Department of Student Life

Fall 2015 Capstone

Erica Doherty, Wilson Zhang, Leila Sedigh, Brittani Samuel, Nicole
Peinkofer, Shaneka Rodriguez, Howard Spector, Lea Karnath

What does it mean to be a Department of Student Life

Intern ?
Mission Statement: It is the mission of the Geneseo Department of Student Life to
catalog, promote, assess and strengthen student learning opportunities within
student and campus life that contribute to a rich, meaningful and fulfilling college
experience for Geneseo students.

Initiatives

PAT - Peer Advisement Team

Purpose: Assess how Geneseo organizations are fulfilling their missions along with
discussing any challenges they may be facing
Implementation: Each intern was assigned a portion of student organizations to
meet and discuss their progress, purpose, goals, and ultimately, their biggest
challenges. After meeting collectively as interns, we identified common challenges
and determined final recommendations for the Department of Student Life

Major Issues
Attendance and Retention
Publicizing Clubs and Their Events
Officer Transition and Eboard Participation

Final Recommendations
Student Organization Workshop
Officer Transition Program
Incentive Program

CLIP - Campus Life Internship Project

Internship initiative of the Department of Student Life, the Department of Career
Development, and Office of Commencement Events
Aim: to assess expectation of the senior year experience
Feedback used to improve the different departments
Brainstorm Survey Focus Groups Conclusions Final Recommendations

CLIP Final Recommendations

Create a banner with a timeline of senior events that occur each year
Banner would appear on campus in a location visible to many seniors
Possible locations include College Union, ISC, Milne library
Work with SA Graphics to create an eye-catching banner with important
information and a QR code
Sending out a mass email to the senior mailing list starting at the very beginning of
the academic year

Department of Student Life

Internship Roles

General Student Life - What It Is

Programming Focus:
1.
2.
3.

Create programs that promote the current semester's Student & Campus Life focus
Encourage school spirit and a sense of Geneseo pride within the college community
Develop activities that both educate and entertain

Marketing Focus:
1.

Promote the many different ways students can become involved on campus

2.

Share the benefits of being an active and engaged member of the Geneseo Community

3.

Promote the events hosted by the Department of Student Life

General Student Life - What We Did

Mics & Mochas: It is a weekly open mic event held at Starbucks
-This semester we continued the tradition of holding Mics on Mondays from 7-8pm, new promotion
- Send weekly email to list-serves, Facebook posts
-Contact artists, YouCanBookMe.com

Blue & White Fridays: Weekly campaign to promote school spirit, especially around Geneseo athletics
Proposed, promoted and programmed major events held in the MacVittie Union on the last Friday of every month to promote
this campaign
Correlated our programs with major events on campus in order to reach a broader audience and specify our activities (Family
Weekend, First Ice Knights home game, Thanksgiving)

General Student Life - What We Learned

>How to better communicate with other departments and programs offered on our
Geneseo campus (Duplicating Center, Teach for America, etc.)
>Importance of organization and creating a timeline when planning an event
>How to be adaptive to unpredictable situations such as last minute Mics & Mochas
cancellations or mis-scheduling of tables or meetings

What are we taking away?

-Connects to what we are learning for major
-Marketing on campus marketing ourselves and our own companies
-Event planning skills
-Leadership/management skills

Geneseo Late Knight- What it is?

GLK provides quality late-night entertainment during the prime
social times of 10pm-2pm every weekend and the occasional
Thursday 7pm-11pm that classes are in session. GLK events are an
opportunity for students to have fun, gain unique and exciting
experience in programming, leadership development, and
responsible social interaction. All GLK programs are free and
student organizations can apply for grants to put on their very own
GLK event.

Geneseo Late Knight - Programming

What I did
Volunteered for one approved GLK event
Created a survey to determine what events students are
looking for from GLK
Conceptualized, planned, and executed
two events
10/30 - Tricks, Treats, & Transformations
11/21 - Happy, Healthy, Holidays

Assisted marketing intern with weekly tabling

Geneseo Late Knight - Programming

What I learned:
Discovered the importance of organization and time management while undertaking
multiple projects at one time
Developed effective leadership skills through project manager role and as a team
member
Practiced collaboration and learned how to work effectively within a group setting

Geneseo Late Knight - Programming

Future Application:
Goal: Programming/ fundraising for a nonprofit
Programming skill set
Group initiatives
Budgeting

Geneseo Late Knight - Marketing

What I Did:
Weekly Responsibilities:
Social Media
Physical/Digital Signage
Tabling (biweekly weekly)
Emails
Special Events
Marketing the programming interns events
Spontaneous events
Volunteer at GLK event/programming events
Flyers (Homecoming Weekend, Week of Horrors)

Geneseo Late Knight - Marketing

What I Learned as a Leader:
Organization: when multitasking and prioritizing
Creativity: necessity of being innovative and thinking outside of the box
Teamwork: importance of support and asking for support from the interns
Enthusiasm: cannot expect other people to be excited if you are not
Adaptability: adapt to unexpected changes and new ideas

Geneseo Late Knight - Marketing

Final Application
Always held an interest in Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch
Common goal: make lives better/easier for others
What DSL does
What I did through my internship
-teamwork
-leadership role as project manager
-how to market events and get people to respond

Positively Geneseo - Programming & Marketing

What is Positively Geneseo?
Positively Geneseo was established to recognize
individuals and organizations for their efforts in
spreading positivity across campus. Through this, we
emphasize our values of Tradition, Excellence,
Innovation, Community, and Integrity.
Spreading the Positively Geneseo Campaign
Creating a Highlight Book
Planning an event

Positively Geneseo - Programming & Marketing

What we did:
Spreading the Positively Geneseo Campaign - Tabling
Power of Positivity Post-It Board
#PositiveOfTheDay
Hockey Banner

Senior Spotlight
Highlight Book

Positively Geneseo - Programming & Marketing

What did we learn?
Obstacles We faced
Engagement while tabling/tabling ideas
Responsiveness
Event Planning

Skills We Learned from These Obstacles

Time Management & Organizational Skills
Effective Communication

Positively Geneseo - Programming & Marketing

Future Suggestions:
Nomination Forms/Criteria
Reception Goals
More Events - to make others happy
Communicate more frequently

Upstate Escapes: What We Did

Goal: To plan and market events off-campus that will attract Geneseo Students
Fall 2015 Events
1. Great Pumpkin Farm
2. Syracuse vs. Pitt Football Game
3. Matilda
4. Lasertron

Upstate Escapes Travels to the Great Pumpkin Farm!

Upstate Escapes goes to see Syracuse Football!

Upstate Escapes: What We Learned

Emails are the most effective form of outreach
Geneseo students enjoy seasonal-themed activities
Different events will appeal to different demographics of Geneseo
Trust but verify
Attention to detail

Takeaways
Relates to both of our majors
Creating detailed plans
Professional communication
Working in a team

Thank you from the DSL Interns!

Any questions?