The idea of a centralized hub for student organizations in the Ferguson Center is great. The idea of an organization that facilitates the creation of and collaboration among student organizations is ingenious. But, the organization’s actions do little to merit its extraordinarily lavish couch.
Especially when you consider what all they have done. Or mostly not done.
This campus is home to 300-plus student organizations. Most, if not all, vie for more members, bigger and better events and recognition. This is where the Student Organization Resource Center for Extracurriculars (also known as the SOURCE, or the greatest example of a failed acronym) is supposed to step in.
Given that it has existed for an entire decade, previously under the name of the Coordinating Council for Student Organizations, it has succeeded in only setting up a foundation of required red tape for groups and a physical space in the Ferguson Center this past year. Considering its potential, it has failed to reach or communicate any goals.
The SOURCE website has retained the same dysfunctional design the entire year. The home page looks promising, but my compliments will end there. Searching for student organizations – you know, the most important aspect of the SOURCE – reveals a clunky page with mismatched colors, empty sections and even some bits in Latin. Latin is a dead language, and unless the SOURCE finds a way to improve, it could face the same fate.
Then there is OrgSync. Most know it as the stupid website you have to annually update. Student organizations are dynamic, ever-morphing and active. Hosting them on a static website is already a tough assignment, and OrgSync is as static as they come.
The available information about the different groups is slim. Interactions between groups are nonexistent, if even possible. No incentive to use it more than once a year exists, and the SOURCE has left it that way. They essentially created online red tape.
On its website, the SOURCE asks, “Where do you fit in?” Maybe it should be asking itself that same question. I believe that it needs to be its own entity. While the SGA would probably not mind taking it over, that could be problematic. The SGA has generally failed to represent students; let’s not give it student organizations as well.
The SOURCE recently introduced new directors for the next year. I hope they are willing to work, because they have substantial ground to make up. If they can update the website, look for a way to improve OrgSync, or replace it, and communicate where they want to take the organization, then they will be on the right track.
I sure hope the lavish furniture has been put to good use this past year. Now is the time to get off of it and get to work. So far, the SOURCE has created bureaucracy in an effort to set up its own foundation on campus. Until it serves as a useful tool beyond a physical space for student organizations, the SOURCE will not reach its potential. And that is a source of disappointment.
Wesley Vaughn is a junior majoring in public relations and political science. His column runs on Wednesdays.
