The Host: Hello everyone and welcome back to the student affairs podcast series. My name is Sasha Gorchaynuk and I'll be hosting today's episode. Today we are joined by Associate Director of Leadership and Services, Kathy Meyer. In this episode, we'll be talking about recognized student organizations, what they are, how do you become a part of it, and what the benefits are. Stay tuned for more interesting insights.

Hello, Kathy, how are you today?

Kathy Meyer: Hi, doing great. Thank you for having me.

The Host: Excellent. Let's go straight to the first and main question. What is an RSO and what are some examples of an RSO?

Kathy Meyer: Right. Well, RSO stands for Recognized Student Organization, and we have over 400 active organizations at the University of Louisville. Great examples of what an RSO can look like: it can be large scale like our Black Student Union. It could also be associated with a Student Government branch. So for example, the Engage Lead Serve Board or Student Activities Board are also considered RSOs. Additionally, it could be perhaps something faith based, or it could also pertain to someone's political views if you have interest in that area. So, it kind of covers the gamut and like I said, we have so many here at the University of Louisville. There's something really for everyone. And if there isn't something that a student is particularly interested in available at the university of Louisville, our office can help students organize an organization that is of interest to them.

The Host: That's great. That's good to know. And can you tell us please what the benefits of getting involved on campus are?

Kathy Meyer: Great. Well, there's many benefits to being involved with the in a Recognized Student Organization. I'd say one of the greatest benefits is that feeling of belonging. We really want to make sure that our students, have a sense of community at UofL. And so it's important that they are connecting with other individuals who share similar interest. So that's the one of the biggest reasons that we want students to definitely have that sense of belonging and feel as though they're connected with one another. I'd say another great reason why someone might consider joining an organization is, we're all thinking about that next step after graduation. And so, employers are looking for individuals who not only have the knowledge that they've gained from the in-classroom experience, but also they need to be developing some of those soft skills. So, you know, there's the potential to work on teamwork and communication skills. Time management is certainly something. As you get more involved on campus, you definitely have to learn how to shuffle and get all of that, organized in a nice schedule. And so those are things that you can work on when you are in an RSO and particularly leadership skills are something that you can advance in, in your involvement in an RSO. So if you're an officer of an organization, that's going to give you some leadership experience and that particularly looks great on resumes. I'd say that's the way students can distinguish themselves from someone who perhaps has the same degree as them. It is that really showing how you were involved, how you gave back to the community, are all important reasons as to why you should get involved on campus.

The Host: Thank you. Absolutely. You made a great point, but sometimes students find it hard to even decide what major they wanna do. So how do they find an RSO that is right for them?

Kathy Meyer: I would share the advice, perhaps, that you know, try a little something, something new. So we have like the rule of three, we want you to do something that's academic, we want you to do something that's social, and then we want you to try something that you've never tried before. So, with the academic side, I did mention that, you know, there's something for everyone. And so, like if you're an accounting major or if you are a Speed School major, there are opportunities associated with pretty much every academic discipline out there. So, I would just encourage students to look at https://louisville.edu/engage. The Engage portal is what we use to direct students to search for something that they might be interested in. And so I would just simply say, that's probably the easiest way. Also, they could talk to their faculty. Most faculty within your discipline know of organizations that exist. Many of them are advisors to those organizations, so they could help connect students with that as well.

The Host: Kathy, thank you so much for finding time for us and telling our students this helpful and interesting information. If you want to add something else for our students this is best time to do so.

Kathy Meyer: Okay. well I would just really like to put a plug in for Engage. Again, it's located at https://louisville.edu/engage. If students go to the portal, what they'll be able to find is they can search for organizations specific that they know about; they can search for themes or keywords of interest to them. They can also find out what events are happening on campus. And so, I would just really encourage them to participate and go to Engage first. That would be great.

The Host: Thank you so much for our listeners. For more information about student services and events, go to our website: https://louisville.edu/studentaffairs.

Also, did you know that if you need assistance and don't know where to go, contact the Dean of Students Office. Or go to the website http://louisville.edu/concerncenter, the website has a directory of all resources on campus. If you aren't sure where to start, you can always search by your issue.

We would like to give a shout at, to the Student Recreation Center for providing such a great facility to our students during the summer.

Thank our listeners for staying with us. Hope you had a great time, take care, and see you on our next episode.