Educational Resource Materials
Del has presented educational sessions at the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities National Convention, Regional Conferences, National Advisers' Institute, and Summer Leadership Workshops, and at the National Association of Campus Activities National Convention and Regional Conferences. He has presented at numerous Leadership Workshops and Student Activities Retreats at campuses across the country, and also numerous district and state Student Government Association conferences. He is one of the most frequently published authors in the field of student activities, and has published nearly eighty articles and columns in Programming, Student Activities Journal, and Campus Activities magazines.
Del is a contributor to The Student Affairs Collective, available here. Take a moment to check it out, and if you find it useful you should subscribe free, either by the email link or with your RSS Reader. This blog features some of the best in Student Affairs and Student Activities sharing ideas and insight. Poke around and search back through past issues, too, and you'll find a wealth of great information.
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Here are the handouts and summaries from many of Del's educational sessions, along with his magazine articles. They require Acrobat Reader to view and print.Leadership Development Articles
It's perhaps the most difficult challenge facing any potential leader. Leading with Integrity is the most important role you play.
Are you looking to get more students to attend your Leadership Development programs? Here are some proven methods to get students there!
Here are five rules you can apply to yourself to help you become a great leader.
If you sometimes-- or always-- feel overwhelmed with your duties and tasks, this can help.
Have trouble getting students to vote? These suggestions may increase your voter turnout and participation!
One of the little-known attributes of Google Drive (formerly Google Docs) is that you can use it to create and compile surveys. And, the price is right-- it's free. If you are tired of the restrictions on Surveymonkey, Survey Console, and Zoomerang, then this session is your solution.
All leaders have to find a way to motivate their members in order to lead. If you are looking for motivational ideas, check out this article.
Learn to recognize burnout in yourself, and some simple steps to regain the joy in your life and work.
Achievement at both the personal and organizational level is keenly linked to goal setting. But what are goals, really? And how do you set them?
How do you get things done-- and accomplish your goals-- without burning yourself out? Learn how to delegate duties and responsibilities to others within your organization.
How you are perceived by others is determined completely by your interpersonal skills. This article will help you understand your interpersonal skills, and help you to make a great first impression.
Everyone wants to feel like a part of a community. It's so important, it's probably in your college mission. But how do you create a sense of community?
Do all of your members play well together? Do they all get along-- or is there frequent infighting and arguing? Check this article on conflict resolution.
You don't have enough time to get it all done... but it all has to be done on time. Learn how to manage your time wisely, and accomplish more than you think!
Do you hate "Robert's Rules Of Order," but have no alternative? Consider consensus.
Here is a method developed by Dr. Sakichi Toyota to discover the core purpose or reason. It's great for creating goals or a mission statement.
As your students become more dependent on contemporary technology, it's more important than ever that Student Activities personnel understand and utilize it. Here are some tips to bring you along.
The traditional mission statement explains what an organizaiton does. The contemporary mission statement defines Why an organization does.
Need to do some team building and teach your new board members how to do their job? One effective answer is the Board Retreat. Look here for some good advice on getting the most from your retreat.
It's the beginning of the academic year. Being a better leader should be your "New Year's Resolution!"
"I hate meetings!" Does that sound like your board members? Unfortunately, meetings are a necessity. If your campus activity board members hate to meet, then it's time to do something altogether different.
A Leadership Conference can inspire your students to higher goals, stimulate new leaders, and expand your programs into cocurricular education. Here is some advice for putting your leadership conference together.
Here is a clearly defined method for recruiting new members for your organization. You've got to have them, or your organization will perish!
Student Activities Articles
Jeff Foote (SUNY Cobleskill) drafted this simple diagram of a successful promotional campaign on campus. Choose the right elements, and you can succeed at spreading the word far and wide!
If you sometimes-- or always-- feel overwhelmed with your duties and tasks, this can help.
Surprise! Your budget has been slashed. Need some new ideas for keeping the doors open and the students busy? Check out this article.
If you're on Snapchat, you should check these ideas out.
Here are a few more Snapchat strategies for you to try.
One of the little-known attributes of Google Drive (formerly Google Docs) is that you can use it to create and compile surveys. Want to know what kind of programs to present, or when to present them? Do a free survey!
Here are some great ideas for promoting your campus events. Sometimes the difference between a huge crowd and small crowd is just a little bit of working smarter, not harder!
This article contains many inexpensive or free ways to promote the concerts and other programs you present on campus. Check out all these great ideas for drawing a crowd.
Use your skills in producing entertainment programs and events to enhance and improve a community service program. You can often make an existing program even more effective by adding entertainment.
It works for Victoria's Secret, McDonalds, and Nike. You must create a brand for your board!
Since the publication of Learning Reconsidered by NASPA and APCA, Student Development has taken a different turn. Read about the most important reassessment of Student Life in two decades, and how it will affect Student Activities.
It started out with the ambitious goal of soliciting 50 low-cost program ideas in a little less than an hour. Fifty minutes later, the delegates at the APCA National Advisors' Summit in Las Vegas had suggested 91 ideas! This is a link to the Student Affairs Blog post.
As your students become more dependent on contemporary technology, it's more important than ever that Student Activities personnel understand and utilize it. Here are some tips to bring you along.
Need to do some team building and teach your new board members how to do their job? One effective answer is the Board Retreat. Look here for some good advice on getting the most from your retreat.
The "little things" can make all the difference when you present events on your campus
Here are some ideas about Names, Structure, Officers, and Responsibilities for your Programming Board. Includes Time Management, Timelines, Forms, and Conflict Resolution , plus some ideas about Branding and Marketing for your Programming Board
Getting ready for a conference means not wasting time or money. Here's how to get the most out of any programming conference.
It's the beginning of the academic year. Being a better leader should be your "New Year's Resolution!"
"I hate meetings!" Does that sound like your board members? Unfortunately, meetings are a necessity. If your campus activity board members hate to meet, then it's time to do something altogether different.
If you're considering starting a Coffeehouse Series on your campus, or if you want to make your series even better, then take a look at this great information.
Performers tend to dislike cafeteria shows because they are generally produced so poorly. Here is a step-by-step approach to change your "cafeteria gigs" into "Dinner Theater."
Planning is simply following a plan to become and stay organized. And being organized gives you the freedom to be creative. Here's one way to get your act together.
There is more to scheduling than just booking acts and events. Here are some ideas for putting together a balanced and appropriate schedule for your campus.
Student Activities can truly be the key to campus collaboration with mission-based programming.
Baffled by the volumes of contracts sent to you by agents? Overwhelmed by the band's rider that asks for things you can't deliver (like alcohol) or seemingly foolish requests (like no brown M&M's...). This article can help you make sense of it all! Disclaimer: the author is not an attorney, and will not offer legal advice! But he will help you understand which items in a contract are negotiable and which items are "deal breakers!"
This article explains some basic advertising concepts that you can use to promote the programs you present on campus. This may be the answer to your promotional questions!
If you're looking for a way to pull your campus community together, then consider an Artist-In-Residence. By presenting multiple shows, you can reach out to the campus and community, and reach different audiences. You will also generate a positive image for your school and your programs.
It may be the biggest challenge in the field of Student Activities: programming for a commuter campus. It's like having a student body of gypsies or nomads. Sometimes they're around; sometimes they're not. What can you do?
As non-traditional students become a major population on college campuses, programming boards are facing a new paradigm in activities. Family Friendly programs may provide one solution to meeting the needs of these students.
Can't get your students to attend your programs? Maybe you should take the programs to your students! Here are some innovative ideas to utilize those less-expensive and easily-produced acts on your campus.
Getting to your gigs can be stressful. Here are some helpful hints from the pros to make travel easier!
Here is some good advice for keeping healthy as a traveling musician.
Here is a comprehensive form to help you produce your campus events. It's designed to cover every aspect of each show, and you're welcome to customize it to your campus needs.
Game Show Templates for PowerPoint
These templates are for creating your own version of your favorite TV game shows! Included are "Jeopardy!", "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?", "Are Your Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?", "Hollywood Squares", and more. Some of them even include the musical themes and sound effects! They are large compressed files, so you have to download them and then "unzip" or "unstuff" them. They are a great way to add some fun to your training programs, and can be fun, low-cost programs for residence halls and program boards.
Student Affairs, Higher Ed, and Learning Reconsidered Articles
This article by Del Suggs covers the importance of Learning Reconsidered to Student Affairs. Since the publication of Learning Reconsidered by NASPA and ACPA, Student Development has taken a different turn. Read about the most important reassessment of Student Life in two decades, and how it will affect Student Activities.
This position paper was published in 2004 by NASPA and ACPA. Learning Reconsidered calls for a radical new approach to learning on campus. You can download your own copy of Learning Reconsidered here, and read about Transformative Learning.
Here is an article authored by Del Suggs featured in the Jan/Feb 2015 issue of Programming magazine. It clearly explains writing learning outcomes, creating online assessment tools, and administering them using QR codes.
If you are struggling with drafting Student Learning Outcomes, then check out this article. It's a clear explanation and formula for writing learning outcomes.
When you create student learning outcomes for your programs and events, you might struggle with the correct action verb. This list from Bloom's Taxonomy will help you get it just right.
The student learning outcomes you create for your programs and events will fall under one or more of the six domains of the CAS Standards. CAS is the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education, and they have condensed the domains from Learning Reconsidered into an easy to understand chart. Here it is for your use.
Here is a terrific article to help you understand the very basics of assessment in Student Affairs.
This a terrific aid for anyone developing student learning outcomes, and it was developed for use by the University of Rhode Island. Highly Recommended!
It may be the biggest ongoing challenge you face in Higher Education. Students change, the world changes, technology dominates. How do you keep contemporary students engaged?
One of the little-known attributes of Google Drive (formerly Google Docs) is that you can use it to create and compile surveys. And, the price is right-- it's free. If you are tired of the restrictions on Surveymonkey, Survey Console, and Zoomerang, then this session is your solution.
How would you like to present a program, then just click a button to review the completed assessment? Sound too good to be true? It's not! This article will teach you to develop easily assessed learning outcomes, create an assessment tool using Google Drive, and discover how to get your students to complete the assessment survey at the event on their cell phones.
Learn to recognize burnout in yourself, and some simple steps to regain the joy in your life and work.
Everyone wants to feel like a part of a community. It's so important, it's probably in your college mission. But how do you create a sense of community? Let's look at ideas to break down the barriers between students, faculty, and staff, and consider creating new traditions to carry the community forward for years to come.
This analysis of the force of statistics in higher education was published in 2005 by the Lumina Foundation. Data Don't Drive considers the volumes of data collected by schools, and calls for a movement away from collecting evidence and towards "a culture of inquiry." That means collecting useful data that can help to enhance student learning. You can download your own copy of Data Don't Drive here.
This four-page summation of the most widely-recognized theories of student development is a handy summation. It covers Psychosocial Theories, RAcial and Ethnic Identity Developemt, Gender and Sexual Identity Development Cognitive-Structural Theories and Moral Development. Very Handy! n
Dr. Arthur Chickering is a leading researcher in Student Develpment theory, and this article explains very clearly the Seven Vectors of a college student's development.
If you'd like to learn the basics in "Student Develpment Theory," here is a fine article. Highly Recommended!
Student Activities can truly be the key to campus collaboration with mission-based programming.
Truly Leading: Lessons in Leadership is now in Second Edition!
After seven printings of the the original version, Del's book Truly Leading: Lessons in Leadership has just been published in the second edition. It has been released in both paperback and as an eBook. It is available from Del here at his store.
You can also purchase Truly Leading in paperback from
Amazon.com,
and as an eBook from
the
Kindle
Store
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