Winter weather can keep students from gathering together as friends or group members, but this week, the University will host an event that cannot be snowed out: the 2018 Get Involved Fair.
The Office of Campus Activities will be hosting the Get Involved Fair Jan. 18, between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the The Bowen-Thompson Student Union Grand Ballroom. Students will get a chance to look at groups and organizations at the University and their upcoming activities this week.
Like Campus Fest, which takes place near the beginning of fall semesters on University green spaces, many different student groups will be present at the fair. According to the University’s website, over 300 student organizations will host tables in the ballroom.
Additionally, different University offices, community groups and local businesses will present at the fair to attract attention and emphasize participation. Included in these groups are the University’s Women’s Center and the Not in Our Town community advocacy group.
“I think that making sure students are aware of what’s offered to them … is important,” Kiara Vance, first-year graduate student and organizer of major events with the Office of Campus Activities, said.
Vance said she had enjoyed working in extracurricular groups as an undergraduate student at the University and wanted to encourage a similar degree of participation among current undergraduates through her work on the Get Involved Fair.
She added that, in addition to wanting students to discover more social opportunities, organizers and fellow office members are “really hoping to increase student participation.”
While different students can discover extracurricular activities through attending organization fairs, not all paths to participation are through such events.
Travis Durham, a sophomore psychology major, said he decided to become an Opening Weekend Group Leader because he found out about the position through the Campus Update mailing feature. He said an earlier-held counselor position at a camp had helped him become interested in peer management positions, and that knowing about the campus job convinced him to participate.
Durham also mentioned that, while he appreciated attending the similarly-organized Campus Fest and discovering various groups, he was not convinced to join a student or University organization because of it.
Additionally, he said the Get Involved Fair, which he had not known about previously, could be harder to attend due to the difference in venue; while Campus Fest was convenient to attend because it was in the middle of the University on a summer day, the Get Involved Fair would require more of a direct drive to attend.
However, while his experience with previous fairs was not so effective in generating participation as organizations would hope, Durham said he appreciated the existence of the event. “It shows people such an organization exists,” he said about the potential of recruiting for his own position at such an event.
Vance said the organizers had begun preliminary planning in September and more intense planning in November, but the Office of Campus Activities kept the organization registration form open until Jan. 10.
A diverse selection of opportunities may be found at the fair for students. “We really take it upon ourselves to set up success outside the classroom,” she said.
