With over 600 clubs and organizations, MU provides students many opportunities to get involved in campus life this school year. The 2020 Involvement Week looked different than in the past, including Zoom presentations, virtual Q&A sessions and socially distanced postcard decorating.
The entire event was spread out at various times during the week. Some highlights included Flick at Faurot on Friday and Saturday, Pop in for a Popsicle! on Tuesday, Mizzou Abroad Fair on Wednesday and Post Card Pickup on Thursday. Every day, various organizations, clubs, programs and employers gave virtual presentations and answered questions. Students were able to dip in and out of the virtual “booths” as they saw fit.
MU’s Involvement Ambassadors organized the week-long event, with the goal to connect students — both new and returning — with programs, clubs and other opportunities that may interest them.
“We come from all corners of campus, and we’re involved in different things,” said Brooke Lincoln, vice president of Operations of Involvement Ambassadors. “We want to help students find their own ways to get involved, but more importantly, be a place where they can find a community and a sense of belonging at Mizzou.”
Involvement Ambassadors offer one-on-one consultations for students that need guidance on what MU offers. Lincoln said she has seen a slight dip in consultations this school year, but students are still interested in joining campus organizations.
“Considering everything that’s going on, we have had less consultations than normal, but still a good amount of freshmen and upperclassmen are meeting with us to talk about involvement,” Lincoln said.
Students interested in a consultation can schedule an appointment through MU Connect.
The Mizzou Abroad Fair on Wednesday included “Q&A sessions with study abroad providers and program leaders, presentations on programs around the world and discussions with study abroad advisors about program options,” according to the Involvement Fair website. The fair was open to all MU majors and featured study abroad options for anyone interested.
Some of the presentations included Regent’s University London as part of the United Kingdom study abroad program, Global Mizzou Internships and the Semester at Sea affiliated program.
At the Student Services and Resources Fair, students were able to hear from Susan Dayton, the computing and recruiting resources manager for MU Campus Dining Services on employment through the university.
MU offers 31 different dining and convenience store locations across campus, Dayton said. “If students are looking for food prep options, or if they would rather be behind-the-scenes people, we have dish room or cashier positions, barista positions, waitstaff, bartenders and even service and delivery people.”
Dayton said this year’s Involvement Fair has been a very different experience than in the past.
“Even from the employer’s side, it is a much different world for us right now,” Dayton said. “At the normal job fairs, engagement fairs or things we’ve had in the past, I could catch students as they might have been walking past, looking at what all might have been there. They might not have thought about us as an employer, but I could catch them and plant those seeds.”
One of the biggest challenges Dayton faces is getting the message out on student employment at MU.
“Summer Welcome is a big place for us to recruit and with not doing that in person, it has made a big difference in just how we get the information out there,” Dayton said.
Students interested in working for MU can apply through the Campus Dining website or directly via Handshake.
Students were able to decorate postcards in the Student Center on Thursday, hosted by the Campus Activities Programming Board. The booth was open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Many students took the opportunity to send a letter back home to family and friends. A dropoff box was made available to students who wanted to take their time designing the card. When returned, the postcards were stamped and mailed for free.
While Involvement Week may have looked different this year, the message still stands that students can find their own community within MU.
“Even though things are virtual, freshmen still want to find places that they’re interested in — communities, friends and just people — so I think through Involvement [Week], we are helping them do that,” Lincoln said.
_Edited by Lucy Caile | lcaile@themaneater.com_