Faculty urged to get involved in student clubs
Increased support for organizations 'healthy' for campus life, Dennis Black tells FSEC

Student academic clubs could be the venue for getting more faculty members involved in student life and fill a void that has existed on campus since the 1960s and '70s, a senior faculty member told other members of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee at the group's Jan. 20 meeting.

During a discussion of faculty involvement in student clubs and organizations, Dennis Black, vice president for student affairs, recounted the history of student clubs within the SUNY system.

Black noted that during the turmoil on campuses that existed during the late '60s and early '70s, system administration advised the campuses to take a "hands-off approach" with regard to student clubs and organizations. The campuses were told to collect student activity fees, then turn them over to the students, who were to decide how to spend the money without any institutional involvement.

That decision, Black said, in effect stopped many forms of faculty involvement and advising for student clubs and organizations.

"What that did was create a divide, a void, that has been in existence since then and leaves us today in a situation that is not healthy; it's not healthy for campus life and it's not healthy for the life of the clubs and organizations," he said. "It clearly doesn't provide the opportunity to be as helpful as it can in providing opportunities for out-of-the-classroom, faculty-student involvement."

Despite the hands-off mandate from SUNY, "there is the realization here and in other places that we can increase the experience for students and increase the experience for the campus with greater involvement (of faculty in student clubs and organizations)," he said, pointing out that there already are some "success stories" of faculty members working with student organizations.

This involvement is not to threaten student authority or redirect their funding decisions or membership requirements, Black added. "It's simply to say that we have some things to offer in terms of our experiences, in terms of support, enthusiasm, stability; it would be helpful to find opportunities for appropriate interaction." In response to a question from Claude Welch, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science, Black estimated that of the more than $2 million in student activity fees expended by the students on campus each year, a relatively small partÑless than $50,000Ñis spent to fund academic clubs. Welch suggested that many faculty members would be interested in becoming involved in student clubs that have "a clear academic focus." He lamented the fact that the typical budget of many student academic clubs runs from $500 to $1,000 for the entire academic year. "I think there would be more and serious faculty interest and involvement if, in turn, the students were willing say that 'gee, we have a priority with academic clubs' in a way that does not seem to exist at this time," Welch said. Black said that as an institution, UB also hasn't done its part, making decisions to support some student organizations and not others. "Whether or not those investments have paid off is highly questionable," he said. For example, should the university be providing the same level of support to academic clubs or honor societies that it is to Greek life? he wondered. Black said his office would be meeting with the Faculty Senate Student Life Committee to discuss student club funding priorities, as well as ways to increase faculty involvement in student clubs and organizations.