By Hannah Haney | Echo
Nostalgia Night. Airband. National Student Leadership Conference. Mosaic Night. All these beloved Taylor traditions are brought to you by TSO (Taylor Student Organization).
On Tuesday night, TSO hosted the first-ever TSO job fair in order to showcase different job opportunities within TSO to the student body.
"We have anywhere from 100 to about 115 student leaders in our office, and no one is guaranteed a spot back," said Steve Austin, associate dean of the Center for Student Leadership and the director of student programs. "We're essentially interviewing and hiring for our whole entire office. That means all positions need to be filled."TSO is comprised of 11 different organizations, including Student Activities Council (SAC), Intramurals, Global Engagement and Integration of Faith and Culture (IFC) Programs. Student Senate, Inter-Class Council (ICC) and the Office of the Student Body President all are student-selected positions. Cathy Weatherspoon hires for the Leadership Programs, but all other hiring is done by students, according to Austin.
Juniors Kehlay Dunah and Cory Chea, the new Student Body President (SBP) and Student Body Vice President (SBVP), will hire the non-elected presidents that will comprise the executive cabinet, alongside Dunah, Chea and the Executive Secretary. The new presidents will then hire members of their individual cabinet.
While student involvement in SBP/SBVP elections was low, both in voting numbers and candidates, steps have been taken to insure that it won't be a possibility for other TSO positions.
"I should have been sending out emails back in January, getting people back into it (SBP/SBVP elections), trying to get everyone to have an interest," said current SBVP Jake Owens. "We kind of got a late start on it."
The job fair is TSO's attempt to drum up interest in cabinet positions."This was the first year we've ever done the fair," Owens said. "Bri (Leever, current SBP) and I are trying to come up with a way that this continues to happen after we're gone. If it happens more than once a year, people start knowing about it, and that's when opportunities present themselves."
While the fair turnout was lower than Owens and Leever had hoped, they're confident that they did the best they could for the first fair they've hosted.According to Austin, TSO employed around 112 people this year, but those numbers fluctuated throughout due to study abroad trips and other conflicts.
"Any time a Taylor student has an opportunity to travel abroad, that really is part of their education," Austin said. "We (occasionally) hire students for just a semester. It's not ideal, but it's not ideal for that student either. Generally, we want to hire students for the whole year."
Senior and Student Senate President Jeffry Neuhouser noted that this past year boasted the biggest senate in Taylor history; however, they are still looking to hire three more senators for this upcoming year.
While TSO offers events for students, there are a great deal of extra benefits to being a member of the organization, according to Neuhouser."My leaderships skills have grown through my work with TSO," Neuhouser said. "However, I think the most important thing that I have learned from being a part of TSO is how important it is to work with a team of people who support you, love you and will be with you through thick and thin."
Dean of Students Skip Trudeau believes that TSO provides a great way for students to get involved on campus.
"It's not the only way (to get involved) . . . and I think students should be really careful that they choose wisely what they get involved with and student government is one of those good ones," Trudeau said.
Both Dunah and Chea are excited to see what people will bring to TSO next year.
"We're really excited about building this team for next year because we're going to get to spend a lot of time together, just making events or talking about student needs," Chea said. "It's a really great environment and I know it will be awesome next year."
For more information on cabinet positions, contact the current president of the individual organization. Applications can be accessed through the myTaylor Student tab, under Student Quick Links as "Student Leadership." The deadline for applications is Wednesday, April 9.
