With the new fall semester starting, clubs and organizations, such as the Student Government Association, Impact and the University Program Council, have decided to kick off the semester with a host of new ideas and activities to recruit new members and get students involved.
"The summer has been a very positive time for the SGA," said Kirby Turnage, SGA president. "While many students are back home for the summer, SGA officers and many staff members stay in Auburn to work on various projects and initiatives."
Over the summer, SGA officers have secured funding for the Toomer's Ten, a nighttime transportation system for students, worked to increase the hours of operation for on-campus dining and continued to improve initiatives such as Weagle Water, the Textbook Reserve Program and the Verizon Wireless student discount.
Vanessa Tarpos, SGA vice president, has created a new opportunity for freshmen with a freshman senate branch.
"The vision for this branch is to give the freshman class proper representation in the SGA senate," Tarpos said.
Tiger Tuesdays, SGA's freshman programs division, has multiple information sessions for those interested. Freshmen can apply and sign up for an interview time online at www.auburn.edu/sga. Applications are due Sept. 1.
Impact, a student volunteer organization, has also organized some strategies for recruiting at the start of the year.
"Our biggest push this semester is going to be word of mouth," said Morgan McKean, vice president of publicity.
"We are also in the process of creating wallet-sized schedules to hand out to volunteers so they can always know when our projects are going on."
The organization used summer break to publicize Impact to all incoming freshmen during Camp War Eagle sessions.
These initiatives have helped increase the number of project coordinators from 42 to 48.
UPC, the student-led programming board, is responsible for organizing campus events for students.
Strategies for recruiting include the use of social media while also publicizing the organization at campus events such as the Block Party.
UPC uses the summer semester to recruit freshmen during Camp War Eagle.
"Tiger Tables during Camp War Eagle are one of the main ways we target freshmen," said Anne Smead, UPC president.
"Anyone can apply to be a member of a UPC committee--it does not have to be freshman--but we have a table set up with pictures from past events, T-shirts, et cetera. We have council members there to pass out brochures about the committees they can be a part of and UPC in general."
UPC also visits Greek organizations during chapter meetings to distribute brochures and applications.
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