Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) has an incredibly diverse number of clubs and organizations that are open for any student to join. Because of tight schedules, students tend to pick the one or two clubs where their interests and skills best align.
The opportunity for club collaboration is constantly changing and evolving, and by highlighting some of the different forms of collaboration, The Penmen Press aims to encourage all clubs to not only to work with the university, but with one another.
An example of recent club collaboration can be seen in one of the major Halloween events. Over the summer, RadioSNHU had the idea to create an event involving many clubs on campus.
A large amount of clubs and organizations were asked to participate in their event, HalloweenFest. Though RadioSNHU could have put this event on by themselves, they offered other clubs the opportunity to join in the planning of it and create a larger event.
It was great to see one club reach out in an attempt to bring many clubs together and create a major event for the SNHU community.
Approximately twelve clubs had activities going at HalloweenFest, which helped to spread the word about the event. Not only that, but it was a unique couple of hours where clubs and organizations came together to support one another.
Other than the two Involvement Fairs we have each year, most clubs operate self-sufficiently, with the occasional co-sponsorship or university organized event.
Club collaboration can also exist on a one-to-one basis. Oftentimes, clubs will find that there are gaps in their skill sets and what they are able to accomplish with the members that they have. Throughout the organizations on campus, skills are diversified yet also concentrated within those specific organizations.
The Penmen Press has begun adapting this mindset as a way to include other clubs on campus who are not actively on staff (due to time restraints or other commitments) and get them involved in our final product. Upon realizing that we struggled with producing consistent and quality photographs, we began to think of ways we could acquire more photographers.
We realized that many students with those skills were in Media and Design club, and would never be able to come to meetings, or even know we needed their skills, as both clubs meet at the same time.
Instead of looking for photographers elsewhere, it became clear it would be much more beneficial and productive to build up a collaboration with Media and Design Club. This teamwork has allowed both our organization and theirs to benefit in regards to product, pre-professional experience, and friendship.
While this type of collaboration is less event-oriented, it has proved an interesting model for pushing both clubs forward. As the year continues, the club collaboration that we take part in as an organization has expanded, and we hope that in the event your club ever needs our strengths, you know where to find us.
