They play a vital role in the life of every college community, the behind-the-scene advisers who support the work of campus groups, promote student leadership, and plan events. Now Dr. Cindy Kane, BSU’s director of student involvement and leadership, has collaborated on a new book aimed at highlighting the contributions of student organization advisers and helping them learn from one another.
Beyond Meetings: Lessons and Successes in Advising Student Organizations is a compilation of blogs written by student organization advisers for the Student Affairs Collective, which also published the book. Dr. Kane wrote the introduction and with Becca Fick, director of the Center for Student Involvement at Ohio Dominican University, who co-edited the blog series, which ran in April. Casey Mulcare, BSU’s coordinator for student programming, contributed one of the blogs.
“We are hoping the book will expand awareness of the role that student organization advisers play,” Dr. Kane said, noting that it includes many stories about positive outcomes students have had with advisers.
The book is also aimed at providing guidance in particular to advisers not formally trained in the role. Many colleges do not have enough full-time advisers to serve all the campus groups – there are 90 at BSU – so some of the work is done by professors and other staff.
“We were hoping this book would offer people outside student affairs the chance to reflect on the roles they play and get a little support and advice,” Dr. Kane said.
She emphasized that her 17 years serving BSU’s campus organizations have been rewarding.
“Our students are doing great work on behalf of our community,” she said.
The book can be ordered on amazon.com or studentaffairscollective.org.
