On-Campus Clubs and Organizations

[Jae B.]

Heading straight from undergrad into a master's program, I'm wondering if it's too late for me to get involved. I was a student in interdisciplinary studies for undergrad, so I had lots of diverse courses, discussions and opportunities on campus without joining anything. But now that I'll be specializing (and in a professional area no less), I think I might miss academic discussion and action around other topics and issues.

I noticed a lot of graduate students at my school participating in higher-education activism; organizing protests, anti-cuts / pro-funding rallies, walk-outs, strikes, etc. But other than campus politics (in which our interest is a given), do graduate students form or join any campus clubs or organizations? Or, Toastmasters excepted, are those undergrad only?

Are your get-togethers mostly informal now, or do you just utilize community organizations instead of campus ones? (I do that anyway.)

Not that I'll have a lot of free time, between my work and my family. But I could get into something before I start working as a TA my second year or so.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Jae B.

[coyabean]

Great question. I've wondered this myself. I think I may be harboring a leftover childhood fantasy of plugging into an existing episode of Friends -- except with some people of color and no Ross and Rachel on and off again relationship.

From what I observed of my future program most folks are so busy with coursework and research that there's little group joining beyond professional membership in the big discipline association. And more folks have families so there was a lot of talk of how to balance relationships and child-rearing with coursework. This suggested, to me, that few people were inclined to care about extra-curriculars.

It mostly seems to informal where I'm headed: folks reading each other's work, catching a drink, participating in something political like you mentioned.

But I'm interested in the experiences of others.

[rising_star]

I noticed a lot of graduate students at my school participating in higher-education activism; organizing protests, anti-cuts / pro-funding rallies, walk-outs, strikes, etc. But other than campus politics (in which our interest is a given), do graduate students form or join any campus clubs or organizations? Or, Toastmasters excepted, are those undergrad only?

I'm a member of a couple of campus organizations. One is our department's graduate student association. Many departments have these and no one outside the department is ever in them. I'm also a member of an activity-oriented group. When I started my MA, I went to the campus activities fair and put my name and email on a bunch of different lists. I never went to a single event I found out about that way.

Are your get-togethers mostly informal now, or do you just utilize community organizations instead of campus ones? (I do that anyway.)

I participate in formal and informal get-togethers. People in my department and other friends will host small dinner parties, or drinking events organized around a particular event (birthdays, celebratory events, sports event, festival in town, etc.). Or we'll meet up at a bar for happy hour or late night drinks. I'm also involved in a few community organizations. I foster dogs through and volunteer with a local animal rescue group, though I don' t really talk to those folks other than on Saturdays. The campus activity group I'm in has an associated community group that I also belong to and participate with. I'm probably going to get involved with another community group this fall.

[Jae B.]

I think I may be harboring a leftover childhood fantasy of plugging into an existing episode of Friends -- except with some people of color and no Ross and Rachel on and off again relationship.

^… THIS! I completely missed out on that before. Probably because I was so concerned about getting into grad school!

But it seems now that professional organizations are more important, haha.

I'm a member of a couple of campus organizations. One is our department's graduate student association. Many departments have these and no one outside the department is ever in them. I'm also a member of an activity-oriented group. When I started my MA, I went to the campus activities fair and put my name and email on a bunch of different lists. I never went to a single event I found out about that way.

I participate in formal and informal get-togethers. People in my department and other friends will host small dinner parties, or drinking events organized around a particular event (birthdays, celebratory events, sports event, festival in town, etc.). Or we'll meet up at a bar for happy hour or late night drinks. I'm also involved in a few community organizations. I foster dogs through and volunteer with a local animal rescue group, though I don' t really talk to those folks other than on Saturdays. The campus activity group I'm in has an associated community group that I also belong to and participate with. I'm probably going to get involved with another community group this fall.

Nice! It's good to know campus organizations are still an option, at least. And neat community involvement!

[aginath]

I did my B.S. and M.S. back to back. I didn't really start to get involved until my senior year of undergrad. So, I continued that during my master's. I served as my department's rep on the Graduate Student Council. I looked across campus for organizations that were in need of volunteers and found an annual conference that's held in the summer to help non-traditional and graduate students adjust to campus life and learn the school traditions. I served as publicity co-chair for the conference. I stayed somewhat active with one of my undergraduate groups, because it wasn't solely for undergrads and I liked working with the Horticulture Department doing outreach.

I took an 8 year break to work in industry after graduation. Now that I'm back, one of the first things I did was seek out organizations. There is a Graduate Student Association, but I have not gotten active in it. Instead, I've chosen to get active in my department's organization and my program's organization. I also work outside of school with an area group who share the same philosophical and religious beliefs as I do. Next fall, I'm helping coordinate an annual festival with them.

There are many, many ways to get active and stay active.

[Jae B.]

I did my B.S. and M.S. back to back. I didn't really start to get involved until my senior year of undergrad.

Thanks so much for telling your story -- I'm in the same kind of situation where I just started getting involved this year. Maybe I can continue in some things like you did. But I'm sure there will be new opportunities, too.

[American in Beijing]

I'm in the same situation where I'm considering joining a club or two (and maybe magically relive several episodes of Friends in the process, !). I was wondering if this kind of on-campus involvement would look good enough on a resume to make the sacrifice of time worth it. Do the grad students who are in on-campus orgs mostly do it just for fun or because it looks good?

[fuzzylogician]

For non-professional degrees which are aimed at academic careers I would imagine that on-campus orgs aren't going to be the most exciting on one's CV, if they make it in at all. If you're looking for the best way to boost your CV, stick to presenting and publishing papers. But then, if you're also looking to have a life outside work and you want to have fun with like-minded company, then on-campus organizations might be worth your time.

[zilch]

I agree with fuzzy,

getting involved in student organizations gives you things to talk about in job interviews for industry where you're much more likely to be asked behavioral style questions. Academic interviews tend to focus on quantifiable accomplishments (like papers and conference talks). School culture also has alot to do with it. At ece illinois, even though we have alot of students who are only after the MS and plan to go into industry, the focus is completely on academic research. Although people do get involved, it tends to be with things that relate directly to the research group they are in.

personally, I was heavily involved as an undergrad and am now doing my MS at the same institution so I just continued my involvement (toned down a bit, of course), although it does make me a bit of an odd duck in my department.

[aginath]

For non-professional degrees which are aimed at academic careers I would imagine that on-campus orgs aren't going to be the most exciting on one's CV, if they make it in at all. If you're looking for the best way to boost your CV, stick to presenting and publishing papers. But then, if you're also looking to have a life outside work and you want to have fun with like-minded company, then on-campus organizations might be worth your time.

From the mouth of my own department head, "If we're interviewing faculty candidates and all other qualities are generally equal, the one with a history of service and/or leadership experience will get preference every time." Yeah, you gotta have the presentations and papers, but that's only part of the equation.

[fuzzylogician]

From the mouth of my own department head, "If we're interviewing faculty candidates and all other qualities are generally equal, the one with a history of service and/or leadership experience will get preference every time." Yeah, you gotta have the presentations and papers, but that's only part of the equation.

I'm willing to bet money that in this context "service and leadership" means sitting on committees, organizing workshops/conferences, creating events, taking on responsibilities such as proceedings editing, reviewing for major conferences and journals, sharing the burden for any other departmental activity (e.g. being student rep, organizing the departmental colloquium series, etc) and any other activity that contributes to the smooth running of the department. I seriously doubt that getting involved in Fantasy Games Club or even Feed The Poor Club will help.

Edited June 14, 2010 by fuzzylogician

[Riotbeard]

I'm willing to bet money that in this context "service and leadership" means sitting on committees, organizing workshops/conferences, creating events, taking on responsibilities such as proceedings editing, reviewing for major conferences and journals, sharing the burden for any other departmental activity (e.g. being student rep, organizing the departmental colloquium series, etc) and any other activity that contributes to the smooth running of the department. I seriously doubt that getting involved in Fantasy Games Club or even Feed The Poor Club will help.

I'm willing to bet that you don't know the chair of her department or go to her school.

[aginath]

I'm willing to bet money that in this context "service and leadership" means sitting on committees, organizing workshops/conferences, creating events, taking on responsibilities such as proceedings editing, reviewing for major conferences and journals, sharing the burden for any other departmental activity (e.g. being student rep, organizing the departmental colloquium series, etc) and any other activity that contributes to the smooth running of the department. I seriously doubt that getting involved in Fantasy Games Club or even Feed The Poor Club will help.

While I might concede the first, service through Habitat for Humanity or volunteering at soup kitchens/homeless outreach would look quite well. Should I opt to spend time with Amtgard, it's not something I would put on a CV. But should chair the IT Student Assn committee for a charity event, that would go on my CV.

[fuzzylogician]

I'm willing to bet that you don't know the chair of her department or go to her school.

Hence "bet," not "know."

But there are reasons for me to think what I do, I didn't just say "you're wrong."

While I might concede the first, service through Habitat for Humanity or volunteering at soup kitchens/homeless outreach would look quite well. Should I opt to spend time with Amtgard, it's not something I would put on a CV. But should chair the IT Student Assn committee for a charity event, that would go on my CV.

I agree, but I think that this thread has gone off in two different directions.

The way I understood the original post, the question was about joining on-campus clubs, not about volunteering for charity events, and that is what my posts above address.

As for doing actual volunteer work, that is admirable and may well help build ties with the community at large, but I wonder how effect it is to put such information on one's CV and how it might contribute to getting an academic job. I still think that there are better ways of investing one's time if that is the only purpose. Personally I don't think I will put that kind of volunteer experience on my job application for assistant professor anyway, and I don't think that that is what is meant by "service and leadership." I will, however, mention volunteering to organize conferences, running my department's publishing endeavor, sitting on planning committees and whatnot. When it comes to volunteering for whatever cause I believe in, I just don't do that sort of thing so it can go on my CV, so I fail to see the connection. Maybe it should go on there, I don't know. Any kind of service like that can obviously only help, not hurt, but I still would rather keep those things I do in my spare time separate from my academic activities.

[Jae B.]

To clarify, not everyone here is aiming for a career in academia -- not anytime soon in my case, at least.

I do think certain club or organizational activities could look good on a résumé, or even a CV. But it would definitely depend on the type of activity and the depth and quality of your participation, and how it relates to your overall goals. Professionally, in some cases outside academia at least, it can be a deal-maker to show potential employers you are not a drone:

1. you have interests beyond just your area of education and / or employment (making you a more interesting, mature and probably more stabile person to be around -- I know people who have not gotten opportunities because they seemed too narrowly focused in one academic / professional area), you
2. know how to work and organize in groups even outside of contemporary organizational settings,
3. people trust you with responsibility, and -- finally -- you
4. know how to manage your time well enough to comfortably take on responsibilities beyond your academics or employment.

If you can demonstrate those aspects within some meaningful activity, then it might be good to note such an activity on a résumé or CV that needs a bit more meat. If you have a ton of stellar experience, you probably don't need it. But I'm noticing more and more people include this kind of stuff, I believe mainly to demonstrate leadership ability, application of learning outside the classroom or workplace, and their time management skills.

These things could also be mentioned separately in a job interview, however, if there were some compelling reason. For example, if faced with one of those dreaded "weakness" questions, it might be good to say extended public speaking has been a challenge for you, but participating as a ____ in your campus Toastmaster's club has helped you become more effective at delivering lengthy presentations, as demonstrated by ____....

Would you want to put Toastmaster's club on your résumé or CV itself, though? Probably not. Not unless you happened to know the person looking at your application was a major Toastmaster's buff!

That said, while I might include other skill building activities or leadership, I have not included any purely volunteer (or "charity") work on my résumé, in the spirit of it truly being voluntary -- not something for credit. Maybe I correctly interpret fuzzylogician's stance as similar? Good to know someone else feels this way. I've rejected the notion of credit for volunteer work since high school, where it was required to document it to earn an "honor crew" notation -- I didn't go for it, because it felt wrong to me. Perhaps because:

1. it promotes self-interest motivated volunteerism, and while I like to be realistic and not all warm and fuzzy, I know the most helpful things others have done for me in my life had nothing whatsoever to do with self-gain and instead were about caring and a desire to generate equity, and
2. it disproportionately validates documentable, "measurable" kindness and effort for others, through traditional, socially accepted means (that not even everyone has the means to regularly participate in or have transportation to), not rewarding general helpfulness or kindnesses outside of the mainstream or things that are difficult to document -- some of the most generous and thoughtful community leaders could hardly ever solidly document all the good they do...kind of unequal and unfair.

While I tend to wince at "look at all my charity work" résumés, I do respect that at times it is wise to list it -- it's hard to keep volunteering if you haven't got means to sustain yourself because most of what you do is volunteer work, and in that case some credit is needed -- and agree it conveys a lot about someone's character and commitments, and may inspire more people to get involved where they see a need if they read about someone else's involvement.

Edited June 15, 2010 by Jae B.

[Riotbeard]

I would say it depends. I mostly agree with Jae B. That it's only necessary if it in some way impacted you such that it is relevent to your work. If say one of your goals as an academic is to bring your topic into the public sphere, then it's worth noting. One of my goals is to teach history in prison at some point, so my work experience in the prison (which is very minimal but I have a done a few things at the law firm I work at) is relevent to my professional outlook. Also I could see it being relevent (or not relevent depending on the interviewers politics )probably would never put this on the CV just maybe bring up in an interview if it seemed wise) that I am on a commission for my political party and am experienced in working with others toward writing party statements, etc. I don't think anybody is suggesting that any extra-curricular activity is worth putting on, but that there may be some activities worth putting down if they are related, if only tangentially, to your professional outlook. I plan on getting with on campus leftist organizations myself. I talked about working in prison in sop as a jumping point to my approach to history, because it has a direct effect on how I view the world and human nature.

[fuzzylogician]

Jae B, I'm sorry I am not going to have time to reply to everything you wrote today (and probably not until the weekend) but for now I just wanted to reply to your first sentence: "To clarify, not everyone here is aiming for a career in academia -- not anytime soon in my case, at least" -- yes, I'm sorry! I was writing a hasty reply from memory yesterday and what I meant to say was not that your post was about people who are aiming for a career in academia, but rather that the poster I was replying to, a history grad student, might want to be careful about interpreting the advice in the thread up to that point because it seemed to be geared more towards professionals. Sorry if that came out wrong!

[Jae B.]

Jae B, I'm sorry I am not going to have time to reply to everything you wrote today (and probably not until the weekend) but for now I just wanted to reply to your first sentence: "To clarify, not everyone here is aiming for a career in academia -- not anytime soon in my case, at least" -- yes, I'm sorry! I was writing a hasty reply from memory yesterday and what I meant to say was not that your post was about people who are aiming for a career in academia, but rather that the poster I was replying to, a history grad student, might want to be careful about interpreting the advice in the thread up to that point because it seemed to be geared more towards professionals. Sorry if that came out wrong!

No no, thanks, it's fine -- I know most of you are going for academic careers. I may do so later in life, so the distinctions are of interest to me even though my current outlook is different.