Dear staff and faculty,

Did you know that there are about 100 student organizations at Macalester?  Ranging from Adelante to Women in Science and Math (http://www.macalester.edu/directory/studentorganizations/), Mac's student org culture is vibrant and busy!  Categories of orgs include: academic, advisory, cultural, recreational, media, performance, political/social justice, religious and service.

For a student, being a member of a student org brings opportunities of personal, identity and leadership development.  It also brings opportunities to meaningfully engage with a variety of staff, faculty and fellow students.  It's our goal in Campus Programs to help connect more students with staff and faculty advisors.  Currently, about half of our student orgs have identified advisors.  And, more often than not, the other half would like an advisor, they just don't know how to connect with an interested staff or faculty person.

This email is to ask you if you have considered being an advisor to a student org.  This could be within your area of expertise or a passion you have outside of your Macalester role.  Do you like to knit?  Play table tennis?  Discuss politics?  Are you a community activist?  Sing?  Climb? Write? Or maybe you just have the passion to be a mentor and develop relationships with Mac students and connect to the community in a new way.

There are dozens of possibilities and the time commitment depends on you and the students.  Some student orgs may meet with an advisor a couple times a semester while some may meet more frequently.  It really depends on how you set up your expectations with your student group. 

So, why be an advisor?  You will have opportunities to connect with new students in a way where you might serve as a reflective agent, educator, motivator, policy interpreter, mentor, team builder, and conflict mediator.  Exercise your strengths and passions outside of your typical role! 

If you have questions or are interested in this opportunity, please contact me at greenlee@macalester.edu.

Thanks!
Allison Greenlee
Assistant Director of Campus Programs