Student Involvement is Important

One of the pitfalls for students is how to balance their schedules in college. Many students find that setting their own schedules to be tough. Sometimes students make the mistake of thinking they should focus only on their academics in college, missing the truth that student involvement is important in college as well.

What I Mean by Student Involvement

A colleague of mine, an Associate Dean for Retention and Student Success has coined a “4, 3, 2, 1” mnemonic. This translates as “graduating in 4 years; 3.0 grade point average; spend 2 hours out of class for every hour in class; and become involved in 1 student organization.” This college is telling students that becoming involved on campus is important—important enough for my colleague to say it to students day in and day out. She says this to some students so they don’t become involved in too many organizations but her message is clear: it is good for students to become involved on campus, for several reasons.

I’m defining student involvement here as participating in clubs and organizations, fraternities and sororities, campus religious groups, etc. These are the groups they’ll learn about during a club fair, a common event early in the student’s first term in college. They can learn about the student involvement options their college offers and sign up to join one or more of them. One challenge of campus involvement is that each club or organization a student participated in takes time away from academic pursuits. That’s a valid concern for students and for their family members. But to reap the benefits of involvement takes more than simply showing up at a couple of meetings. What we’re talking about here is active involvement, where your student spends intellectual and social time with their organization.

Why Being Involved is Important

The simple fact is that moderate involvement in campus activities has a positive impact on retention. Two eminent researchers, Ernest Pascarella and Patrick Terenzini, reported in their 1991 book, How College Affects Students that “extracurricular involvement has a positive impact on attaining a bachelor’s degree and on educational aspirations. Students who are actively engaged are more likely to have higher educational ambitions than uninvolved students (1991).” In much the same way as campus job helps students build connections with faculty and staff on campus, being involved in student activities will make a positive difference in your student’s retention and graduation.

By participating actively in clubs and organizations, students meet club advisors, or with other campus personnel who provide guidance to clubs and organizations. This connects the student not only to other students, but also to those staff and faculty people, who may become important resources to that student. Essentially, the deeper the involvement, the more deeply the student is becoming connected to the institution. These points of connection provide support to the student’s educational goals, keeps them enrolled, and supports their graduating on time.

If your student is over-involved in several student organizations to the exclusion of academic work, that’s clearly a bad idea. Encourage your student to explore select opportunities for involvement on campus. You’ll see their satisfaction and overall success at college go up.