CAB dedicated to full college experience

Georgia College & State University’s Campus Activities Board (CAB) is dedicated to providing students with “edutainment.”

“We want to make sure that CAB offers entertainment and educational events,” said CAB advisor Suzette Zompetti. “There’s a common phrase in campus activities of ‘edutainment’ – the fact that you can come to a comic show and you may walk away by having laughed all night long, but you may also walk away from it with your mind just a little bit changed by something.”

To ensure that students receive the highest opportunities for campus involvement, CAB has allocated a budget of $50,000 in an academic year for general campus activities and $30,000 in an academic year for Bobcat Nights.

CAB is composed structurally of its committees, committee chairs and an executive board. The director’s position comes with a yearly stipend of $800, and the assistant directors each receive a yearly stipend of $600. Each committee chair receives a nominal stipend of $150, while the Bobcat Nights Coordinator receives a stipend of $480. Overall, around $1,600 is allocated for stipends.

“The average CAB person works about 247 hours a semester, and so we don’t claim to pay them what they’re worth,” Zompetti said. “It’s more of a leadership position than it is a paid position.”

General office costs also come into play in CAB’s budget, along with a travel budget set aside for two conferences each year.

“We also have a co-sponsorship budget, so that if other organizations want to work with CAB on a particular event they can come and request funding and then the board votes on that program and then they determine the allocation,” Zompetti said.

There are five main program areas including Ideas/Issues, Concert/Dance, Cultural Diversity, Comedy/Novelty and Bobcat Nights. Each area gets an allocation for contracted and homegrown events.

“Each committee gets a piece of the pie based on how much their events cost,” CAB director Will Dennison said.

The comedy committee gets the largest slice of that pie because they
are responsible for inflatables, Midnight Breakfast, most events during Spring Fling and comedians among other expenses.

$30,000 is allotted to CAB to fund Bobcat Nights for an academic year. Bobcat Nights came about in the spring of last year as a solution to a need for late night programming. Financial needs for a Bobcat Night include money for a staff, coordinator, refreshments, contract of event, meals, decorations and advertising, among other necessities.

Zompetti said CAB works to ensure that there are multiple things to do at a Bobcat Night.

“That is one of the things we wanted to make sure that was different from a traditional CAB event where you come and you may just hear a comedian and then leave,” Zompetti said. “Well, at a Bobcat Night there are anywhere from three to four things that you have to choose from, similar to Midnight Breakfast.”

She said that next to Midnight Breakfast, Bobcat Nights pulls the most diverse crowd.

“We have Greeks there, we have students who represent lots of different ethnic backgrounds and racial backgrounds. We have students who represent various socioeconomic classes,” she said. “It’s just the run of the mill, everything goes, anybody comes kind of environment.”

Zompetti said this is much different than programming from the standpoint of bringing in bands or comedians because only certain types of people will be attracted to that type of music or comedy.

Zompetti said this type of programming pushes the students to really see that they have to program for all kinds of people to make sure that there is something for everyone at a Bobcat Night.

There may be anything from trivia to face-painting, karaoke or dancing at a typical Bobcat night. The largest student turnouts thus far have been at the Casino Nights and Murder Mystery themed events. Attendance for last semester was 414 with an average of 103.

Six Bobcat Nights are scheduled for every other Friday night this semester beginning on Jan. 24.

“I think Bobcat Nights is a great program, and everybody that has participated for the most part has had a great time,” Dennison said. “We’re hopeful that as word gets out, our attendance grows.”

Assistant Director Jessica Ward agreed that Bobcat Nights are a great event.

“I think the people that don’t come are really missing out because it is a fun-filled night,” she said.

Dennison also added that CAB will soon be hiring several new positions including a Cultural Diversity chairperson, an Ideas and Issues chairperson and a Bobcat Nights chairperson.

“It’s a great way to get involved on campus and diversify your experience on campus and get some leadership skills,” he said.

All of the money for CAB activities comes from the students’ activities fee. Therefore, CAB has not had a fee for anything they have offered. Zompetti said the group will continue to work hard to offer what people say they want to see, as long as they are affordable and realistic.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 17 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry