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OCTOBER 2017, ISSUE NO. 10
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Campus was alive last weekend as thousands of Miami Family members were here for Family Weekend. We hope the many great events gave you insight into your student's Miami experience and made for a wonderful weekend! Here's an initial social media summary of the weekend. Whether or not you attended Family Weekend, please take five minutes to provide feedback so we can plan future Family Weekends!
We hope that developing and practicing leadership is a part of all students' experience at Miami, both inside and outside of the classroom. This issue of Miami Family Focus contains an introduction to options at Miami for engaging in leadership development and practice, high-level information about sororities and fraternities at Miami, and an introduction to the Miami Family Fund.
For the remainder of this year, you will only receive one issue of Miami Family Focus each month, in addition to the newsletter sent to all families, eeweemakiki. As always, review previous issues of both newsletters on our Stay in Touch page.
Love and Honor,
Mark W. Pontious
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| Why Leadership?Miami University is dedicated to developing engaged citizens who use "their knowledge and skills with integrity and compassion to improve the future of our global society." Miami graduates take the experiences, skills, and abilities they learn during college and apply them to all aspects of their lives beyond Oxford: personal lives, community engagement, and employment.
One measure of the need for students to develop and practice this learning is a yearly survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which asks employers to name the skills and qualities they value most in college graduates they hire. The top skills include working in a team, decision-making and problem solving, verbal and written communication, and flexibility and adaptability.
At Miami, students have many opportunities to develop and practice these competencies, which enable them to be successful beyond graduation, no matter the professional or personal goals they pursue. We firmly believe in the benefits of intentional student leadership development, partnered with practical opportunities to implement the knowledge and skills in their classes, student organizations, research, and on-campus employment.
The University has three offices dedicated to intentional leadership development: The Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute supports all Miami students through a series of workshops, conferences, retreats and programs, to include a one-year leadership certificate program; the Lockheed Martin Leadership Institute is a three-year cohort program for students in the College of Engineering and Computing with selection occurring in the second year; the Center for Business Leadership supports students in the Farmer School of Business and focuses on values-based leadership to create a holistic, integrative, practical relationship-based business leadership approach.
Miami students will also encounter intentional leadership development through other involvement opportunities, such as training for Resident Assistants (Residence Life), Connection Coach Peer Mentors (Diversity Affairs), HAWKS Peer Educators (Student Wellness), SOULs (Orientation & Transition Programs), and sorority/fraternity leadership positions (more in the last article below).
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| Enacting Leadership at MiamiMiami does not just offer opportunities to learn about leadership, but many opportunities to apply learning in practical situations that will directly translate to your student's next steps beyond Miami. We encourage students to interact with the campus and surrounding communities in ways that challenges them to utilize these skills to accomplish their goals. Opportunities to do so include:
- More than 500 student-led organizations at Miami -- from the Astronomy Club to the Zoology Club with everything in between, such as the Outdoor Adventure Club and the Portuguese Language and Culture Club.
- The Associated Student Government is modeled on the U.S. federal system, with executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as committees devoted to specific campus issues and projects. Student involvement ranges from volunteering, to representing groups of students as a senator, all the way to serving on the University Board of Trustees.
- Community Engagement and Service offers a multitude of ways for students to engage with communities off campus, including opportunities to serve others, to create positive social change through advocacy, and connect community service to course content through service-learning. Students can also assist in the planning and coordination of these activities.
- Miami Activities & Programming (MAP) is a student-elected and student-run programming organization that plans or assists with many large campus events and activities, including concerts, lectures, Homecoming, and Family Weekend.
- The Office of Residence Life engages students living on campus through paid and volunteer leadership opportunities. Community Leadership Teams in each hall engage residents and help make living on campus an enjoyable experience. Resident Assistants are student staff members who live on each floor and serve as the front-line resource for residents.
- The Office of Research for Undergraduates provides students across all majors the opportunity to excel through research experiences. Students work with Miami faculty outside the classroom to investigate complex issues.
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| Social Sororities and Fraternities at MiamiAs we approach the middle of the Fall semester, many students are already thinking about joining one of our 46 fraternities or sororities. Our Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association participate in a deferred recruitment process that takes place within the first two weeks of the Spring Semester. National Pan-Hellenic Council organizations have various Intake processes and timelines. In order to join any Greek-letter organization, students must have completed one full-time fall or spring semester, earned 12 credit hours with at least a 2.5 minimum cumulative GPA from Miami, and have completed the online Orientation to Fraternity & Sorority Life. When joining a social Greek-letter organization, students are held to a higher standard. In addition to eligibility requirements, there are also shared expectations that members must uphold. We are committed to creating a safe and positive experience for all students in the fraternity and sorority community. Through programs, relationships with national organizations, and conversations with chapter leaders, we believe in the power of transparency, collaboration, and accountability. You can find the annual report and other resources available on the Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life website, where you'll also find a page specifically for parents. The office also encourages all parents to contact them with questions about the recruitment process, new member experience, or the overall Greek community here at Miami. You can email (fsll@miamioh.edu) or call (513-529-1462), and they will be happy to speak with you. There will also be two Greek-specific webinars offered in December: one about sorority recruitment and one about fraternity recruitment.
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| The message below was recently sent to all Miami families at their home address and we thought it important enough to repeat here for you:
Each year, families play a critical role in supporting and enhancing the Miami Experience through the Miami Family Fund. Made possible through the private support of Miami families, this powerful fund strengthens the university’s efforts to provide a safe, well-rounded, vibrant college experience by offering critical support in a variety of areas, including assistance for community engagement and service activities, support for health and wellness programming, and much more.
In the coming weeks, a Miami student will reach out to you to discuss how the Miami Family Fund affects campus life. We hope you’ll answer our call. Thank you for your support!
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