Student Leadership « OSU Memorial Union

Spring Break this coming year is March 23 to March 31, 2013….what are your plans? How about connecting to a community via meaningful service experience? Again this year the OSU Center for Civic Engagement has planned three service opportunity trips over spring break. They are:

Hunger & Homelessness: San Francisco, California

Explore the complex, multi-faceted factors at play impacting hunger and homelessness in San Francisco and learn about homelessness issues in major urban areas including the short-term relief and long-term solutions that are being worked for and envisioned. Participants will complete service projects centered on addressing hunger and homelessness while meeting and working alongside local visionaries who actively address these issues in their communities. If you have an interest in learning about homelessness issues in major urban areas, this is the perfect trip for you. The trip will include hands-on direct service work with people experiencing homelessness from diverse backgrounds such as preparing and serving meals. We will also complete indirect service projects, such as facility improvements and assisting organizations prepare for fundraisers, gaining behind the scenes awareness and understanding of organizations that address homelessness. On our off day, we will explore San Francisco and all of the treasures that it has to offer!

Community & Cultural Engagement: Yakima, Washington

Uncover the human face and human cost of land acquisition, colonization, and immigration by exploring the influx and interplay of different cultural groups in the Yakima valley by working with the Native American Reservation, Yakama Nation, Latino migrant workers, and the City of Yakima. Through direct service work, we will expose the buried roots of the area’s historical relationship to the land and explore implications for the present and future of different cultural groups in the region within our society. We will also see first-hand the human impact and cost of land acquisition and immigration in the pursuit of the “American dream.” During our trip we will serve different populations: We’ll help to teach English language skills to recent Latino migrant workers, assist with afterschool children’s programs at a Native American housing project, prepare meals for a homeless shelter for youth, and even work on the land ourselves. The group will visit the Yakama Nation Cultural Heritage Center. During our off day, the group will elect outings to a local, beautiful hike/park, a community festival, the Allied Arts Center, the Yakima Valley Museum, or the Yakima Area Arboretum.

Environmental Restoration & Conservation: Ashland, Oregon

Discover the pressing environmental conservation and restoration issues in Ashland, Oregon. Participants will complete environmental restoration projects such as creek restoration, planting, mulching, invasive species removal, fertilizing, trail building, and restoring bird habitats with a variety of community organizations. Participants will meet with local environmental leaders to learn about threats to the natural environment and local and national legislation that is impacting natural habitats and ecosystems. This trip will include many hands-on, physical projects and possible hikes in the beautiful Pacific Northwest outdoors. Rain jackets, rain pants, and work boots are required for this trip to ensure comfort of the participants. On our off day, we will explore Ashland, go hiking, and/or possibly attend a play at the local Shakespeare Festival.

Application deadline is next Monday, November 26^th. You can get more information at the Center foe Civic Engagement website: oregonstate.edu/cce or contact Julia Lang in Snell Hall 158, 541-737-3172.

Have a great experience this spring break. Choose from on of 3 service projects Better yourself and better the world.

#1 Urban Beautification & Poverty – Yakima, WA
Learn about urban poverty and hunger issues while also completing city beautification and restoration projects, completing a variety of projects to meet pressing needs of the city and local community. This trip will expose you to many of the complex issues that face this small city including racial tensions, violence, food insecurity, and homelessness. estimated cost: $105 plus meals

#2 Oregon Conversation – Newport, OR
Travel to the Oregon coast to complete environmental restoration projects. Service work will likely include beach clean ups, tree planting, invasive species removal and stream restoration and clean up. If you have an interest in learning about environmental restoration and Northwest coastal ecosystems, this is a wonderful spring break trip for you. On our off day, we will go whale watching and explore the coast region hiking or canoeing. estimated cost: $170 plus meals
#3 Hunger & Homelessness – San Francisco, CA
Travel to one of the nation’s greatest cities to work with multiple nonprofit organizations that are addressing hunger and homelessness issues. This trip will include hands-on direct service work with people experiencing homelessness from diverse backgrounds. You will meet and work alongside local visionaries who have created programs to combat issues close to their hearts. On our off day, we will explore San Francisco and all of the treasures that it has to offer!
estimated cost: $250 plus meals

For More Info:

Oregon State University, Center for Civic Engagement, 158 Snell Hall

Julia.Lang@oregonstate.edu or http://oregonstate.edu/cce/alternativebreaks

Download our application on our website: www.oregonstate.edu/cce

Accommodations for disabilities may be made by emailing: Julia.Lang@oregonstate.edu

Want to impact your local community? Get to know OSU’s Center for Civic Engagement (CCE)!!! The CCE’s mission is to facilitate students’ connection to the community via meaningful service experiences that inspire positive change in local and global issues. In partnership with community-based organizations, the CCE is committed to providing service opportunities and programs that allow students, faculty, and staff to meet diverse community needs and learn and reflect about their roles as active citizens. The CCE completes diverse projects ranging from litter clean ups to serving meals to spending time with local senior citizens to mentoring youth. You can do all of this and more by getting involved with the CCE.

You may be asking yourself, “Why should I get involved through service?” Well, people get involved with service for unique and varied reasons and there are numerous benefits. The experience of getting involved with your communities through service may allow you to:

Enhance your sense of self, sense of place, and a sense of purpose to effect positive change
Impact change in your areas of passion and interest
Feel a sense accomplishment
Deepen your understanding of complex social, environmental, and political issues
Develop friendships and a stronger sense of community and belonging
Build relationships with people from diverse backgrounds
Explore your values
Find an outlet for your creativity
Expand your leadership and practical skill set
Survey various career paths and options to aid with career decision-making

We provide the following services for students and student groups:

Experiential learning through annual, one time, and ongoing co-curricular community service and service-learning opportunities
Individual service consultation to assist students in finding service opportunities and areas of passion
Consultation for service groups and student organizations related to community service programming, service-learning education, and reflection strategies
Networking between the OSU campus and surrounding community

OSU Annual Events:

Day of Caring Service Day
Make a Difference Day Service Day
Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service
Non-Profit and Volunteering Expo
Alternative Spring Break Service Trips
Corvallis Earth Connect/Earth Day
PeaceJam conference with Nobel Peace Prize Laureates

To get involved or learn more

visit the CCE in Snell 156/156

on the web at http://oregonstate.edu/cce/.

Phone: 541.737.3041

E-mail: beaver.volunteer@oregonstate.edu

OSU Students
On February 13th, the Memorial Union Program Council and The Center for Leadership Development will sponsor this one day conference which is designed to help you better understand the relationships between your skills and a positive life experience once you finish your college career. The conference begins at 11:00 am and concludes at 4:00.

Along with keynote speakers President Ed Ray and Vice Provost Larry Roper, break-out sessions will include the topics of: marketing your personal strengths, personal finance, developing a personal network, preparing for post-college, competitive vs. cooperative working cultures, and Woman’s strengths in the workplace. Our closing keynote speaker will be Nathan Gamble, Director of Network Traffic Management for Yahoo.

Nourishment will be available throughout the conference and we are pleased to announce we will conclude the day with a drawing for three individual one thousand dollar tuition scholarships for Spring term 2010. There is no charge to attend, but we do request you register on line at: Leadership Conference

We will forward a conference reminder to you shortly prior to the conference. Please join us and gather a better understanding on Life after College.

Teressa Hartley - 213 Project Manager

The renovation of MU 213 and the MLK Suite is nearly complete and we will be dedicating that space on October 13th. The new name for the 213 room is the “Pan-Afrikan Sankofa Conference Room.” The name and the eventual design for the space were chosen by a panel of students and faculty representatives from the Pan-Afrikan community at OSU. More details about the dedication program will be announced shortly. The project was lead by a student intern from the Promise Program, who is also a Design and the Human Environment major, Teressa Hartley. In addition to the interior design and art changes, the Pan-Afrikan room can now be reserved along with the MLK Suite and accessed through a pair of double doors that interconnect the two spaces.

After student body elections last spring and officially beginning their term in mid-June, the Memorial Union President and Vice President have been hard at work this summer. Both President Jorge Michel and Vice President Caitlin Martin were very involved with MUPC last year. This summer they have represented the Memorial Union at the 12 START new student orientation sessions, worked with Student Orientation on CONNECT Week events, have been planning Dad’s Weekend (November 13 to 15) and Homecoming events (October 31st). They are also introducing two new events this fall, Campus Movie Festival (October 11 to 23) and John Reeves concert (November 5th). Jorge is a sophomore in Civil Engineering and was in charge of the Fashion Show last year, as well as working on several other programs. Caitlin is a junior in Communications (minor in Spanish) and was in charge of Children’s Holiday Party and the International Women’s Week last year.

There is some more information about both of them.

Jorge Michel
Hey, I’m Jorge Michel and I am running for Memorial Union President. I am a sophomore in Civil Engineering. My passions are music, art, people and fashion, as well as my nephews and niece. Here at Oregon State, I have an amazing opportunity to become part of student involvement, the thing I was most passionate about during high school. I am a Memorial Union Program Council (director) in charge of the Mom’s Weekend Fashion Show and the Men’s Leadership Conference.

While my experience with event planning here at Oregon State has been mostly through MUPC, I do have a strong base of experience from previous involvement before coming to school here. I grew up in a rural town in Eastern Oregon where I had the ability to develop leadership skills that are assets to me now. With lots of support, I became involved in Student Body Government and became Vice President and later President of my school. After conquering my school, I moved on to state wide organizations such as the Oregon Association of Student Councils and become an Eastern Region Representative and then State-Wide At-Large Representative. With these learning experiences, I finally became involved with State Superintendent’s Youth Leadership Council, an organization that helped counsel the State Superintendent with her decisions on budgeting for schools across the state. All of these opportunities have been practice for becoming the Memorial Union President and being able to serve the student body’s interest in the Memorial Union and the OSU Student Incidental Fee Committee.

Through my experiences here at Oregon State, I have been able to experience and work with different organizations here on campus. I hope to include everyone that I have worked with, as well as those I will meet; to create a more unified Student Involvement group that everyone on campus can be a part of.

While a major amount of the MU President’s time is dedicated to the Program Council, it is my belief that they should make sure that they are a center point for everything else that the President governs. I wish to develop a great organization that will be a highlight of our campus that can be recognized nationwide. While the job of being in charge of one of the largest organizations may seem like an immense amount of responsibility, it is important to remember that I am a student just like everyone else that is proud of our school, proud of our Memorial Union and above all proud to be a Beaver!

Caitlin Martin
Hi! My name is Caitlin Martin and I am running for Memorial Union Vice President. I am a junior in Communications and a minor in Spanish. I currently serve as one of eight Directors for the Memorial Union Program Council (MUPC) assisting in the planning and execution of campus wide events including mom’s and dad’s weekend, children’s holiday party, snow in the quad and battle of the bands. Up until last year, when I first got involved with the MUPC, I was involved with very little on campus; as this year has passed my eyes have been opened to all the excellent resources available to me and I have also realized that I am very proud to be a student at Oregon State University. I want to be a part of the decisions regarding the Memorial Union and most importantly the student body that make up the OSU community.

I was born and raised in Portland. I attended Saint Mary’s Academy in downtown Portland, where I was a member of the Ambassador program for three years, which is the student leadership group. I helped with Alumni events, the Annual Food For Thought luncheon and was the head of the planning committee for the 2006 Freshman Welcome Night. After graduation, instead of going straight to a university, I attended Portland Community College and worked for the Portland Spirit for one year. Being a full time student and employee furthered the organization skills I had already learned in high school and also helped me learn how to balance school and work. After that year I decided I was missing out on the “real” college experience, which PCC just couldn’t offer; I started at OSU the next fall and haven’t looked back since! When I am not busy with school or work, you will find me hanging out with my friends, watching the Blazers or scrapbooking. Chances are, if you see me around campus you probably won’t catch me without my headphones in – music is a huge passion of mine and I really can’t go long without it. Another passion of mine is making people laugh; I truly believe that my sense of humor is my best quality. I am constantly laughing and love trying to make others laugh, usually at my own expense.

So for, as a director for MUPC, I have been head of the 2008 Children’s Holiday Party and International Women’s Week. During spring term I will be head of the Mom’s Weekend Art Festival and also the coordinator for a small Relay for Life event. Working for the MUPC has provided me with so many amazing opportunities, challenged my creativity and time management skills and allowed a lot of personal growth. I have met students and faculty that I never would have had the chance to meet if it wasn’t for my job. As much as I love my job, there are things that I have noticed and would like to see changed if elected for Vice President. I believe the MUPC does an excellent job providing large entertainment events for campus but I would really like to work at adding smaller programs each term that embrace some current event and social issues taking place around the world. I believe that fun and entertaining events are key to a happy and involved student body but I also believe that education in current affairs is equally as important.

I am excited to create new events, better old ones and work with Jorge and MU staff to solve problems. I also look forward to interacting with more students on a daily basis to make the MU a better building for all OSU students and to provide I would love to meet all of you; if you ever see me on campus and want to learn more about the elections or why Jorge and I are running, don’t hesitate to say hello!

Goals
As President and Vice President of the Memorial Union we hope to achieve a greater connection between OSU students and the Memorial Union and would also like to see the amount of student involvement around campus increase. This year has been an amazing opportunity for growth and learning. Through trial and error, as well as lots of support and help, we have learned about the Memorial Union and the organizations it represents. While our experience has been mostly with MUPC, we have had the opportunity to work with a slew of other organizations, including cultural centers, Greek Life, ROTC and University Housing and Dining Services. Through experience and contacts with these organizations, we hope to strengthen ties with everyone associated with them. With a more unified Memorial Union Organization, which includes the cultural centers, student groups, MUPC, SLI and other student involvement groups, we hope to involve everyone on campus one way or another with activities going on at our great university. Doing so will provide new opportunities for bigger and better campus events and give students more chances to participate and stay connected throughout their college experiences.

“Leadership can spring from any person, can come from any level of an organization and can be uniquely shaped across our diverse community.” That is one of the opening statements from a new booklet that Don Johnson and Karen Clegg with the Center for Leadership Development have created titled “Everyday Leaders”. Fifteen OSU students are featured in the book from very different backgrounds but all exemplify the concept of everyday leader. Here is a link to the book: Everyday Leaders

The Center for Leadership Development sponsored a six part conversation series during the 2008-2009 academic year as an opportunity to investigate ways in which the university community might nurture, inspire and challenge students to find their potential for the “extraordinary.” Dr. Larry Roper, Vice Provost for Student Affairs, and Dr. Cary Green, Assistant Dean for the College of Agricultural Sciences facilitated the six conversations. Staff, faculty and students were invited to attend and, in fact, provided the environment for an exceptional level of conversation which consistently opened new avenues of thinking.
Jennifer Russell, graduating senior in Apparel Design –

“Ultimately, I think the most important task is to provide spaces and resources necessary for the development of relationships and communities, because nearly every student will find some sort of niche, it just takes some acclimation to their surroundings and, of course, time.”

The nature of the conversations focused on a deliberate effort to investigate the concept of “nurturing and inspiring” from many perspectives while participants offered theory, examples and new knowledge. Early conversations focused on defining a nurturing environment and then led toward a better understanding of existing and new programs which might enhance environments in which students can develop their potential. As is the intent and history of such conversations, investigation often leads to greater perspectives. This report will begin with a summary of final conclusions, followed by a review of the six conversations.

Here is the final report: Final Report – Nurturing and Inspiring Students

PRIDE Newspaper produced by Journalism Camp 2009

Last month, Oregonian staff reporter, Yuxing Zheng, spent a week on the OSU campus. She was not researching a story; she was collaborating with OSU Student Media department on an amazing journalism program. For seven days more than 20 high school students, all from minority backgrounds, leaned how to produce a newspaper. This was not classroom work, but hands on experience. Interviewing people for stories, taking photographs, writing, editing and at the end of the week have a completed newspaper. Here is a link to the 40 page paper that they produced.
PRIDE Newspaper in PDF

Yuxing Zheng knows firsthand the impact of these pre-college programs, 9 years ago; she was a student in this journalism camp. See her perspective at:
Zheng Blog

You can read about the program and see the student blogs at the Oregonian online link:
Camp Blogs
Oregonian Story

student-front-mu-low

Don Johnson with the Center for Leadership Development sent out the question “What was a turning point in your life” to some current and past students involved with the Memorial Union. It must have struck a chord with this group because he started getting emails back the same day with very thoughtful responses. The turning points ranged from becoming a US citizen to doing Laundry.
One student who is currently an executive with an internet firm told about the day he was walking across the MU Quad thinking that he needed to do his laundry. At that point he realized his life had changed and he was now responsible for himself.
Some turning points had to do directly with their campus life, like receiving advice from their advisors or job skills that they learned. The time when they realized that they were running a meeting, managing a budget or leading a team. Most were not planned experience, just times in life that they were paying attention when a moment of clarity came to them. Some wonder if they have yet to see that moment come.
“To say that I have already indentified my strengths and a complete understanding of you personal identity is a bold statement to make! Definitely don’t think I’m there yet, but I guess I’ve turned a few corners and jumped a few hurdles in life.”
The “ah ha” moments can come at any time. Some could state specifically when it happened. “My turning point was last February. It only took me 22 years to realize that it was a waste of time waiting around to be liked by people…so I just stared doing my own thing, not caring about what people thought of me and stayed true to myself.” At other times the turning point was no set time. “I can’t give an exact day or time that it happened, but there was a moment that I not longer ached for my hometown friends, I no longer relied on talking to my family every week to get by, my life is now Oregon State. I feel completely on my own and unattached to my past.”
For another, the “ah ha” moment was only realized looking back, from a different perspective. “I look back at this time of some much change, anxiety, fun, excitement, and learning. I didn’t really realize it was all happening to me. As I get older, those experiences become more valuable to me, mostly because I can share them learning with my kids.”
What was your turning point?

OSU Memorial Union

Needs for the Day – Spirit for the Soul

Category Archives: Student Leadership

Alternative Spring Break

Alternative Spring Break 2012

Center for Civic Engagement

the ART of LEADERSHIP & Life after College

Pan-Afrikan Sankofa Conference Room

Jorge & Caitlin | President & VP

Everyday Leaders

Nuturing & Inspiring Students

Giving Back

Turning Point

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