Campus Spotlight: Engaging and Empowering College Student Leaders at Binghamton University
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Engaging and Empowering College Student Leaders at Binghamton University
One lesson many of us have learned along our educational journey is that it takes more to stand out than just good grades. In the same way, the college experience should be about far more than what you learn in a book or classroom.
Taking on a leadership role during college is a fantastic opportunity for a student to demonstrate their commitment to something they care about, while simultaneously building real-world, transferable skills. (Bonus: This will help them stand out in a job interview or graduate school application!)
In college, getting involved as a leader allows a student to discover where they thrive and areas where they can improve. In real-world settings outside of the classroom, they are able to experience and manage challenges first-hand and learn how to adapt and navigate them effectively.
We are thrilled to hear from Giovanna Bernardo, Student Engagement Specialist at Binghamton University on her work training and engaging college student leaders and student-led organizations! With a passion for writing, social media, communications and people, Giovanna is responsible for training, outreach and marketing for B-Engaged, the campus' all-in-one engagement platform.
Welcome, Giovanna!
Q: What drew you to working with student leaders? What do you love about empowering college students and helping them to transition into leaders?
Having been a student leader during my time in college, I understand the pressures these students are under to ensure their club runs efficiently, while trying to excel in classes, enjoy time off, experience new things, make friends and so forth. It can be a bit overwhelming, to say the least. That guiding perspective, and the thought of CampusGroups making these leaders’ lives that much easier, is really what drew me to working with student leaders.
It’s very rewarding to know that this system can help them conduct outreach seamlessly, quickly promote their events to the entire student body with a few clicks, easily keep track of their members and so forth. We’re really giving them the tools, and encouragement, they need to learn how to become the types of leaders they’ll (hopefully) be for the rest of their lives.
“I’m certain skills like goal-setting, time management, effective communication, confident delegation and so forth can only be learned through being a leader, and particularly a leader in a club, on a team, etc., outside the classroom where you get that ‘real world’ experience.”
Q: Does leadership look different for everyone? In your opinion, are people natural born leaders, or can key leadership skills be developed in any student?
Leadership definitely looks different for everyone! Some people are more natural and forceful leaders, while others more easily set a quiet example that people are just drawn to.
I do believe some people are natural-born leaders and have that “alpha” personality trait. However, I would venture to guess there aren’t many people who are completely comfortable jumping into something, grabbing the reins and directing how it goes. The majority of leaders grow into their leadership. They either become leaders out of necessity and/or out of desire, with encouragement from others and a lot of practice.
I’m certain skills like goal-setting, time management, effective communication, confident delegation and so forth can only be learned through being a leader, and particularly a leader in a club, on a team, etc., outside the classroom where you get that “real world” experience.
Q: Facilitating ongoing and recurring training has been a big part of such a successful leadership program at Binghamton! What content do you think is important to include in training sessions, seminars and workshops?
With our training sessions, we built our recurring schedule by considering the most important content to our University - that’s the content that will be most used by our constituents and useful to them. That mantra “used and useful” is a guiding principle in our office.
At Binghamton, the top features used in CampusGroups are event creation, attendance tracking and email communication. Those guide the time spent on these features during general trainings (with live demos), which I offer once a month, as well as feature-specific trainings, which are also offered throughout any given month. Our most highly attended training sessions are always our general training sessions, trainings on attendance tracking and anything related to newsletter-building.
Q: How has programming been impacted by COVID-19 and adapted at Binghamton? Was it crucial to implement virtual or remote-inclusive programming options to engage with and train student leaders?
As far as the impact of COVID on our training, we quickly transitioned to online training sessions for students, staff and faculty in March 2020. Our attendance numbers were very high throughout 2020. I’d say one of the biggest benefits to come out of the pandemic was our transition to online training sessions, which we’ve maintained since then, because we saw such an increase in our attendance! We now offer all scheduled training sessions via Zoom. Everyone is just so busy throughout the semester. It’s far easier for people to hop on a virtual training, in between meetings, as opposed to trekking all the way across campus for an in-person training in the middle of a packed day. I do still make myself available for one-on-one sessions if students or staff need a little extra help - whether that’s in-person or virtual.
Q: How do you evaluate progress and accountability among student leaders? Can you talk a little about the importance of gathering feedback from your student leaders and how the Student Ambassadors group was created at Binghamton to give students more of a voice? What role do they play in overall campus engagement, and what was the mission/goal in establishing this organization?
One of the biggest reasons we created our B-Engaged Student Ambassadors was to establish that open line of communication with student leaders who are relying heavily on CampusGroups and who we know could provide consistent feedback about the platform, campus processes, how different campus-wide events have been and so forth. I love talking with my Student Ambassadors just to see how the system has been working for them, what they’re using it for, upcoming events they have, etc. We also rely on our Student Ambassadors for feedback on fun things, like giveaway ideas, social media content, resource options and more.
Living in this world of student engagement, I get a lot of questions from staff members about what student clubs, orgs, etc. are doing for certain events and how they’re using CampusGroups. It’s a good feeling to know I can easily provide answers from our student leaders to those questions or just send a quick email to find those answers.
Q: Binghamton has done an amazing job of utilizing campus engagement tools and resources to train students leaders! Which tools & technologies do you find have been the most helpful and effective in your programming and outreach?
We rely heavily on current campus communications systems to promote our training sessions and any other programming we offer for students. There are actually daily emails sent to our entire student body with pertinent announcements and information, as well as upcoming events listed in CampusGroups, that we capitalize on for that exposure for our programming, aside from listing it in CampusGroups. We also rely heavily on direct outreach to student groups with that information, always including links to our helpful resources on other platforms, like Google Docs, YouTube and social media (specifically Instagram and Facebook).
Q: Binghamton student leaders are able to access an expansive library of tools and materials to help learn how to manage and market their clubs. What resources do you recommend campuses create/provide student leaders to engage and educate them on managing their organizations?
It’s important to meet students where they are. Creating materials that are easily accessible online is definitely the best way to reach students in my experience. We have all our “cheat sheets,” how-to guides, instructions and checklists readily available via Google Docs.
We also have an expansive library of how-to training videos on our B-Engaged YouTube Channel, which is our online Training Hub for anyone wanting to use CampusGroups for effectively managing their organization. Our Instagram is also home to tons of resources for students looking to learn the system. I typically send out a follow-up email after every training I have, filled with links to these various resources.
“By daily or weekly posting, you can slowly build an engaging presence on social media, while curating an indispensable library of resources for students to refer back to and take advantage of.”
Q: We love the B-Engaged Instagram channel! It’s an amazing tool to educate and celebrate student organizations and leaders on campus. Can you talk about how you have been able to use it to reach and teach your student leaders tricks and tips to run their groups? What do you think makes this channel so effective at highlighting and recognizing impactful student groups on campus?
Thank you so much! Our B-Engaged Instagram is kind of my pride and joy. Utilizing both posts and Instagram stories, I've made our Instagram a go-to resource to help student leaders learn about CampusGroups, how to best use it, why other groups are using it, how to get involved at Binghamton, instructions for using the platform, helpful resources on campus and so forth. You can see this in posts and Story Highlights by heading to B-Engaged Instagram.
Social media is your best friend when it comes to training students. That’s where students are. Like I said before, you have to be where they are. Featuring them is even better! Our posts featuring individual students, or student clubs, always get the highest engagement. Just by daily or weekly posting, you can slowly build an engaging presence on social media, while curating an indispensable library of resources for students to refer back to and take advantage of. If you're a marketing person like me, or just a people person who wants to help others best utilize CampusGroups, it'll be fun too! And it won't really feel like work at all.
“Training and outreach go hand in hand.”
Q: Communication is so important. We learned from your July 2020 Student Leader Training webinar that a key to successfully engaging student leaders is to cultivate good relationships with student groups on campus, whether Student Associations, Greek Life, Club Sports, Grad Student Orgs, Res Life, etc. Why do you think it’s so essential to make sure you’re reaching those student groups regularly and establishing open lines of communication?
If you don’t do any outreach, student groups won’t know how you can help them. Organization leaders change every year. Office staff who manage different groups change often as well. You need to establish a consistent outreach schedule, and process, to ensure that student leaders, office staff, etc. know who you are, the tools at their disposal and how you can help them utilize those tools - especially something as effective as the CampusGroups platform.
Q: What are some alternative leadership roles students might consider, beyond student government, sports captain, or club president?
At Binghamton, I would venture to guess there are more opportunities in those unexpected roles than in the typical “President of a club” role. I’m sure that goes for many other campuses as well!
From hall Resident Assistants, to Tour Guides, Student Ambassadors, Orientation Advisors, members of our Dean’s Team, mental health program interns, project leads and beyond, there truly are opportunities for every student. You just have to look until you find something that sparks your interest! Utilize CampusGroups and other campus systems you might have. Check your University social media. Talk to your professors or TAs about opportunities. You’ll find something!
“Every person is a valuable member of the University community. You have something good to contribute through your skills and capabilities. Find that! ”
Q: Lastly, what advice might you have for an introverted college student, or a first gen student with no past leadership experience, who might shy away from taking the lead in or outside of the classroom (and who may not realize leadership opportunities on campus are relevant and available to them)?
Don’t be afraid! The biggest thing I learned in college was to go outside of my comfort zone. I never planned to be president of my sorority when I started college. I never even planned to be in a sorority! I connected with the girls I met and it just happened that way. Those kinds of opportunities will open up for you too. When they do, don’t be scared or worry about failing or other people’s opinions.
It starts with thinking about what you’re interested in, what you’re good at and how you want to contribute to the University community - and the world. This might require some research to see what’s out there, but it’s worthwhile to explore the opportunities available and then commit yourself to that program, those clubs, teams, etc.
Every person is a valuable member of the University community. You have something good to contribute through your skills and capabilities. Find that! Once you’re connected with a club that stands for what you’re passionate about, you may or may not feel a draw to become a leader. Push yourself to run for a position or take charge of a program! You won’t regret it. And you’ll be thankful you did, as those skills you develop in those roles will stay with you. I say that from experience!
Thanks for sharing all of these wonderfully creative and inspiring tips and insights, Giovanna! We are so excited to continue following B-Engaged and see what’s happening next at Binghamton! 💙
Are you a higher education professional leading student leadership programs? Contact us to chat with one of our product experts about how CampusGroups can help you unlock leadership potential and activate happy, active and engaged student leaders on your campus!
