Campaign encourages club involvement
This week, students across USU’s campus are being invited by ASUSU Diversity Vice President Kaho Fiefia to get involved and “Go Clubbing.” The campaign is aimed at getting students motivated to join a club or organization.
Fiefia, who is overseeing the campaign, said when students get involved, the rewards are numerous. He said students’ college life will improve, they will make more friends and feel more a part of USU. He also said students will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge learned from classes in real life.
“The real college experience comes from being involved,” Fiefia said.
Fiefia said the campaign’s timing couldn’t be better because it corresponds with the launch of USU’s new website along with the new ASUSU website.
Fiefia said clubs and organizations will be represented better on the new website. He said the old version looked unattractive and was difficult to search. He also said the new website will provide club seekers three different ways to find a club to join. The new search methods include alphabetically, by category, or by academic college.
For those who cannot locate a club, Fiefia said students can create their own club as long as it enhances student life.
“We want diversity in clubs,” he said.
Fiefia is also making other changes as Diversity VP. While all clubs were required to attend Council of Student Clubs and Organizations (CSCO) meetings, Fiefia said attendance was only around 30 percent, meaning many clubs were not receiving necessary information. From now on, each college senator will attend CSCO meetings in place of the clubs associated with their college. College senators will also take the concerns and questions from their clubs to be addressed at the meetings. Fiefia said this will assure each club receives the information they need.
Physical Therapy Club President Melissa Lambert said she believes this may benefit her club. Lambert said while CSCO meetings are only once a month, they are usually lengthy and some of the material would not apply to certain clubs. She said the new system would enable clubs to be able to ask more questions and relay their issues.
Also new this year is the creation of a diversity council. Fiefia assembled a council of individuals to help him with tasks throughout the year. Fiefia said having a council has made his office better and more efficient. Covering public relations and marketing for Fiefia is student Michael Brice. Brice said he is a success story when it comes to “clubbing” because he used to live off campus and didn’t participate in many events. Brice said that he now lives on campus, got involved, and feels that everything is going much better.
Student Katie Parker said being part of the club “The HURD,” turned out being fun and worth its fee. Parker said she would not have joined initially if it wasn’t for her friends.
“It got me involved all over campus and made me want to attend more events, especially with athletics,” said Parker.
Lambert said her club currently charges a $5 fee because it does not receive any funding from ASUSU. She said her club still functions well without funding and the benefits of being a part of the club are worth more than the small fee. Lambert said that because of the physical therapy club, students can come learn more about physical therapy and find other students who are applying for physical therapy school or just have that similar interest.
Fiefia said there is about $12,000 in funding available for clubs and out of the $6,000 available this semester, only $2,000 has been awarded. Fiefia said this is due to clubs not asking for funding. He said clubs need to actually request funding, and while they don’t usually award the whole amount asked for, so far no request has been fully declined.
“We try and help them budget for necessary needs,” said Fiefia. “If they need help, we have that for them.”
Fiefia said he was once unsure about college life, but after attending an open social he felt like he had found a place where he belonged.
“My main goal is to help everyone feel welcome and feel like they have a place that they can call home,” he said.
Now Fiefia is challenging students to find a place they feel suits them by asking, “Who are you clubbing with?”
– jessie.a.sweat@aggiemail.usu.edu