Setting organizational or program objectives is seen as requiring three steps (brainstorming goals for the year, prioritizing them, and visualizing them as smaller, discrete tasks) and six principles (making goals group-specific, setting deadlines, being realistic and explicit, writing down goals, defining measurable steps, and creating…

A discussion of the student activities administrator's role in solving substantial problems on the job looks at typical difficult situations and offers models for dealing with them. Each model consists of five practical steps for problem resolution. Situations addressed include emergencies, motivational crises, and externally imposed…

Offers guidelines for risk management to campus entertainers and their representatives, including options for insurance coverage, types of insurance policies, and risk management for non-insurable factors associated with concerts and novelty events. (MSE)

A guide to student fund-raising activities offers 10 rules for successful fund-raising, guidelines for selecting the appropriate kind of event or campaign, and 9 possibilities: selling a popular item; food functions; gaming/gambling events; sporting events; social events; social selling events; talent shows; services; and solicitation. (MSE)

Key characteristics of an effective college student leader are defined: consistency in word and action; ownership of responsibility for actions and leadership position; development of healthy relationships with friends, coworkers, mentors, and mentees; and ethical decision making. It is argued that leadership is a full-time job and that student…

As the world is changing, higher education program administrators must give up a linear way of thinking and search for another that fits a nonlinear, dynamic system. Leaders can learn much from the science of chaos studies about how dynamic human organizations function and the underlying principles of complex dynamic systems. (MSE)

Considerations in selecting quality novelty/variety entertainers to perform at colleges and universities are outlined. Advantages of this genre include newness, package marketing, affordability, ease of planning, great visual effects, ease of drop-by programming, custom tailoring, mass appeal. Concerns include limited individual interaction in…

A discussion of the relationship between the campus activities programing office and performers addresses the need for a contract, its essential and optional elements, sponsor and artist rights and responsibilities, ethical considerations, riders, potential conflicts, and the need to check legal issues with college counsel. (MSE)

The health needs and challenges of performers who travel from campus to campus are examined, and recommendations are offered for promoting better health through good sleep, good nutrition, exercise, and using medications. Considerations concerning health insurance and maintaining spiritual and emotional health are also discussed. Actions that…

Campus activities planners are offered strategies to use to make the most of their time attending National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) conventions. Advice includes specific approaches for covering conference sessions and booths, gathering information, planning for campus performances, and having students learn from the convention…

Campus activities programmers are offered suggestions to make the budgeting process clearer. They include knowing funding sources, understanding distribution of funds, monitoring encumbered funds, developing a system to keep track of how funds are spent, avoiding overspending and handling re-appropriations, setting aside reserves, and asking for…

Twenty ideas for reducing program costs are offered to campus activities programmers. They include using technology wisely, avoiding excess outlay of funds, trading for services, seeking donations and sponsors, co-sponsoring events, buying supplies in bulk, requesting discounts, avoiding unnecessary sales taxes, using telephone services…

Individuals tend to avoid situations they perceive as risky, but positive risk-taking experiences allow people to continue seeking challenge and growth. Campus activities programing may involve risk taking or leadership in group risk taking, either in the activities themselves or in program planning. Leaders must relate risks to group goals to…

A campus atmosphere of cultural pluralism in which individual minority groups can maintain a sense of identity and uniqueness while acknowledging and building on shared experiences and values can empower all members of the college community. Student activities policies and procedures reconsidered in this light can lower barriers. (Author/MSE)

In a speech to campus activities planners, a student affairs professional proposed that his colleagues must become involved in organizational politics, learning about the alliances between and among individuals and groups on campus and following specific procedural and interpersonal guidelines in engaging in a political battle. (MSE)