When student club jumps the shark - Univ. of Maine story

[Aster]

From Inside Higher Education.

"The University of Maine's College Republicans chapter's "America First" politics and controversial social media posts have alienated some members and prompted its faculty adviser to quit."

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/01/07/maine-college-republican-group-moves-right-alienating-some-members

I am wondering what would happen to this club if nobody at the University of Maine stepped in to be its advisor. Would the student club complain to the state legislature decrying unfair treatment and demanding that someone be assigned to them?

When a student club at Big Urban College can't get a faculty advisor for whatever reason, there are two alternative options.
First Option: The staffperson in charge of Student Activities is assigned as a (temporary) advisor.
Second Option: Some random staffperson volunteers to be the student club advisor.

Has anyone ever been *forced* by their university into taking on a student club advising role? I know many, many colleagues that have been "guilt-tripped" into volunteering by their colleagues, by the departments, by students, and by their universities. Getting guilt-tripped into a voluntary service duty is pretty standard in the Academy. But the professor still has the actual choice to decline an appointment.

Has anyone experienced any fallout from declining to serve as advisor to a student club? What happens to the student club?

[Hibush]

I didn't know that there was a distinction between forcing and guilt-tripping in this situation (random service obligations).

College Republicans was started by Karl Rove back in the 70s. At that time is was a bit of a rogue operation that was far more into winning than policies backed by the Republican establishment. Winning against old-time Republicans was just as fun as winning against Democrats. Maybe the UMaine group is getting back to its roots.

[tuxthepenguin]

I am wondering what would happen to this club if nobody at the University of Maine stepped in to be its advisor. Would the student club complain to the state legislature decrying unfair treatment

They'll do that independent of the advisor issue. That's why they exist, of course. It's all a big show unrelated to policy.

[kaysixteen]

Why does a student political club need a faculty advisor in order to have it's legitimately existing status recognized by the school? 

[mamselle]

Well, money, for one thing.

There needs to be someone tied to the college who oversees their budget expenditures.

A friend working as an EA on the floor below me found out the hard way what happens when faculty aren't paying attention....she was responsible for reimbursing student group expenditures and discovered several non-admissible charges for high-cost champagne and spirits by the international group, for one thing...(there was talk of having the kids kick in to make up the difference but I don't know if that actually happened).

They were used to having well-watered waltz evenings at home and didn't realize that wasn't a thing in the U.S.

M.

[mythbuster]

K16 raises a good question. I am nominally the "advisor" to both the women's tennis club and the dance troupe. Other than signing a piece of paper each fall, I have not clue what the clubs do or how they use their money. I am not on the the accounts. The dance troupe at least emails me invites to their performances.   When I was in a Sorority (eons ago), we did not have a faculty advisor, so I'm not really sure why other clubs need them.

[Aster]

Why does a student political club need a faculty advisor in order to have it's legitimately existing status recognized by the school?

Legal liability. If the student club is officially sanctioned by the university as an organization within Student Activities, it is now part of the university. A very small, very tenuous part, but a part nonetheless. Student clubs may even get access to university resources (e.g. meeting spaces, offices, funding, supplies). Student clubs are also one of the most publicly vocal groups at many universities.

Depending on how paranoid (or burned) a university is, institutional oversight and regulation over student clubs can be significant. Much of that oversight and regulation is to protect the university. For example, at Big Urban College, student clubs are tightly controlled. No club may contact outside Media without express permission by the administration. Any events that they hold must also be cleared by the administration.

This helps prevents situations where a student club invites a domestic terrorist as a guest speaker to talk on the campus. This actually happened to us. That's a more extreme situation. A more minor example might be bake sales or potlucks. We don't allow those anymore, for liability reasons. With so many students allergic to so much stuff nowadays, we're not willing to take the risk of someone having a reaction to trace peanuts from the Spanish Club's brownie sales. So no more food sales for anybody unless they are a licensed food preparation service.

Many universities around the U.S. have even disbanded clubs because the university would not assume legal risk for their activities anymore. Mostly certain sports and outdoor activity clubs.

[spork]

^ per what Aster wrote:

• At a former employer, the "gymnastics club" was abolished because of the risk that a member of the club could fall off a beam, be paralyzed, and sue the university.
• Universities impose "activity fees" on all enrolled students, and a portion of this revenue is distributed to university-recognized student organizations. Universities establish barriers that students have to pass through to get access to this money; one such barrier is having a designated "faculty advisor."

In response to what Hibush wrote: my department chair at a different former employer suggested that I become faculty advisor to a particular student club. The implicit message was that this was not really a suggestion, but something I really needed to do. To his surprise the members of the club selected someone else to be the advisor.

In my current job, I have occasionally been asked by students to be the faculty advisor to different clubs. My standard response is "only if the club meets during normal business hours on days that I am teaching on campus." I am not making a two-hour round-trip commute just to watch a group of students discuss whether to order pizza for an event, and I am not putting in a 14-hour day to attend a club meeting scheduled at 9:00 pm.

[kaysixteen]

There has to be a solution to this issue.  Imagine the bad political blowback when/ if the Trump club can't get an advisor and she's and/or runs to their friendly neighborhood tea party state rep

[tuxthepenguin]

There has to be a solution to this issue.  Imagine the bad political blowback when/ if the Trump club can't get an advisor and she's and/or runs to their friendly neighborhood tea party state rep

No, there is not a solution. Republicans do not operate in good faith. That might sound like the usual liberal professor bias, but they've been playing this game for years, and every year is worse than the last. Giving them an advisor is an admission of wrongdoing.

[ciao_yall]

There has to be a solution to this issue.  Imagine the bad political blowback when/ if the Trump club can't get an advisor and she's and/or runs to their friendly neighborhood tea party state rep

Fine. Let that state rep assign a staffer to advise the club on a volunteer basis.

[Caracal]

The thing that is a bit strange about this is that the faculty member isn't remotely in sympathy with the group. An advisor is better positioned to act as a moderating influence if students think of them as someone who is broadly in sympathy with their views. I certainly know of cases where students wanted to invite some noxious person to campus and didn't after the faculty advisor told them "Look, you have the right to invite whoever you want, but I'm not going to be associated with a group who brings this guy here." I'm not sure that would work if the faculty member doesn't agree with anything the group believes.

[pigou]

It bothers me when people automatically assume any affiliation is equal to an endorsement. If a faculty supervises a student club, they make sure the club follows university guidelines -- they don't endorse the views of the club, nor the views of anyone the club invites to give a talk. If the College Republicans can't get an adviser (but, presumably, the College Democrats can), then that's just a terrible sign for the intellectual life at the university. Not least because "America First" is obviously not limited to the right: both Sanders and Warren are opposed to trade deals and skilled immigration (e.g. through H-1Bs) to "protect" American workers.

I also wish people realized that "banning" speakers from campus makes their (expected) message more persuasive. "Here's information [ X ] doesn't want YOU to have!!!" is the best sales pitch. Especially since, never having to air that view, people can't see through the flimsiness of the evidence. And if your students can't see through the flimsiness of the evidence... well, not a great endorsement of the educational quality at that institution, no? Sounds like those students aren't at all trained in "critical thinking."

[Anselm]

I was the faculty adviser for the student paintball club.  I told them outright that I volunteered to pad my resume.  10 years later Karma got the best of me and I was assaulted outside of my house by paint balls.

[Caracal]

It bothers me when people automatically assume any affiliation is equal to an endorsement. If a faculty supervises a student club, they make sure the club follows university guidelines -- they don't endorse the views of the club, nor the views of anyone the club invites to give a talk.

I also wish people realized that "banning" speakers from campus makes their (expected) message more persuasive. "Here's information [ X ] doesn't want YOU to have!!!" is the best sales pitch. Especially since, never having to air that view, people can't see through the flimsiness of the evidence. And if your students can't see through the flimsiness of the evidence... well, not a great endorsement of the educational quality at that institution, no? Sounds like those students aren't at all trained in "critical thinking."

Who was talking about banning speakers? There's obviously no need for an advisor to endorse all the actions of a club or all its views, but if I was an advisor to a club and that club brought someone to campus who was a holocaust denier or an avowed white supremacist, I would certainly resign. They can do what they want, but I don't want to be associated with people like that.

I never understand why people have these weird reductionist ideas of free speech. I can both affirm the right of a student group to bring a noxious speaker to campus, but also harshly criticize them for choosing to give such a person a platform.