[Fresh] Interview with Campus Activities Team
Sue Ciccone (susan.ciccone@villanova.edu)
Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:48:20 -0500
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Interview
with Kristina
Kopach, Assistant Director of Student Development, Programming
Fresh@News:
One of your main responsibilities is to
coordinate
the Campus Activities Team. Can you tell
me what exactly the Campus Activities Team does?
Ms.
Kopach: The Campus Activities
Team, affectionately referred
to as CAT, is a student-run
programming board. The actual leadership
board consists of two professional advisers, two graduate assistants,
and 15
undergraduate students. The undergrads lead various committees, such as
“Special Events”, “Ideas and Issues”, “Entertainment”, and “Musical
Events”,
just to name a few. We have about 200-300 students who are part of one
of these
committees at some point during the year.
The overall program, and these committees, are designed to meet
campus-wide programming needs. We hope to provide quality programs,
events, and
opportunities to meet all of the varying interests of our campus
community.
Fresh@News:
What are some of the upcoming events for
this semester?
Ms.
Kopach: Our
student committees are working on a number of
activities for the rest of the semester.
Our Ideas & Issues
Committee just recently brought Paul Rusesabagina
to speak
on campus. Rusesabagina was the hotel manager that inspired the 2004
internationally recognized film, “Hotel Rwanda”. The
event was a
huge success and I think students learned a great deal from his story.
We also have
an ice skating trip to Penn’s Landing scheduled for Feb. 23 and are
already
busy planning this year’s Novafest, where everyone will join together
outside
to celebrate the beginning of Spring at Villanova. It
will feature outdoor concerts, fun inflatable
games, lots of free food, and an exciting evening concert!
Fresh@News: I
also see advertisements for “Late Nite.” What
is that all about?
Ms.
Kopach: This
actually started
because students wanted things to do on campus on the weekends! Many
events on
campus used to end around 10 p.m. and most everything on campus was
closed at
this time. The problem is, of course,
that many students aren't ready to go to bed at 10 p.m. on a Saturday
night. So, we started a set of on-campus
activities that are available from 10 PM to 2 AM on Friday and Saturday
evenings. “Late
Nite” is designed to
guarantee a social outlet on campus for students on weekends. All of the programs
take place in the Bell-Air
Terrace of the Connelly Center and many are FREE! Different student groups sponsor each
weekend night so there are events
for all tastes. This allows
students to meet and interact with a variety of groups
on campus, each offering different types of activities and
entertainment. Late
Nite has lined up a number
of programs for the rest of
the semester such as: band performances,
a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, contests and DJ dance parties. To add to the fun, CAT shows its movies for
free in the Cinema.
Fresh@News: Wow, that is a lot to do on
campus.
What about off-campus? Do you find that students
take advantage
of the fact that Villanova is so close to Philadelphia?
Ms.
Kopach: As close as we are, I
think many students go through their four years here and rarely venture
off the
Main Line. We offer a “Best of Philly” program
to help students realize there is life beyond Lancaster Ave. Roughly
once a
month we offer a trip to Philadelphia. We try to balance more cultural
activities like going to a museum or a play with more traditional
entertainment
like going to a sporting event and going out for a "Philly
cheesesteak." We hope that when
students see how much is going on and how easy it is to get into
Philadelphia,
that they will start to take advantage of these opportunities
themselves. Last
semester we had a very successful event where we brought students to
“College
Day on the Parkway.” This event was run by the city itself and open to
all of
the colleges and universities in the area. This was a chance for all of
the
local area college students to experience Philly and meet one another.
Most
museums and exhibits were free to college students on this day and we
were able
to give students a little taste of all of the great things the city of
Philadelphia has to offer.
Fresh@News: Well
even with all of these opportunities, one
of the things we hear from freshmen is there is not enough for them to
do on
weekends. Tell us more about that.
Ms.
Kopach: I
hear that too, which always amazes me because, as I sometimes reply,
"we
have a whole calendar of things to do."
Fresh@News: Why do you
think they say that?
Ms.
Kopach: There are a few factors here. One
is that students are now much more
responsible for their own time than they were in high school, so if
they don't
actively make some choices and decisions, they will be sitting around
alone. This in itself is a new
experience for some of our students, so in their social life, as well
as in
their academic life, they have to take more responsibility for how they
spend
their time. Also, they have many more
hours of unstructured time to fill. Instead of being in high school
five days a
week, they may have only 15 to 18 hours of class a week.
Although the workload is usually much higher
than it was in high school, there certainly is a lot more unstructured
time. Sometimes it takes them awhile to
learn how to fill some of that time.
Fresh@News: The
thing I never understand is this; the students are surrounded by people
of
their own age, so you would think that they would always enjoy just
being with
each other. How could they possibly complain about their social lives?
Ms.
Kopach: That can work both ways. Remember,
they are with other young people on
a 24/7 basis anyway. They are already spending a lot of time with their
friends, so just getting together with other students isn't something
new. When the weekend rolls around they are
looking for something different.
Fresh@News:
So how do we
actually get the students to
realize that all of these opportunities exist? How do you promote your
events?
Ms.
Kopach: Actually
information overload can be a problem.
We make a lot of effort to get the word out to students about
activities
on campus. Unfortunately, there are many
campus organizations competing for our students' attention through
posters,
ads, voice mails and e-mails, so the students sometimes tune it out. The students have to learn to be more
pro-active, to review the options and to do some advance planning. CAT
does
most of their promoting through sending emails to our listservs,
posting our
events on the Wildcat Newswire, and fliers in the Residence Halls. Some
of our
larger events also have their own websites that students can link to
from the
main University’s website. And of course, they can always check out
CAT’s
website. The students themselves are actually usually the best form of
getting
the word out, just by word of mouth. We work with Residence Life quite
a bit as
well. We inform the Resident Assistants (RAs) of upcoming events and
they often
turn the event into a program and invite their entire floor to go! This
is a
great way to not only have fun, but to also build community in the
Residence
Halls.
Fresh@News: And
besides just attending these programs and events, can students become
involved
in the actual planning of them? Can freshmen become members of CAT?
Ms.
Kopach:
Absolutely! One of the great things about CAT that you can join at any
time
during the year! Many clubs and organizations on campus only have open
enrollment or their application process at the beginning of the year.
That can
be difficult because in September many freshmen are overwhelmed with
all of the
choices available to them or are afraid to become involved because of
academic
commitments. CAT offers a variety of opportunities throughout the year,
with
varying levels of time commitment. Freshmen can join any committee at
any time
and feel comfortable doing so. There are many freshmen already involved
and it
is common for students to come and go. It is a great way to meet new
people,
learn valuable leadership skills, understand the behind-the-scenes
aspects of
programming, and plan some great events for the entire campus to enjoy.
Fresh@News: How
would they go about becoming involved?
Ms.
Kopach:
The best way is to simply stop by the CAT office in 108 Dougherty Hall.
It is
right across from the Wildcard Office on the main floor. There are
always
students hanging out in the office that can answer questions or help
them to
become involved.
Fresh@News: Do you
have any advice to parents?
Ms.
Kopach:
College is a
great time for young people, but it does have
challenges. Although we talk a lot about
the academic challenges, the social challenges can be every bit as
overwhelming. Sometimes students just want to sit and wait for
something to
come to them, but they need to learn to be a bit more proactive. Parents can encourage them to explore the
many activities that are available to them and to take advantage of
them. There
are so many opportunities at their fingertips and ways to become
involved in the
community here at Villanova. Whether just going to a CAT sponsored
event or
becoming involved in the planning of it, it can be a great way for
freshmen to
see what is out there and broaden their VU experience. All of our entertainment
on campus
is student focused. We ask the students
in surveys and focus groups what they want to do. Then,
students design the events for their
classmates. As a parent, the best advice
to give a student who has tried some of the activities but can’t seem
to find
their niche would be to suggest they get involved with the planning of
events. Membership in CAT and most of
our groups is open all year round and new faces are always welcome.
----
Sue Ciccone
Director of Orientation and Assistant for Special Projects
Villanova University
207 Dougherty Hall
800 Lancaster Ave.
Villanova, PA 19085
610.519.7210--Phone
610.519.5203--Fax
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