagement, policy and conduct, inclusive practices, and assessment, and connect with peers. By participating in this experience, you will:
- Gain strategies and skill sets that support advancement in the area of student organization management
- Learn relevant trends impacting student organizations in higher education—including student organization conduct, inclusive practices, and online engagement
- Develop competence in assessment, organizational leadership and management, risk management and legal issues, and adapting in the changing landscape of higher education
- Create a network of peers who can support you through your journey.
Schedule
The schedule is tentative; changes may occur as program develops. Note: All times are Eastern.
June 23
Faculty Presenter: Kristen Carr, University of Connecticut
While some registered student organization training programs have been online or blended for years, recently everything moved to a virtual environment—with all of its ups and downs. This session will address ways to manage online learning programs for student organization leaders and highlight ongoing and surprise successes toward future development and sustainability.
Learning Outcomes
- Participants will discuss opportunities and challenges in an online/virtual student organization training program
- Participants will learn about technologies related to creating and capturing completion data
Risk Management
Faculty Presenter: Kristen Carr, University of Connecticut
This session will cover several bases of risk management and focus specifically on a method to educate students on unintended consequences of their actions and the importance of impacting organizational cultures around risk.
Learning Outcomes
- Participants will review risk management in relation to organizational culture
- Participants will learn about methods to teach on risk management to organization leaders beyond “checking boxes”
What’s On Your Screen: Unpacking Your Identities, Awareness, and Intentionality
This session will review what identities we and our students might hold and examine the saliency of those identities. We will then discuss the implications of awareness and intentionality and how we can be more inclusive with our “default” mindsets—particularly in this time of crisis, which is disproportionately affecting historically minoritized identities.
Learning Outcomes
- Participants will learn more about identities we (and our students) might hold
- Participants will think critically about which identities are most frequently salient for us and why
- Participants will engage in discussion and thinking about the implications of this awareness and intentionality
June 24
Faculty Presenter: Jennifer Catambay-Lopez, Georgia State University
Now more than ever, data drives the way we make decisions. Whether it's choosing the right restaurant for a special occasion or securing grant funds to sponsor a multi-million dollar project, in the end, it's the data that talks. In this deep dive session, we will explore some of the different ways that assessment helps to tell our stories in student affairs and how we can shape our assessment plans to further our goals.
Learning Outcomes
- Participants will be able to use the language of assessment to differentiate assessment from data reporting
- Participants will be better prepared to identify opportunities for assessment in their own programs
- Participants will be able to apply their professional expertise to leverage assessment data for program success
Faculty Presenter: Mark D’Angelo, University of Delaware
We will explore some of this pandemic’s disproportionate impacts on historically minoritized students and identities as they relate to the college experience. Inequities and cracks have unfortunately always been inherent in our systems, institutions, structures, and social norms, but the recent pandemic and sociocultural and institutional responses to that crisis, have cause myriad problematic, harmful, and even fatal consequences on historically minoritized communities and identities. We’ll raise consciousness and awareness around these issues and discuss best practices and recommendations moving forward during these trying and uncertain times.
Learning Outcomes
- Raise awareness around the ways in which this pandemic is disproportionately impacting historically minoritized identities
- Engage in critical and courageous conversations around social location, power, privilege, identity, and oppression—within and outside of the framework of a national crisis
- Share and discuss best practices to mitigate harm, support our students and colleagues, and endeavor to repair and eradicate longstanding inequities in our institutions
June 25
Student Organization Policy
Faculty Presenter: Vincent Jackson, University of DelawareThis session will first present common student organization policies. The latter half of the session will be interactive conversation that looks at policy development by asking key questions around minimizing risk, equity, and fostering professional development.
Learning Outcomes
- Participants will review common policies that minimize risk by establishing equitable expectations
- Participants will differentiate between equitable and inequitable policy development
Implementing a Successful Virtual/Physically Distanced Involvement Fair
Faculty Presenter: Jennifer Catambay-Lopez, Georgia State UniversityThis session will be a facilitated conversation around virtual involvement fairs. We will first compare three different possible models, discussing the pros, cons, and challenges of each. The second half of the breakout will be an interactive conversation that explores ways to help students transition “tabling” and club recruitment to virtual spaces.
Learning Outcomes
- Participants will identify challenges and opportunities in different virtual involvement fair models
- Participants will explore the viability of virtual involvement fairs for their own applications
Faculty Presenter: Vincent Jackson, University of Delaware
While student organizational conduct may have similarities to individual student conduct, there are key differences regarding documentation, investigative practices, and privacy. This deep dive will also look at standards of evidence, types of sanctioning, and developing student support. Lastly, an overview of formal and informal paths that can be used to hold organizations accountable will be reviewed.
Learning Outcomes
- Participants will review a brief history of student conduct
- Participants will learn best practices for documenting and investigating organizational misconduct
- Participants will compare conduct violations with sanctions
- Participants will compare formal and informal conduct practices
Registration
By registering for this event, you will receive access to all three days of the program including:
- Four general session deep dives
- Two breakout sessions opportunities
- Two roundtable discussions
- Informal networking throughout the week
- Digital copies of materials, including presentation slides, handouts, and resources shared by attendees
- Participant information (including institutional student organization demographics that can be used as a resource to connect with other attendees)
You may find the full cancellation policy here.
Registration Details
Professional Member: $225
Professional Nonmember: $325
Deadline: June 16
Institute Faculty
Kristen Carr serves as the student activities involvement and student organization support programs, services, and initiatives coordinator at the University of Connecticut. With 10 years of higher education experience and a master’s degree in student personnel services from Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Carr works to enhance the leadership learning environment for all students. With 700 clubs and 2,600 leaders, Carr directly oversees the SOLID student organization training program.
She has presented nationally and regionally on student leadership training programs and technologies. Carr was awarded the Best Conference Session Award in 2017 from the national Connect Conference.
Jez Catambay-Lopez joined Georgia State University in November 2017 as the associate director of student life for Perimeter College. In her role, Catambay-Lopez leads a team of 13 professional staff providing co-curricular growth for students at the five Perimeter campuses. From speaker series and leadership development to student clubs and homecoming, student life represents the primary engagement point for students outside the classroom. Working collaboratively with academic and student services departments across the university, Catambay-Lopez has initiated a renewed focus on the educational connection between curricular and extracurricular campus life.
Prior to joining the team at Georgia State University, Catambay-Lopez served as director of the New Student Center for Miami Dade College, where she helped to establish strategic partnerships between academic departments and student services to increase campus enrollment by 4% over prior years. She served as chair of multiple steering committees, including the North Campus Commencement Team and the Ashoka Institute Changemaker Team. As director of student Llfe for Miami Dade College’s North Campus, Catambay-Lopez served as a liaison for students to connect with local, state and federal legislators and was instrumental in developing opportunities for legislative advocacy for students and staff. Her campus involvement included the oversight of 54 student organizations and management of multiple large-scale annual flagship events, including the MDC Rally to Vote, with over 15,000 students and community members in attendance.
A recent transplant from Miami, Catambay-Lopez loves exploring the food, culture, and geeky-fun side of Atlanta. She spends her free time most summers competing in an international scavenger hunt to benefit Random Acts of Kindness worldwide.
Mark D’Angelo has been doing diversity education work in higher education for the last seven years. He has previously worked at Boston College doing LGBTQ+ student outreach and support and at Salisbury University as a diversity and inclusion specialist. Now, D’Angelo is at the University of Delaware, working as assistant director for student diversity and inclusion.
Prior to working in higher education, D’Angelo received his master’s in education and taught fourth and fifth grade in New Jersey public schools, before ultimately pursuing his doctorate in education in curriculum and instruction from Boston College, where he’s currently a Ph.D. candidate focusing on social justice education.
Vincent Jackson is a coordinator in the Office of Student Conduct at the University of Delaware. He currently serves as the chair for the group adjudication task force charged with evaluating and recommending changes to the organizational conduct process. He has previously served as the manager for facility and event operations with the University Student Centers.
Since 2012, Jackson has advised a variety of student organizations, such as Rubber Chickens Improv Comedy, Humans vs Zombies, and Billiards Club. Jackson has served on the ACUI Region VII Leadership Team since 2013, currently as the regional director. In 2019, Jackson completed Training in Restorative Justice for College Student Misconduct and Residence Life.
Jackson is more than willing to show up with pizza, no questions asked. He earned both a bachelor’s in English and a master’s in higher education administration from the University of Delaware.
