With Larissa Anderson Smith, Assistant Coach, Hofstra Women's Softball

EVENT - the Hofstra University Softball team hosted a Competitive Alumni Game on October 16 at 9:30 a.m. at the Hofstra Softball Stadium. Alumni returned from all over the country to battle the current leaders of the diamond. The game was scheduled immediately before the Homecoming football game, which was great for alumni, family, and friends. A family tailgate party after the game was organized by the current players' families to bring the past and present Hofstra Softball family together!
DIFFICULTY - contacting the alumni and confirming their responses. With our monthly e-mail, which includes news and lots of photos, we promoted the game and invited alumni to play. We sent reminders to those we had not heard back from and followed up with calls.
TECHNIQUES - our monthly e-mail and events like this one give everyone the opportunity to know each other. At the game, we used alumni as announcers and umpires (along with officials). We chose to make the game competitive, as opposed to an exhibition, which we did to highlight skills and the high standards that are part of our organization, and to mix in a little education for our players.
STUDENT PARTICIPATION - visit the Hofstra Softball Web site to find out more about the spring 2005 schedule. The team is nationally ranked #21 for NCAA Division I Softball and is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association.
UPCOMING EVENTS - Hofstra Softball kicks off the season February 19 in Florida. March 19 is Banner Day when we invite last year's team to unveil the championship banner on the Stadium fence. On March 25, the Hofstra Pride Club will honor Crystal Boyd, one of our four All-American athletes, and one of our biggest supporters and honorary alumnus Chuck Churchill, at the annual banquet to honor the individual and team accomplishments and distribute academic/athletic awards to the athletes.
YOUR SUCCESS - the Alumni Game allows players, families, and friends to come together and interact. The current athletes benefit because they learn about the history of their game first-hand from the alumni and it creates a strong bond between past and present teams. We want our alumni to know that they are a part of our program today. Our players learn by playing, facing the women who have set the records and the standards for our program.

With David Haas, President of Entertainment Unlimited

EVENT - Freak Week starts on Sunday October 24 at 9 a.m., with a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure followed by a Psychic Fair (Monday), Murder Mystery Dinner (Tuesday), Free Dessert and Movie (Wednesday) all at Hofstra USA, Wicked on Broadway (Thursday), Jekyll and Hyde Restaurant in NYC (Friday), the Freak Formal (Saturday), and The Greenwich Village Halloween Parade (Sunday).
DIFFICULTY - Getting the word out to all Hofstra students. Our favorite method is flyers. We send them more than once for an event, we do some with a bunch of events and some with just one, and we put them in every building on campus using the department bulletin boards and residence halls.
TECHNIQUES - we have pizza parties for our members who make huge posters for the Atrium of the Student Center. We have committees, including special events, publicity, cultural and movies, which are formed based on what our members want to do and they vote on as a group.We feel that we have accomplished a lot and have more participation all the time.
STUDENT PARTICIPATION - we are a group that wants to make things HAPPEN and we are always looking for people with ideas. Our group is not a popularity contest - we can give students some real responsibility and leadership experience.
UPCOMING EVENTS - join us for the Fashion Show with Elle Girl Magazine on November 10, the trip to Medieval Times on November 14 and the trip to the Wallman Ice Rink in Central Park on December 5. Check out www.hueu.org starting November 1 for more events.
YOUR SUCCESS - our Executive Board, who head the committees and decide what we are going to present to Hofstra students, is 10 people who are very strong this year. They work so hard, and they work together to get things done. Also the new members, a lot of them are new students, bring their ideas with them.We have more new members this year because we went to the Student Activity days at New Student Orientation this summer. (Contact the Center for New Student Support Services for more information!)

With Jennifer Ruggiero, Assistant Director for The Career Center

EVENT - the Walt Disney World College Program presents their internship opportunities to college students of all majors and levels on November 10 at 11:30 a.m. in the Alumni House Great Room, located near the entrance to Shuart Stadium. Attendance is required for candidates and interviews are offered following the presentation in The Career Center. The program offers paid opportunities to work throughout the Walt Disney World park.
DIFFICULTY - conveying to students the value of the program, which requires that they give up a semester of college and usually does not give them college credit. The Career Center helps those who accept opportunities to work out logistics of leaving and returning to school.
TECHNIQUES - Disney alumni who are students become 'campus representatives' for the Disney program and will speak to the students. We have also used the Atrium tables (in the Student Center) to create an opportunity for Hofstra students to meet with us to get their questions answered.
STUDENT PARTICIPATION - all students are welcome to attend the presentation. Applications are filled out in our Career Center library online, with our assistance. Students are eligible to take classes taught by key administrators while they learn about Disney management and customer service.
UPCOMING EVENTS - representatives may visit campus again in the spring semester, depending upon their needs.
YOUR SUCCESS - the benefit to the students is that they have work experience, and an opportunity to network with a large corporation that is known for excellence. The use of the Alumni House and Career Center for this event gives students an opportunity to learn more about our other services and to meet our staff. Visit the Career Center for more information.

With Shafik Hirji, Co-Vice President of Beta Alpha Psi, Delta Pi chapter

EVENT - the Annual Career Fair takes place the third week of the fall semester and is open to all accounting majors at Hofstra. Major firms come to meet students, give them tips on interviewing and introduce their companies. Funding of the event is through nominal donations from the companies.Students work with companies to get them set up for the Fair before and during the event.
DIFFICULTY - making sure students show up for the event. We work very hard to get the point across, including talking to students and placing flyers in The Career Center over the summer, that it is important to get out and meet the firms early in their academic life. Beta Alpha Psi serves as the student leadership on that and we know their participation will give them real advantages when they start to look for a job or internship.
TECHNIQUES - the five Beta Alpha Psi officers work closely with the companies and the staff in the Accounting Department, including the faculty. Our professors promoted the event in class. The members distribute flyers to faculty mailboxes every two weeks as reminders and to keep the dates and information out there for them to use.The weekly meeting of Beta Alpha Psi is open to all accounting students where speakers from the field visit each week, and the club members promote the Career Fair each year. Our recent alumni are very involved, many of them working in top firms, and attend our meetings to give back. We also do lots of mailings to the firms to get as many as possible involved with our members.
STUDENT PARTICIPATION - there are so many opportunities to learn, to mentor other students, to teach students and to network. We have events each week so there is always something going on!
UPCOMING EVENTS - include the Annual Volleyball Tournament (for members and firm representatives) on October 29 at the Hofstra Physical Fitness Center.
YOUR SUCCESS - our faculty give us so much support, they get involved in all of our activities. My personal and professional life has benefited so much from my job with organizing events and interacting with students in my program. I work with five other students, and along with Professor Marsacovetiere, we arrange everything.

With Angela McAleese, Director of Operations and Community Relations for the Joan and Arnold Saltzman Community Services Center

EVENT - We set up an Informational Booth for the Saltzman Community Services Center at every Hofstra festival to interact with the thousands of visitors that attend these events. Because Hofstra students play a key role throughout the Center, we have also had many conversations about their internship opportunities and services that are designed for their needs as well.
DIFFICULTY - A major problem we come across is that there is so much fund-raising in the community right now. People want to contribute to organizations that they deem are important. The money donated to the Saltzman Center is primarily used to create scholarships for anyone who can not afford the services of the Center, which allows us to involve a diverse mix of participants in all of our programs.
TECHNIQUES - We offer free tattoos for children to get their family members to visit us. We have bicycles and gift baskets as prizes that we raffle at the event. Our presence is important to those who need a one-on-one conversation to determine whether they will work with us so the opportunity to explain what we offer is invaluable to them and to us. (The Center includes the Psychological Evaluation, Research, and Counseling Clinics, the Speech-Language-Hearing Clinics, the Reading/Writing Learning Clinic, the Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic, and the Diane Lidner-Goldberg Child Care Institute.)
STUDENT PARTICIPATION - The Saltzman Center is attached to numerous academic departments. All of our interns are Hofstra students who can volunteer their time or to have internships for academic credit. We can also encourage students to get involved in the festivals, either with us or representing their own groups- it is a great day!
UPCOMING EVENTS - The Saltzman Center Annual Breakfast Series occurs each semester. Invitations are sent out to professionals in the various fields to discuss issues/topics relevant to their line of work.
YOUR SUCCESS - The success of this venture comes from consistency of being present, hard work and being visible outside of the center. A nice, eye-catching presentation is critical to attracting attention, so we carefully designed a table-top exhibit with plenty of pictures, flyers (advertising our future events) and brochures. We also encourage people to visit with the appropriate people at the Center after the event.