Recyclemania Residence Hall Results

With the end of the semester there is one more thing to celebrate. Near the end of each spring semester the Office of Residence Life and our residence hall students participate in a competition of sorts, called Recyclemania, to see if we can increase the recycling efforts of our residence hall students.   

This year Recyclemania lasted from the end of January though the end of April. A special thanks to the RAs for their efforts to consistently encourage our residents to recycle. Through these efforts the residence hall students diverted 10,259 lbs, or close to 5 tons that would have otherwise been disposed of by going to a landfill.  Here is the breakdown, by building, of the total weight of recycling collected from the floors and the weight recycled per student.

Building	T. lbs. Collected from Student Floors	lbs. per student recycled
Merick	747	2.95
Laferla	394	1.89
Vandiver	818	3.51
Myers	370	2.94
Henderson Hall	79	1.52
Dearmont	874	3.39
Cheney	272	2.72
Greek	407	0.22
Towers South	940	2.96
Towers East	943	2.88
Towers West	583	2.74
Towers North	1377	5.76

2 Notes:

• The “T. lbs. Collected from Student Floors” was divided by your building occupancy to give the weight recycled per student. 
• Yes, the “T. lbs. Collected from Student Floors” does not equal 10,259 lbs. The 10,259 lbs. includes the Towers Complex, Dearmont Complex, LaFerla Main Lobby, etc, areas that are not tied to a specific community.

The International On Campus Living Experience

The opening of the residence halls in January is an exciting time for staff and students. While most of our students arrive back at campus a few days before classes, there is one group of students who often arrive a few weeks before most students, specifically our international students. Working with students other nations can present some challenges; however, after more than ten years working with international students, I am confident any challenges are far outweighed by the opportunity having a strong and diverse population of international students brings to our residence halls.

The nations in red on the world map reflect all the nations of the world

where a student currently living in our residence hall identifies as their home country. As you can see the diversity of students covers all, but one of the continents (does anyone really call Antarctica their home?). In total each year we have approximately 150 students from other nations living in our residence halls. It is impossible to list all the interactions that occur between students in a residential community and I am thankful we have students from across the globe that enriches the residential experience at Southeast Missouri State University.

I am a strong supporter of the central role the classroom experience for all college or university students. While I believe the classroom and role of faculty are the center of the educational experience, I also am a strong believer that the outside the classroom experience has significant educational benefits for students. As our world grows increasingly smaller, the ability to remain apart from it grows more difficult. The first-hand experience of socializing, working, and living with people different from you can be uncomfortable, but it is also critical to be fully able to interact in our global community. 

The approximately 3,000 students who live on campus are (IMHO) among the most engaged students at Southeast. I believe the on campus experience is only enriched by the diverse and strong presence of students from other communities, both domestic and international. These types of interactions with others are one of the things that makes college different from high school. Their experiences are also part of what helps move you from a college student to a professional with a college degree.

 

Thank You for Keeping us Fed

The past few days have been a somewhat unique time on the Southeast campus. For most students it is the first time they have seen the University close for a “snow day.” The last time the campus saw this kind of winter weather impact the campus was in 2009. In fact, “Thursday and Friday's winter storm event was the fourth largest in Cape Girardeau on record since the blizzard of 1979 in terms of snowfall, according to Southeast Missourian archives.” During that time the campus ended up housing and helping feed recovery workers who were trying to clear roads, restore power, and check on people in the region south of Cape Girardeau. Of course with the snow day has come the major task of digging out all the sidewalks, parking lots, and steps that make up the Southeast campus. 

I want to use this opportunity to send a special thank you to the staff of Chartwells at Southeast for their work during the time the University was closed the weekend that followed. Chartwells provides a critical service for our campus and with nearly 3,000 people on campus during this time, Chartwells was able to do more than just keep a few food service venues up and running, they were able to keep all the main campus venues open and even were able to have the various retail venues including Subway, Olives, and Rowdy’s open to provide students and staff with dining options.  

There is one story that, while the Chartwells staff member would not want to have shared, I think showcases this commitment to our students better than anything I’ve heard in many years. Very early on Friday morning, the Director for Chartwells was contacted by a local utility provider asking if Chartwells could provide breakfast for the utility crews as they headed out into the ongoing winter weather that Friday. Mary, the Sous Chef for Chartwells, walked to campus early that morning (and by early I mean before 3:00am) to begin prepping for breakfast for both the utility crews and for our students and staff living on campus. Other Chartwells team members arranged for carpools with other Chartwells team members to help those who did not have a vehicle that could make it to campus on Friday.

Trying to provide nearly 10,000 meals on a typical day is no easy task, but trying to do this on a day when most of the City of Cape Girardeau was covered in a mix of snow and ice was a monumental task. I am very thankful for the work of the Chartwells team and their ability to work through one of the worst winter storms our area has seen in about 35 years.  At a time when everyone was being advised to avoid travel except when absolutely needed, the Chartwells team made their way to campus and honored their commitment to providing a quality dining program for our students.

Questions parents of Southeast Greeks should ask their son/daughter

I was reminded today, while reading an article by CampusTalkBlog “Is It Really Like AnimalHouse’? What to Do When Your Kid Joins the Greek Life” about some recent conversations I had during the University’s Family Weekend. I was fortunate to get to talk with parents about a variety of things, including Greek Life at Southeast Missouri State University. I always enjoy talking about Greek Life, even though some of the issues are not pleasant.  As I reflect on these conversations, I am struck by the two types of parents I most often speak with. 

First are parents who are Greek; they often assume the Greek Life of 2013 is similar to their Greek experiences, which in many cases are three decades old.  For these parents, I am always thankful to get to share the changes that have taken place in Greek Life over the past three decades, including significantly higher grades, stronger integration of philanthropies, and stronger policies in place related to risk management. 

The second group of parents I speak with are those who have either no previous Greek background or one limited to just what they see in popular culture. Often these parents have a mix of concern for their student and a desire to let their student make their own decision. Conversations with these parents regularly involve trying to explain the basics behind why someone would join Greek (see my previous posting for my thoughts on this) and how safe their student will be. 

For both sets of parents I would offer these thoughts about Greek Life at Southeast:

1. Please ask your student questions! Someone joining a fraternity or sorority is joining something more than a club. Ask them why they want to join a specific group, what is it about that group that makes them a better fit than others, what the people in the fraternity or sorority are like, and lastly, ask them if they know what financial commitment is expected of them. 
2. Any chapter your son or daughter joins should have details for parents on their website, either local or national, and they should be hosting events throughout the year designed for parents to participate in.
3. Encourage (DEMAND) that if they are experiencing hazing or some other kind of abuse they report it. All our new Greek students are educated through programs and other events on hazing, including the multiple ways to report this.
4. Find out who the fraternity or sorority advisers are—your son or daughter should be able to share this tidbit without even thinking about it. Each chapter selects advisers that are in most cases not University employees. In many cases, they are alumni of the chapter and play a critical role in the operation of the fraternity or sorority. 
5. Greek Life at Southeast is not “Animal House.” Your son or daughter is joining an organization that has expectations of them in terms of grades, community service, financial, attendance, and a variety of other commitments. These expectations are important, but not more important than their education. There is no Greek Life “major” and, on occasion, some students need to be reminded that you are a student first and a member of the Greek Life community second.