NEWSLETTERS
February 26, 2024
NEW STUDENT LIFE TERMINOLOGY
Student Life will be integrating new language surrounding our student organizations. Because our goal is to create a stronger sense of belonging among Purdue Global students, we will now be using the term "student community" instead of "student organization." We believe that using "community" humanizes our groups, inviting our students to become a member of a village, rather than a system.
We will also refer to faculty/staff advisors as "community advisors". This change makes sense with the new name for our organizations, but it's also an attempt on our part to be more inclusive about who can engage with our students. We've been guilty of using "faculty advisors" as shorthand too often, which not only discounts the great staff advisors we have, but also might discourage new staff members from reaching out for these opportunities. We want to make clear that everyone is welcome to contribute!
We will also be rearranging the way we categorize our student communities. We will no longer classify groups as associations or clubs, but rather separate them only as student communities or honor societies. To help students locate their communities, we will break them down into the following genres:
General Interest
Communities like the American Red Cross Club, Chess Club, or Finance & Investment Club. These are open to all students, and they may or may not be affiliated to national organizations.
Program Related/Professional
Communities like DATA or SHRM. These are open to students in particular academic programs. They may or may not be affiliated to national organizations.
Affinity & Identity Groups (formerly Affinity Groups)
Communities like Black Cultural Association or PG Pride. These groups are open to any student who shares the affinity or identity, or supports those with the affinity or identity.
Honor Societies
Communities like Alpha Alpha Alpha or Psi Chi. Honor society membership is by invitation only, each society having its own eligibility requirements.
Communities may appear in multiple categories. For example, Purdue Global Law Society appears in both the General Interest and Program Related/Professional categories as a community open to students of any program but also encouraged for those in law-related academic programs.
RESOURCE UPDATES
Student Life will also be updating our community resources, including our handbook and community advisor assets. As a part of this update, our website will also undergo some changes as we streamline our communications and eliminate some duplicated efforts. Please be patient with us in the coming months if you're looking for something and it's not in its old location--drop us a note and we'll be glad to help you find it again.
PROSPECTIVE MEMBER EMAILS
Beginning in March, Student Life will be directly emailing students to make them aware of program related/professional student communities. We tested this approach with one organization and had excellent results, so we are excited to roll it out across all of our program related communities. These include BAMSA, DATA, Educators Club, Entrepreneurship Club, Finance & Investment Club, GITA, Human Services Club, Law Society, Psychology Club, Public Safety Club, SHRM, Student Technology Association, and Supply Chain Club.
Emails will go to students at active, LOA, and Future Start status who are enrolled in related programs but are not currently enrolled in the student community. They will be sent during week 3 of each term. Faculty advisor email addresses will be included in the messages as a resource for more information about the community, as will the link to the Google form for students to join.
If you advise one of the program related/professional student communities listed and you do not want these emails to be sent to prospective members, please email Student Life.