Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Kris Motta Torok and Clark Tieman, of the office of Student Leadership and Involvement, about the importance of student engagement and the extracurricular experience. Originally recorded Oct. 4, 2022.
Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Kris Motta Torok and Clark Tieman, of the office of Student Leadership and Involvement, about the importance of student engagement and the extracurricular experience. Originally recorded Oct. 4, 2022.
Welcome to Behrend Talks. I'm Chancellor Ralph Ford and my guests today are Kris Motto Torok, Director of Student Leadership and Involvement at Penn State Behrend and Clark Tieman, Assistant Director of Student Leadership and Involvement. Welcome to the show.
Kris Motta Torok:Thank you for having us.
Clark Tieman:Thank you.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Pleasure having you here. Well, let's talk a little bit about your background, and then what we're going to discuss today in the show. So first, Kris leads the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement. And you also advise a Student Government Association. I know that's a big job and you coordinate the Behrend speaker series. And I'm sure many other things. Clark, you coordinate our Welcome Week programming here on campus, you manage the student staff of the club hub, marketing and craft space, and I know many other things. I see you involved here on campus. Well, our discussion today is going to be a great one. We're going to focus on student engagement. You know, studies consistently show that when students are involved in extra curricular activities, you know, clubs, activity service organizations here on campus, Greek life, intramural varsity athletics, you know, the list goes on and on, they are more likely to continue their university studies and be successful. And not only that, achieve at a higher level in life. So today, we're gonna dig a lot deeper into that topic. But let's get started first, by hearing a little bit about each of you. Kris, let's start with you. Tell us why did you decide to get involved in this field? Why student engagement?
Kris Motta Torok:So I started my professional journey. Like most people in higher ed, where I was involved in college. I was part of the programming board, and the Student Government Association, and I really enjoyed my activities outside of class. And when I realized I can do that for a career, I was all for it. Not many people say, Oh, what do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be the Director of Student Leadership.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Right? It's not necessarily a career path. But did you learn about that while you're in college? Is that when you figured that out? Or was it later? How did you?
Kris Motta Torok:While I was in college. I had a great advisor, student activities, a mentor, and she actually said to me,"Hey, have you thought about this for a career?" And I said, No, I haven't. But that's what opened the doors for me. And I've been involved in higher ed ever since.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Did you start in the path of becoming like a resident director? What was the first thing you did?
Kris Motta Torok:My first thing was assistant director of Student Activities. And then I came to Behrend, as the assistant director of Student Activities. I then became the associate director of student activities. And now I'm the director of Student Leadership and Involvement.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Well, we are really happy that you're here. And you've had a lot of impact. And, you know, a lot more to go in your career here. And, Clark, let's switch to you tell us, you know, how did you end up in this area? And how did you end up at Behrend?
Clark Tieman:Yeah, um, similarly to Kris, I think that that's a common thread along Student Affairs, folks. But yeah, I was just hyper involved in my college experience. I took some time after graduating with my bachelor's degree, did some work in my what I thought was my destined field and really missed the college experience. Really missed working with young people. So a few years later, I went back and received my Master's at University Park. When I was in my second year, my final year, of that program, job searching, there was a position open in Student Leadership and Involvement here at Behrend. And some of my mentors at University Park said, "Hey, there's this position, you should take a look." We love Chris and Lindsay and the office and, you know, just take a peek. And I came to Erie and really enjoyed it. And the rest is history.
Dr. Ralph Ford:It's this interesting place up here in northwestern PA in the corner that nobody knows about.
Clark Tieman:Yeah, I love the north coast.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Well, so tell me that. What was your undergraduate degree? So you talked about the fact that you thought about doing something else. You had a different path in mind?
Clark Tieman:Yeah, I always love talking to student affairs professionals, because our bachelor's degrees are all over the place, right? Mine personally is in public relations and music performance. So no ad experience up until that point. But I got very, very involved in my work study position while I was in college, which was in arts administration. And then I pursued arts administration for two years out of college, and then, you know, realigned and went back to school.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Figured it out on the path. How about you, Chris, what did you study?
Kris Motta Torok:My undergrad was communication arts. And my goal was I was going to be in broadcasting journalism. And then as I realized, my career path would take me to higher ed, I got my master's in counseling psychology, with a tract in student personnel.
Dr. Ralph Ford:What I think is so important about this conversation, and we'll get to more of the discussion on student engagement, is though, it does show the fact that we always have this mind. You tract into something while you're studying, if that's what your career is going to look like, the reality is much different. And it shows there's a lot of opportunity out there for people with a college degree and otherwise, too. But anyways, let's get to, you know, talking about student engagement. You know, one of the things I like about Behrend is that we are, I think, often very intentional and strategic in what we're trying to do. And we recognize the importance of student engagement, and supporting the different ways and there are many different paths that students build a life here on campus. How important is this in the overall student experience? And, you know, do all students get involved? What are the different ways they get involved? A lot there, but go ahead.
Kris Motta Torok:Sure, we know that learning continues outside of the classroom. And that's what makes the full college experience. And by being involved, our students build personal relationships with each other with faculty and staff, they are able to recognize and value diversity amongst others. And then they also begin to identify their own values as they're being involved and experiencing different opportunities on campus.
Clark Tieman:Just to add, I think that another value that we're seeing in our co curricular experiences that our students are involved in, they're developing some of those soft skills. You know, in the classroom, they're learning all these hard skills, their technical skills. But it's really outside of the classroom, when they're put in charge of a particular project, or a group or a committee, that they're able to flex some of those skills. Whether it's understanding the importance of multiculturalism and diversity, or you know, just communication skills, critical thinking, all of those sorts of things.
Dr. Ralph Ford:We know one of the things I enjoy watching about the students is that there's some basic things that they learned that carry them far in life. And you just mentioned a few, but I think of one this simple, you know, how to carry out a project, how to then meet with a group of other students that you don't know very well, how do we run a meeting? I mean, they're intimidated by just the fact of what it takes to put together an agenda. I mean, I know this, but pretty soon they learn, and you develop a whole lot of skills that you wouldn't otherwise. That are really valuable in the the real world out there.
Clark Tieman:Absolutely. I talked to my students about writing emails. What it looks like to write emails to other professionals, and how different it is from talking to your peers and your colleagues through text message. And encouraging them to open their emails as well. Because that does not go anywhere when they graduate from college.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Well, this is a big problem. We know it's, first of all, faculty tell us and I see some of the emails from students as well. And, you know, a basic salutation can go a long ways and not just "Hey, yo." And they do change. And that's a good thing. We see that change over four years and understanding that whether you like email or not, it's a preferred form of business communication. And you have to answer it and do it regularly. But anyways, we went off a little bit. Let's stick with this idea, you know, extracurricular involvement, does it truly support the academic success of our students? Because I mean, I would argue we're, you know, this is an important function, but students are here for their academics first and foremost.
Kris Motta Torok:So we know that students who are involved(and you mentioned some of the skills that they will develop), but they have better time management skills. They have to they have X amount of time in the classroom, and then they have to dedicate time to their studies, and their involvement. So they, they are better at time management, they tend to get better grades, students who are involved.
Dr. Ralph Ford:They form study groups as well, too.
Kris Motta Torok:Absolutely. And that leadership can be in a club or in a study group, or in the classroom. Those skills that they're developing, those interpersonal skills of managing their peers, or leading a project within a club or organization. It's a safe place to do those kinds of things. A safe place to make mistakes in project management or, or event planning, where we're there to work with them and, and help them and show them that it's okay. Here's how you do it. And that's when they thrive.
Dr. Ralph Ford:And it really is, it shows the this is why we're here is a residential campus. Otherwise, you know, we can deliver online these days. But we know for a fact that that doesn't work because we learned in the pandemic. And we'll talk a little bit later about the impact of the pandemic and how the recovery is going and what you're seeing. But we learned pretty clearly that the belief that we could just simply take away all the activities on campus and just deliver an academic program, it doesn't work. So you don't have to sell me on this one. We see it each and every day. Let's talk about fit. That's important when students are looking at a college or university that go on their tour or visit their local campus. they may not realize it. And that idea of fit is really important. I like to say sometimes you just walk on, we hear that a lot. And they look around and they say this place is for me, or sometimes they say it isn't. What's your experience? Do you see that fit? How does it play out?
Kris Motta Torok:I do. In talking with students and why they chose Behrend or how they decided, the fit comes up. And they say, yes, it just, I could feel it. But I really think it's the people. And it's the interactions that they have, whether that's a tour, or in admissions, or meeting with other students. They get to have a an idea of what it's like to be here at Behrend. It's interesting, because some people, some students will say,"Oh, I came from such a small town, I wanted to come to a big campus." Or they come from a big town. And this is a small campus to them, and it fits them in different ways. So I always find that interesting.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Regardless. And I mean, one of the things I love about this campus too, is when you walk around in the evening. Now, I can compare it back to when I started many years ago. So much more vibrant. There's so much going on all the time. And you just see, regardless of whether they're going to midnight bingo or a sports game. It's you know, there are just a lot of different ways to get involved. But Clark, I'm going to ask you, you know, what makes Behrend the right fit for so many people with different interests?
Clark Tieman:I think a lot of students find that it's the best of both worlds, right? We are a relatively small campus. But anecdotally, from what I've seen similar sizes across the nation, we offer a lot when it comes to the number of active organizations, the number of d3 teams and intramurals, our clubs, sports as well, the work that a lot of our faculty are doing in research. A lot of the connections that we're getting to intern, externships, there's just so much happening all the So what makes the students stay here all four years? time. As of two weeks ago, I know that we had had over 225 events on campus while we go, and we weren't even through September yet. So for a campus of our size, I think that's pretty remarkable. And so I do enjoy seeing students come in, they can, you know, see the same people at every event they go to, but they're always meeting new people at the same time. And there's always something for them to do if they want to find it. I've met many, many students who come with the intention of a two-plus-two sort of trajectory. And a lot of them again, anecdotally will say, I stayed because I made friends, and I couldn't leave them. Or I stayed because you know, I've made this commitment to this organization, whatever the organization might be. And I see myself being a leader of this organization. And that's not going to happen if I go somewhere else, regardless of if it's University Park or another school together. So they really find their own buy in, they create their own environment that they feel commitment to, and they want to see it through. And many of them are very, very sad when they have find that they need to leave after four.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Oh, I've seen that. They, of course, that's
Kris Motta Torok:The Six Week Initiative is a group of why we have parents, family and alumni weekend or any other time, you know, you can always come back to Behrend. And you're professionals that work together to make sure that our new part of the Behrend family. Well, one of the things that is so critical and universities are focusing on, and of course we students are supported and successful. The group receives stive to here at Behrend, is student success. And when we talk about student success, that is we have a belief that every feedback from faculty or staff, it might be a red flag from a student who comes here should be able to finish their degree program. Now the reality is, that's hard to achieve 100%. But faculty that a student is not showing up to class, or not the closer we get to that ideal, the better we are. One of the things that we know is the first six weeks of a student's participating in class. Or maybe it's someone who has had a academic career are really critical to their long-term success. And if they're doing well, then they tend to do well. conversation one on one with a student and is aware of an issue They tend to graduate within, you know, 3, 4, 5, 6 years. And we started this initiative here at Behrend, something known as that student might be facing. And so this group, what they'll the six weeks initiative. So, you know, and it involves a whole host of people from academic to student engagement. do is they'll identify these students and sort of divide and But Kris, tell us a little bit about the program, and how does it work? And what's your role in it? assist as necessary. And reach out person to person to those students and find out. "Hey, we've got this message that you're not showing up for class is everything, okay?" Sometimes it's just I've had car troubles and I didn't know what to do. But I'm okay now, and I'm back on track. Or we might be catching something that's a little more serious. "I'm having financial troubles and not sure what to do." So we'll connect them with the resources that exist on campus to help them be successful in their classrooms, in their education. And we know that getting them involved from the start is really key and getting them connected to campus and connected to resources.
Dr. Ralph Ford:I think one of the things we just can't take for granted is, to us we live and breathe it every day. We know where the resources are. But to a student who's never been here, who maybe grew up without a whole lot of experience, ever even seeing a college or university, it's pretty intimidating for them to reach out for help. So we do that. We try to reach out and help them and say, "Okay, we see you're struggling." Do they appreciate it?
Kris Motta Torok:I think so. I think that that's one of the advantages of the size of Behrend is that we are capable of doing that one on one reach out to students. And we can make that connection and that students know that someone out there cares and that someone who's worried about them specifically. And if it's yes, I can finally tell somebody that I'm having this issue and I didn't know where to go. Or I'm okay, I just had a little glitch, but thanks. It's a personal connection. And now they have a resource, they have a name of someone that they can go to if they needed help.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Sometimes we just need to remove the stigma of going for mental health assistance, going for tutoring, all of those things. But I'd like to just go a little further. So how does student engagement work into this?
Kris Motta Torok:I think from the very beginning, from the day they move on to campus, we are a presence to them. With our staff, with our student volunteers, we make it known that you're welcome here. And we have a whole host of activities to keep you busy.
Dr. Ralph Ford:And we want you to be involved. That leads me right over to you, Clark, because you organized our Welcome Week. And it's designed to get students involved right from the get go. So what's the goal? So you start thinking about that every year you start planning the program? What are you thinking about, as you put together the program for Welcome Week?
Clark Tieman:Yeah, I mean, officially, the goal of Welcome Week is to integrate students into the academic and cultural atmosphere of Behrend. But when I'm starting year to year, I'm much more base than that, right? I'm thinking what is like Maslow's hierarchy? What do we need to make them feel safe? And so oftentimes, that's working with various partners across campus, whether it's the school so that the students know what's expected of them in the classroom. Because as you mentioned, they don't know what the bursars offices is, they don't know what the registrar's office is, they don't know what academic integrity means. So providing them with those resources up front, from the minute that they arrive on campus, is crucial, right. But then it also goes to making sure they know where their classes are making sure they know where the dining hall is. Any and all of those sorts of things. And then how can we make them have the most fun and meet the most people, peers and future colleagues that we can while teaching them all of those basic needs?
Dr. Ralph Ford:Do they see it as "Oh, geez, I have to go through this program." Do they start that way, you see a big difference by you know, the end of several days with them.
Clark Tieman:I think it really depends on the piece. We recognize that some of the things are a little less fun to learn or do than others. But we start out pretty high energy. So the past several years, we've been able to move in on the Friday prior to classes. I have student volunteers that meet them, regardless of if it's their commuters and they're checking in in the commuter space. Or if they are moving into one of our residence halls. We greet them with smiles and energy and brightly colored shirts. And hopefully that sets the tone for the rest of their success for that week.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Everybody gets this nice, like lime colored, you know, lime green, Penn State Behrend shirt. You know, what have you made me think, is that one of the really neat things about that is the Welcome Week guides and their upper division students. They come in, they're trained, but they are just a joy to watch. They bring so much energy. So why don't you tell us a little bit, you know, how's that process work of finding Welcome Week guides and what do they do?
Clark Tieman:You know, thankfully, they have enough fun that they are sort of a self replicating and self recruiting group. Chris mentioned they are volunteers, right? And they sit through three days of what can I'm sure be boring to them training, and they move in a little bit early with us. And they stand in the heat and in the sun and they never complain.
Dr. Ralph Ford:That's what amazes me they stand outside of the residence halls, singing songs, chanting and welcoming people. It's quite the sight to see.
Clark Tieman:It absolutely is. And one of my favorite things is to see where they each find their niche on that day. So I know that there are students that I've known before, and they're quiet as a mouse. But they will find what they need to do to be successful and to use their strengths to really improve and greet new families and their students.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Question to both of you. Do students find in that first week, they do most of them find a peer group that they're going to stick with for two or three, four years? Or do they switch around? Or do you know, like, do they find their friendships in that first week?
Kris Motta Torok:I would say not necessarily. I think it takes them some time. You often see our new students moving in bigger groups, as they're heading to the dining hall, or moving to class or going to those first programs, they may be traveling in a group by their floor in their residence halls, or group of students coming from off campus. But then I think after those couple of weeks, when they start attending those first meetings, and whether that be a social organization, or an academic club that's associated with their intended major, that's when they start to find their core group. And that may change over time as they meet new people. But I think it's it's gradual.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Frankly, that's good to hear. Because we put a lot of pressure on them to say this is the time when you find all of your peer group and it should it frankly, change over time. Let's switch to our concert. It used to be the spring concert, which is a few years ago, we switched this from the spring to the fall. We haven't I think within the first two weeks of class out on the soccer field. This year, we you know, we had a band or a singer or band called Yung Gravy. Now I've never heard of this Yung Gravy before. But it turns out, he's quite the phenom and in the media quite a bit. So I think it was a great hit this year. Why do we make that change? Just seems like there's a lot of energy around the concert. Now what's different about it?
Kris Motta Torok:We've made the change, to be able to have the show outside. I think many, many reasons. The outside show is just a different vibe. But also capitalizing on the energy of the start of the new year. All students are welcome. And it's a whole day of events. We have the multicultural council start with their cultural fest, then we move them to the concert. And then after the concert is over, we have the Behrend after dark activities. So we're intentional about programming the whole day. But it's so nice to have. The change we had is that the show is now (or has been) no charge for our students. And it's just been Behrend students. So it's more of a Behrend community event. It was nice to have it open to all in theory, sure. But it's definitely a different experience, than when it's just your peers. And it's really a celebration for those students. And the students are still involved in the planning and the production of the show. The students still pick.
Dr. Ralph Ford:They decide who the artist is?
Kris Motta Torok:They do. And it's neat, because it also teaches them okay, this is how much an artist is going for. And this is what we need to factor in. As far as the fee for the artist. And what other aspects go into planning a show. And they're involved with each of those pieces, security, hospitality tickets.
Dr. Ralph Ford:They even get to see the contract.
Kris Motta Torok:Yes, they do. Because they will go through the requirements.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Yeah, I mean, that's a great learning experience for a young student to be able to see that. So yeah, it's becoming a signature event on campus. Well, you know, as then, you know, I'm thinking it's true as the beginning of the year starts. So now we've got, we're always trying to get students involved in our clubs and organizations. And one way that you do that is something called the Discovery Fair. And walk us through what the Discovery Fair is. And how successful is that in engaging students in building our clubs and organizations?
Clark Tieman:Sure, so the Discovery Fair is actually is a rebrand of two separate events. This was the inaugural Discovery Fair. Previously, we had two separate involvement fairs. One would be all clubs and organizations called clubs showcase. And then usually the next day we would do the service and leadership fair. You know, my colleagues, Ashley, and Chris Fox in Student Leadership and Involvement and I put our heads together. And thought, you know, let's work a little bit smarter, not harder. We recognize the difference in those opportunities between service opportunities and club opportunities, but to the students, they're just looking to get involved. And they might not even realize that they want to do a service opportunity. And so they wouldn't go to the service fair. But they might see some of those involvements, and then vice versa, right? So seeing a large crowd at events, again, it was really cool to see. And then our students are busy, they might only have a half hour in the afternoon to spare. And so being able to see all of those things offered once, instead of trying to slice out two days worth of afternoons to investigate.
Dr. Ralph Ford:You put it outdoors right in the center of campus where they have to walk through. Right between the changes, essentially, right? That's a smart idea.
Clark Tieman:Yeah. And honestly, we tried to take attendance every year. And it's difficult just because they slipped right through they. They walk right through. And it's a great problem to have, I guess. But it's a it's a really nice
Dr. Ralph Ford:Let's talk a little bit about the impact of day. the pandemic. So my observation, you know, what happened was, we had a lot of student leaders who were running our clubs and organizations, which has been largely a face to face activity. For two years, they graduated, and they're gone. And now we've got new students. We don't we don't have the same upper division students who had that experience. I mean, is that a correct assessment? First of all, what I'm saying, and are they coming back? I mean, what are the challenges we've seen?
Kris Motta Torok:It's definitely a correct assessment, we've had a big leadership gap. Our students aren't coming back. And they're excited to be involved. But what I found is that our students learn from each other. They're watching the student leaders, about how to be a leader how to run an organization. And they, they missed that, with having a meeting on Zoom. They missed seeing how to run a meeting in person and how to interact with each other, and how to follow up on the historical things that a club may do. And it's a challenge. As an advisor, it reminds me that, okay, I need to put a different hat on. Where I could sit back a little and let them take care of all the details, I need to step in and fill some of those gaps. So that they can pick up where the last administration left off, or where a leadership team left off. So that they are having a smooth transition.
Dr. Ralph Ford:While this opportunity to start fresh and to have new ideas come in. And what I'm hearing is the good news is (and I think we all know this) but people are resilient. But you need to keep pushing them. And I you know, we see this on the academic side, and others. And I'm not saying it's easy out there. In fact, it's really hard on our faculty and all of your staff as well. But we have to just keep holding the students to standards and they'll figure it out. Well, one of the really popular service opportunities is something known as alternative spring break. I love this program. Tell our audience what's the alternative spring break program about.
Kris Motta Torok:So the alternative spring break is a service trip where our students go to a different location, and have a week of service. And it's outside of Erie County. So it's somewhere where they travel during spring break. So instead of going to the beach or having a vacation, they're dedicating that week to service. The students will sign up, they apply. And they are interviewed by a panel of their peers. And it's a blind interview. They don't have the students names. And they choose around 24 students to participate in the alternative spring break. They've gone all over the country doing disaster relief or work with homeless persons or ...
Dr. Ralph Ford:They were helping to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina, I recall. And some of the other disasters that have gone through right?
Kris Motta Torok:They went several years to Mississippi, where Gulfport Mississippi was hit very hard from Hurricane Katrina. The news definitely highlighted New Orleans, but ...
Dr. Ralph Ford:Oh, yeah, that was widespread. So this must be a real eye-opening experience for them.
Kris Motta Torok:It's a life changing experience. Because not only are they helping those folks in the community, they're meeting those people. And they're learning that they're in a situation through no fault of their own. And maybe they got taken advantage of by an unscrupulous contractor, or they are working so hard that they don't have time to work on their home. And one of my favorite stories from the time where we were doing relief from Katrina, was the people that we were helping. They were so used to getting sandwiches from FEMA, that when we went to the location to do work on the house, the woman said no one's having a sandwich at my house, and she made a hot meal for those that were there. So those types of things. They at the end of the day, we would have to tear the students away from the site, just one more nail or one more board. I needed to do. So it was definitely a life-changing experience. They work hard while they're there. They work hard there.
Dr. Ralph Ford:They get time for play as well.
Kris Motta Torok:What we tried to do is dedicate one day to immerse them in the culture of that area. And we tried to patronize local restaurants and learn from the local community about how they were affected. So it's a lot of work, a little bit of immersion into the culture of that area.
Dr. Ralph Ford:No, that's great. I mean, this one of the things that I think is wonderful about the culture of Penn State University. You look across the board from Behrend to, you know, any campus in the system, and it's that idea of service. And, you know, we've got a lot of ambassador organizations. So it's just a great story. Well, let's switch this Student Government Association, the SGA. And you work, Kris, particularly closely with the Student Government Association. And they have a really important function here on campus. They really do, in terms of representing the students and their interests. What leads students to join SGA?
Kris Motta Torok:I think that it's a variety of reasons. They may have had an experience in their high school years on their student government, or they are a political science major. But really, I've seen many different types of students participate for many different majors or academic disciplines participate in SGA. I think the common thread is that they want to help their fellow students. They say they want to make a difference. And that's an opportunity for them to do so. Whether that is representing students concerns in academic areas, or what type of chicken fingers are being served in the dining hall. It runs the gamut of issues that come to SGA.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Well, it can be a whole variety of issues. And the one I was going to bring up, of course, is that is perennial is student parking, right? And oh, my goodness, parking every year. And the other hand, sometimes progress is made and will make changes to parking. And, you know, whatever it might be to help the students who are commuters and the like. And those needed change. So it's really important that we hear those things from the students to be sure. So you mentioned a few, whatever, you know, so tell me like parking, what are the hot button issues on campus.
Kris Motta Torok:One of the issues that student government identified was needs of the commuters. So they developed an ad hoc committee to focus on commuter issues. And through their work, they were able to identify space on campus to be a commuter lounge. So now students, commuter students have a spot on campus that they can use as a home base. Be comfortable or study, close their eyes for a little bit. And then that developed into identifying the need for a staff person. So that's one area. They really took an interest in academic advising, and that's a committee that they've been working on recently is identifying how they could partner with the academic side of the house to improve advising.
Dr. Ralph Ford:You know, just sticking with the commuter students, I will tell you that it was just a joy to watch. You must be very proud of the fact that multiple student government association's worked on that issue. And they made real progress here on campus. So this isn't just some sort of report there. We have a space dedicated here on campus, you said for our commuter students. It's very valuable because the Student Government Association, the leader saw that need and then they, you know, they found a way to staff and come up with funding for staffing. So I love to see those stories. Let's talk about Clark, you know, if students have an interest that isn't in the existing club, can they start their own?
Clark Tieman:Oh, yeah, we have had, I'm gonna say at least a half dozen clubs, go through the SGA acceptance process review process already this semester. To start a new club, it's pretty simple. They need 10 students, someone to serve as an officer, and an on campus advisor and a constitution. And we have both students, staff and professional staff available to walk them through those processes. And, as I mentioned, SGA will thoroughly review and vote and then they are officially ratified by our office after SGA passes that on to us.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Wow. And so if you've got an idea, come see you. That's it, right? So many of our students out there. And what I always marvel at is fact we've got about 140, let's say give or take student clubs and organizations on campus.
Clark Tieman:Yeah, coming back from COVID. It was a really good opportunity for us to help the students take stock of how active they want to be, how many members they have clearing through rosters, and seeing who's really involved, who's dedicated to your organization. And, you know, we see it all the time. There are some good things that have come out of the last few years and being able to get a pulse on the activity of those organizations is one of them.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Let's talk about a long-time tradition here at Behrend that many of our graduates know well. And that's something called Midnight. Bingo. I mean, it's just a phenom that goes on year after year. I'm always surprised at how popular this is in our alumni. Talk about that. Walk us through that. How did midnight bingo become such a big deal among college students?
Kris Motta Torok:Midnight bingo started years ago, with a group of lion ambassadors. They came up with this idea to have this major event on campus. And we all thought, Bingo?
Dr. Ralph Ford:Bingo? Yeah, that's, that's older people, right?
Kris Motta Torok:It has grown to such the phenomena. It midnight bingo. It starts at 10. And it's over by one. So it happens across the midnight hour. But they plan the whole thing. And they have different themes for bingo. The process is they have to submit a budget request for the bingos and they receive funding from the student activity fee. And they select all the prizes. They give out$3,000 per bingo. So they they do the shopping, they do the planning. It's a large undertaking for the group. And they love it and our students love it, you have to go early if you want to good seat.
Dr. Ralph Ford:If you want a seat, you have to get there early.
Kris Motta Torok:So everything from a bucket of cheese balls, to large TV, could be the prizes. And everything in between.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Such a great Behrend tradition. I want to switch to another Behreend tradition. And that's the multicultural council, which has been here on campus for quite a number of years. I didn't even realize until I talked to some of our alumni who graduated in the 80s and 90s, who helped to create it. And how proud they are. Tell us what is the multicultural council. What do they do?
Clark Tieman:The multicultural council or MCC, as a lot of our students will call it is an umbrella organization comprised of representatives from each of our culturally affiliated organizations. So everything from our Asian student organization, to our National Society of Black Engineers. So they're really running the gamut of different cultural affiliations, cultural interests, and they meet weekly, to really give a rundown for what's happening in their organizations so that they can cross populate, cross pollinate, cross recruit. Which we see huge success from. But also, you know, if there's something that's happened, there has been an issue regarding race relations in the country, and they feel the need to talk about it. So then on campus, they will bring that up. They'll bring that to the attention of the executive board, myself and Andy Herrera from educational equity or their weekly to hear those concerns should they come up. And MCC also is another long-standing tradition. And other long standing event is our Harambe, which we encourage all of our listeners to RSVP for. It's later this month. But that is an annual cultural gala with performers and speakers. Good food, great food. And that gala has actually won awards in our yearly award ceremony. And it's actually gotten MCC the last five years running organization of the year.
Dr. Ralph Ford:So wow, great success from that group. You know, another related event is the fashion show in the spring. Yes, I went to that this year. And I was just so pleasantly surprised at how much work went into that. And how professional it is. You would have thought you were at a real fashion show. And I don't mean that it just it really stood out to me as a signature event here on campus.
Clark Tieman:Yeah, we're very happy that with COVID starting to become just a normal part of our lives, we're able to adjust and bring that tradition back. As you mentioned, it is a long-standing tradition. This past year was especially special, because it was co sponsored by multiple organizations. This year, our organization of African Caribbean students, or National Society of Black Engineers, and our Association of Black Collegians all had a part in that planning with our office and educational equity as well.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Well, kudos to them for a great event and a fun time as well. But you know, the larger issues we're facing as a country right now. We are examining everything across the board from race relations to how we treat people based on their sexual orientation. It's an important conversation. And how's that impacting the conversation here on campus? What do you see?
Clark Tieman:Well, especially in 2020, coming off of the summer of George Floyd's murder, our Association of Black Collegians and some of our other culturally affiliated organizations really took that matter to heart. They hosted multiple panels. They were involved in community work. I know that the president at that time of ABC these issues black legions worked with a panel at Gannon, you know, barons voice was being heard Behrend, student voices were being heard during that time. And it's not up. We continue to hear conversations. I know that our gender and sexuality equality organization, or GASE as they're known, also has regular conversations about treatment on campus. They're hosting their first ever National Coming Out celebration later this month as well. Record noticing that, you know, with all the progress that we've made, there's still much to do, and that comes directly from our students. They see the need and they want to make sure that other students know that there's somewhere for them to go.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Well, I want to finish. We're getting close to the end here. But I would be remiss not to talk about THON, which is a huge, tremendous Penn State tradition. And we have our Behrend THON here. So tell us how do our students here at Behrend get involved in THON?
Kris Motta Torok:It's very easy to get involved in THON. Our group is called Behrend benefiting THON, and they're such an enthusiastic group. And they've really taken to heart raising money for the kids. They're able to do programming here on campus and do their own fundraisers. Next week. They're having an exercise-a-THON, where they're bringing some exercise equipment from the Junker center over to the Reed Union building and doing a walk- and bike-a-thon with the stationary equipment. They have their 24 for a cure mini Dance Marathon, where they invite students all over campus and clubs and organizations to participate. And that's a great fundraiser too. And then they gear up for the big THON in February. And they are just so excited and proud to participate and dance or be an observer.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Well, we are coming to the close of our show. But with that being said, anything else you would like to add?
Kris Motta Torok:Sure one thing that stands out to me in our conversations with our older students, our graduating seniors, that I've had opportunities to work with, is when they give advice to younger students or to our incoming class. Time and time again, we hear those graduating seniors talking to the new students, saying that the piece of advice that they wish they got was get involved right away. That they looking back, they wish they would have gotten involved sooner. And it just connects them quicker to the college and makes those experiences that much more special right off the bat. So I would offer that advice to anyone.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Easy to say. But get involved, get involved,
Kris Motta Torok:Get involved, get involved. That's our advice from our students to our students that we often hear.
Dr. Ralph Ford:And it's a truism. Clark?
Clark Tieman:Thank you for having me.
Dr. Ralph Ford:Well, Kris and Clark, thanks for being here today. It has been a great conversation and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Again, you are listening to Behrend Talks. I'm Chancellor Ralph Ford, and my guests today have been Kris Motta Torok from the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement and her colleague Clark Tieman. And it's been a great conversation. Thanks for all that you do for our students here at Penn State Behrend. Thank you.
Kris Motta Torok:Thank you for having us and letting us talk about our students.
Dr. Ralph Ford:You're welcome.