ACUI Open Forum

Thanks to Kat Paynter-Fanning and Adriane Reilly for their focus on Strategies for Fostering Belonging in the College Union.  The article points out that the union can be seen as the heart of campus community.  Further thinking about this analogy, the heart is connected and vital to the survival of the whole organism.  Community doesn't exist only in the college union.  There are many places where community is built and/or reinforced: residence halls, athletic facilities, and classrooms to name just a few.  Union professionals can and should be seen as the experts in developing community.  The article points out that burn-out is a challenge for union professionals and you might be thinking, "I have all I can do focusing on what happens in the union and this guy wants me to take on the whole campus?"  Doing so strategically can extend your reach and, often, reduce work-load.

During my time as a union professional, I was often tasked with campus-wide committee assignments.  While some of them were important and all of them provided terrific networking opportunities, many were a complete waste of my time.  Here a examples of a few of those committee duties that were important.  1) Campus Planning  Committee - a group that reviewed and commented on building and renovation projects.  Advocating for lounge or gathering spaces inside and outside of buildings can help to increase the places where students, faculty, and staff can interact.  2) Dining Services Committee - a group that selected and evaluated the needs for food service facilities.  While there are economies of scale in creating large, centralized dining facilities, campuses need convenient places for the community to grab a coffee or a snack.  As pointed out in the article, dining facilities can be important to building community.  Involvement in this committee also allowed me to oppose coffee shops springing up immediately next door to the union. 3) Student Affairs Leadership Committee - heads of all the offices providing student support services.  This committee was a great opportunity to create partnerships for ventures such as joint student employee training and co-sponsored event programming.

My point is that it is important to seek out opportunities where you can strategically extend your community building mission into the larger campus community.  Carefully doing so can strengthen your union as the heart of campus community and help students with their sense of belonging, even if they are not regular visitors to the union.