Campus student involvement difficult to foster
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For any Hopkins student stricken with seemingly unproductive free time, a browse over the weekly student council e-mails in their inbox or the campus bulletin boards on their way to class, even a look over the random colored flyers in their mailbox reveals a wealth of opportunity.
Even a procrastinating trip to Facebook.com offers a click on the "My Events" tab.
Students who take part in the planning of campus events make it their goal to ensure that every Hopkins student finds their lives outside of lecture, lab and section just as interesting and rewarding as their academic half.
Dean Paula Burger is one of the many people in charge of making sure students have more than a rounded academic experience at Hopkins, even with its reputation as an all-work no-play environment.
As Dean of Undergraduate Education and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Burger is concerned with initiatives that enhance the quality of the whole undergraduate experience -- from academics to social life.
She is described as the point person for academic matters in the Krieger School, but she also oversees Homewood Student Affairs, the collection of departments that handle student life, enrollment and other services for both the Krieger School and the Whiting School of Engineering.
"For a couple of years [everyone in the Homewood Student Affairs offices] has taken it as a goal to create a more lively sense of student life on campus," Burger said.
She and other faculty responsible for student life -- including Dean Susan Boswell and Dr. Ralph Johnson -- have attempted to reach this goal by creating events from all ends of the social and academic spectrum.
Efforts ranging from sporting events to comedy performances and beyond, all pass the desks of this trio in the brainstorming phase.
The ideas for campus activities come from a variety of sources. "The best ones generally come from students," Burger said.
For example, she has been collaborating with students involved in the Vision Xchange, a group that promotes philanthropic causes.
This new student organization, created in November of this academic year, is able to plan and carry out large scale events on the Homewood campus in the same time frames as other student groups require to plan smaller events.
Many of the events that are planned are done via the hard work of campus organizations such as the Student Council, Res Life and the Homewood Arts Task Force.
In addition, Burger points out that "there are a zillion events planned every week totally by student groups -- multi-cultural groups, service groups, performing arts groups and more."
When Burger comes up with ideas for student activities she usually gets feedback from the primary source.
"I have a Dean's Student Advisory Committee and periodically, when I get ideas that I want to test out, I run the ideas by them. They tell me if they are corny or not."
She finds working on student events is one of the perks of her position.
"Frankly, it is fun to work collaboratively with students on some of these projects. The truth of the matter is that I indulge myself by giving my brain a break from paperwork and administrative stuff by working with students on these kinds of projects."
Regardless of where the ideas for student events and programming originate, whether they are successful in terms of student turnout and intended impact depend on similar factors - and well, some are more successful than others.
"A lot has to do with the right publicity, the timing -- whether there is an Orgo exam or not -- and, of course, whether it is something that students find appealing," Burger said.
One such example of a recent successful event is the JSA/Hillel annual Purim party.
Even though it happened on a Monday evening, which is often reserved for studying and extracurriculars, a sizeable crowd attended the religious celebration.
"The Purim party was a big success," JSA vice president junior Allie Berken said. "I think a part of the appeal stemmed from the fact that we had a great band play, which drew a lot of students."
Efforts are always continuing to increase the amount and quality of campus activities for the spring semester and the next academic year, especially for the new Charles Commons and other such additions.
"Dr. Ralph Johnson's office is working with students to plan for some of the activities. One feature of the dining commons area is a stage, which we hope will be the scene of regular student entertainment and help to make the place a lively late-night hangout."