The document discusses the importance of student involvement for learning and success. It defines involvement as the physical or psychological energy students devote to academics, faculty interaction, campus activities, and organization participation. Drawing on Astin's Student Involvement Theory, it notes that greater involvement leads to more learning. The document encourages students to get involved by getting connected to their school, building community, discovering strengths, and improving their resume. It also provides suggestions for what institutions and students can do to promote involvement opportunities and engagement.
2. Context
• Institution: Really Big University
• Functional Area: Student Activities /
Leadership Development
• The Audience: Students
• Topic: Student Involvement
3. What is Involvement?
• Investment of Physical or
psychological Energy
• Time spent on
oAcademics
oFaculty Interaction
oCampus
oOrganization Participation
4. Student Involvement
Theory (Astin,1999)
• More Involvement = More Learning
• Happens on a continuum
• Quality and Quantity Features
• Time & energy determine learning
5. Why YOU Should Get
Involved
• Get connected to your school
• Build Community
• Discover passions and strengths
• Build your resume
• Involvement can help you become a
better student
6. What the Institution
Can Do
• Provide Involvement Opportunities
o Student Organization Development
o Community Engagement
o Academic Research
• Programming
o Late Night
o Topic Specific
• Resources
o Academic Advising
o RSO Advising
o Community Engagement Advising
7. What You Can Do
• Seek Out Opportunities
o Attend Involvement Fairs
o Visit General Body Meetings
o Meet with professors
• Get Involved
o Commit to an Organized Activity
o Actively Engage in Campus Programs
• Utilize Resources
o Seek advice from campus advisors
Hello everyone, my name is Carolyn Harris and today I am going to talk with you about why it is important to get involved.
Just to give you some context, for the purposes of this presentation, the institution that you will be in is called Really Big University. The functional area is Student Activities or the Leadership Development office. You will represent students as the audience and like mentioned before the topic is student involvement.
So first lets start by defining what involvement is. According to Alexander Astin, most plainly put, involvement is the investment of physical or psychological energy a student devotes to their academic experience. This means that students can invest in a number of different things. I think that common misconception about what it means to be involved, is that it only accounts for extracurricular activities. But, as you might not know, involvement also applies to academics. This could mean working with a professor on their research, participating in lab hours, is active in an academic study group, or simply building relationships with professors outside of the classroom. Your time on campus can also look a number of different ways. Spending time in the student union, attending programs hosted by university departments, and interacting with friends are all forms of involvement. The most common way of thinking about involvement is participation in campus organizations. And again, while this may be a popular way to get involved, it is not the only way.
One of the most basic tenets of Alexander Astin’s theory of Student Involvement is that students learn more the more they are involved with both academic and social aspects of the collegiate experience. Another postulate is that involvement happens on a continuum. This means that different students are involved to different degrees in any given activity. Next, involvement has qualitative and quantitative features. For example, we can take quantitative measurements your recording the number of hours a student studies. We can measure qualitative information by examining if students comprehend the given assignments. Lastly, the time and energy a student spends on being involved academically or socially will determine their amount of learning. For example, if a student signs up to be in several organizations and shows up to the meetings without participating in discussion or development, then the student will likely not learn very much. On the other hand. If a student participate in one or two organizations and actively participates in meetings and activities, they will likely learn more.
While you are attending Really Big University, you might feel like only a spec in the masses of students on campus. This is a primary reason for getting involved. We don’t want you to feel that way. By getting involved, you are more likely to feel connected to your institution.