Business school students not taking advantage of involvement opportunities

Faculty and the leaders of the Smith Undergraduate Student Association (SUSA) are interested in getting more students involved in the business school's activities.

Chris Coraggio, SUSA president, said that about 1,000 students are directly involved in the business school's clubs and SUSA, which provides involvement opportunities, but there are a majority of students—estimated to about 1,800—that aren't involved and that alarms the school.

"We haven't captured why [more students aren't involved] and what people are doing if they're not involved in the Smith school," said Coraggio. "It's been a big challenge for us. We just really want to make sure that people have a good experience here."

Dean Anand wants students to take advantage of the opportunities the school has to offer. SUSA brings together about 22 different clubs, whose overall purpose is to make sure students get the most out of their four years at the school and are prepared for a career after graduation. 

 "[The college experience] involves truly having your mind expanded with great ideas and experiences, and also creating effective networks among your peers for future support and success," said Anand.

The different club's listservs are relatively large, but the amounts of people actually committing to the clubs are small. Coraggio said that when they noticed the difference in numbers, they knew something wrong.

"We're not providing something or we're not communicating clearly," he said. "It's really important for [students] to get involved, especially for employment, and that's why we're trying to help those 1,800."

David Wilmes, advisor for SUSA, said that the school is in the process of creating an Office of Student Engagement. The office would look into providing more networking events, engaging students with faculty and alumni, and expanding the variety of internal organizations.

 "[Some students] may not realize that it really is in their best interest to get involved—to meet new people, to network with employers, gain new experiences [and] hear some really cool speakers," said Coraggio. "SUSA really is [for] them and maybe that's something we need to clarify."