The Joys of Being a Student Affairs Admin

One of the things I love most about my students is how creative they are! But, those good intentions and ideas don't always turn out how you want them to.

This past weekend was the last weekend of programs for the Union Board for the semester since they start exams this week. Last year, we turned the Union into a winter wonderland covered with fake snow for a massive snowball fight and had gingerbread making (as you can see in pics below). Little did we know that the wrapping to keep the snow from ruining the carpet would turn the floor into the ice capades (I really thought we were going to have to take someone to the hospital with a broken limb) and the fact that it would take 3 hours to clean up (from 1 am-4 am) and the fake snow would be so heavy that you were sore for 4 days. Needless to say, we're never doing fake snow again even though the students loved it.

So, this year, we struck the snow and kept the gingerbread house making. It was a huge hit as usual. However, the students decided they also wanted a late-afternoon/early evening event before that. So, they created the idea of a de-stress event with massages, christmas card making, palm reading, and (the icing on the cake) petting puppies and kittens from the local animal shelter. Hundreds of students came for the event and loved it! 

However, we've decided that the first weekend in December is now a curse for our office. At the event, a couple of cats were adopted by faculty and a parent of a student. Monday night, I got word that one of the cats got really sick. They took it to the vet and apparently it had a bacterial infection contagious to humans that is the leading cause of diarrhea. Awesome! So, we invited hundreds of students to come pet animals that may have just created a contagious bacterial outbreak of diarrhea before exams. Go team. Didn't see that one coming. Luckily, we've talked with the health center so that they're aware. They haven't heard of any students getting sick. They think the cat wasn't actually sick until after it left us or we would have heard more about it by now. But, part of me is just waiting for that phone call from the health center that we're in serious shit (pun intended). Aren't you jealous of us student affairs admins and the fun things we get to deal with and worry about?

The next time a student has a creative idea for the last weekend of events, I'm seriously thinking of vetoing it. But, don't they look like they at least had fun?

While I gripe above, the last of the UB programs actually went fine (other than the potential cat contamination of 2009). But, my favorite event (and last event) of the year, the Campus Christmas Party, went off smashingly this week. Essentially, the college community comes together on a Monday night before exams to sing carols, drink cider and hot chocolate, watch santa repel from the top of the main building, and just enjoy the season together. Here are some pics below! It's just a refreshing way to kick off the season.