NEWS
Students get involved
on the UNCA campus
KATIE WALKER
News Staff Writer
kwalker6@unca.edu
Students and family members
fill every available seat in the
Highsmith Grotto, some standing
along the perimeter while others
choose to sit on the ground. The
lights dim as the Fortisimamas
take the stage. Everyone in atten
dance leans forward in their seats
as the female acapella group cap
tivates them with their twist on
modem music.
“What we know about student
involvement is that when students
are involved on campus, they are
more likely to retain, graduate
and succeed at universities,” said
Fred Tugas, associate director of
programming at UNC Asheville.
“Student involvement promotes
student success.”
UNCA presents students with
numerous opportunities to get in
volved with the campus commu
nity. Involvement can range from
attending a student organization's
event to being president of a stu
dent organization.
Tugas said around 1,000 UNCA
students are members of a student
organization. UNCA currently has
around 70 student organizations
on campus.
“There is just so many differ
ent opportunities for students to
get plugged in. We are working
to continue to promote that to the
campus community,” Tugas said.
A portion of student fees go to
student organizations
Each year students pay a fee
which goes to different depart
ments on campus, such as student
organizations, Highsmith Student
Union and the recreation center.
The facilities that receive a por
tion of the money are available
for students to use free of charge.
However, only a small number of
students take advantage of these
facilities.
“There is the allocation of or
ganizations, which is part of a
larger process. Our office only
gets a portion of it,” Tugas said.
“Highsmith Student Union, our
actual department and the man
agement of this facility, is com
pletely student-funded.”
Tugas also said student organi
zations, such as Underdog Pro
ductions, get a portion of the al
location. To get the money, each
organization has to present its
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UNCA workson crafts at an Underdog Productij
PHOTO BY KATIE WALKER
event
UNCA staff give
advice on time
management
KATIE WALKER
News Staff Writer
kwalker6@unca.edu
Many incoming UNC Asheville
freshmen struggle to manage their
time along with their new freedom
and academic challenges.
“Self-discipline is not fun but
it is pretty much the thing that has
to happen for students to be able
to manage their time,” said Karen
Cole, UNCA director of advising.
Julia Quigley, a sophomore new
media student, said it can be easy to
put a term paper or study guide aside
in order to make time to go to an ex
citing event happening on campus.
Quigley said participating in so
cial events around campus is import
ant to the social life of most college
freshmen. However, deciding to do
school work ahead of time may not
seemTike the most important thing.
Knowing what needs to be done first
is hard when the school work begins
to pile up.
“Some explanation of what their
priorities are would be helpful be
cause I think that is one of those
things we all struggle with,” Cole
said.
Planning out assignment due
dates is one of the many things that
ensure a freshman will get things
done on time. Free time will allow
for non-academic activities, such as
going to a movie being shown on
campus or supporting the basketball
team at the next home game.
All freshmen who attend UNCA
are required to take a freshman col
loquium course which helps provide
the skills needed for a smooth tran
sition from high school to college.
Rodger Payne, chair and professor
of religious studies, said UNCA has
offered some form of the freshman
colloquium program for the last 20
years.
“We want to offer students in these
courses academic content so it is not
just that we are focused on general
information for being a college stu
dent but we put that into context of
studying, particularly some kind of
academic subject,” Payne said. “So
ideally what we are helping first
year students do is settle into college
life.”
Payne said the freshman collo
quium course intentionally intro
duces students to such resources as
the Writing Center, different styles
of learning and time management.
During the time of the course, the
instructors will often bring in out
side faculty members to talk about
their experiences and what they did
to help themselves succeed.
“I have a Google Calendar for ev
erything and that’s how I stay on top
of things,” Quigley said.
Prioritizing different assignments
helps keep students organized and
ensures students get assignments
done on time.
“I tend to try to do the things that
I do not like doing first so I can get
those done and out of the way. I find
that seems to help,” said Robert
Campbell, director of service learn
ing.
Quigley said rewarding herself
with her favorite movie is a great
way to stay motivated and finish as
signments. If a student sets their goal
of things to finish before watching
movies or going to the game, it pro
vides the motivation needed to get
everything done rather than put as
signments off until the last minute.
“There is no big secret to it,”
Payne said. “Come to class, keep
up with the work and talk to profes
sors.”