Back See this section in context: Criterion 4 Core Component 4B

4B.4: Curricular and Co-Curricular Activities

Sauk recognizes co-curricular activities as those which are not merely recreational, but which provide students with additional outcomes-related learning opportunities outside of the classroom. Some of these activities occur as the result of instructor initiatives to extend their students’ learning experiences and practice opportunities outside of the classroom:

• Faculty-sponsored enrichment activities: Sauk faculty are supported in their efforts to enrich their GECC courses by linking to appropriate activities of various sorts, both on and off campus. Co-curricular experiences expand the traditional lecture/lab format and allow students to make connections from the classroom into that experience. The college provides faculty access to travel procedures to organize off-campus student activities in support of course outcomes. When surveyed in fall 2009, 41% of the faculty have taken at least one group of students on an educational field trip in the last five years. Examples of faculty-sponsored enrichment activities include the following:
  • Introductory biology labs are taken on field trips to the local waste water treatment facilities to show students how microorganisms are key to breaking down harmful waste materials.
  • Music Appreciation students are required to attend at least one concert each semester and write a report that details the concert.
  • Radiology Technology students attend the Illinois State Society of Radiologic Technologists (ISSRT) Conference each year, where they compete in a poster contest and an academic bowl.
• Performing arts: Performing arts students benefit from the number and quality of activities found at Sauk. For instance, the music faculty requires students within the music program to participate in three performances each semester. These concerts, which are also attended by community members, provide valuable experiential learning to those music students. Theatre faculty also provide practice and growth opportunities for students. Events include plays and performances, academic field trips, and conferences. Each of the 2-6 performance events per year involves approximately 15 students.

The primary initiators of regular and varied co-curricular options for students are the offices within the Student Services Department:

• Counseling: Various initiatives from the Counseling Office provide information and opportunity across the spectrum of study skills, wellness, and diversity topics:
  • Wellness Fair – In October 2009 and October 2010, Counseling coordinated a 2-hour Healthy Living Resource Fair, in which 12 to 16 agencies provided information and resources to an estimated 150 to 200 students and interested community attendees.
  • Tunnel of Oppression - In April 2011, Student Services sponsored this interactive event, which highlights contemporary issues of oppression, with an estimated participation of 250.
• Student Government (SGA): SGA is a frequent sponsor of campus-wide co-curricular activities, including informational presentations and community service projects. In addition, SGA allocates programming money to other student organizations, which helps to enable their co-curricular activities. In 2009, Student Government organized a free one-day leadership conference with about 100 students attending.
• Sauk organizations: Most of the college’s student clubs conduct some degree of co-curricular activities for their own membership. The quality and depth of scholarship will vary from year to year, but overall, Sauk student groups supply the whole campus community with an array of thought-provoking discussions, events, and activities. Here is a sampling:
  • Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the academic honor society for two-year colleges, inducts between 50-80 new members annually. On average, Sauk’s Beta Alpha Gamma chapter conducts 3-5 scholarly activities each year that are open to students, employees of the college, and community members. For instance, in 2010, the chapter organized a game of charades that was centered on the honors study topic “Paradox of Affluence.” The chapter also regularly invites faculty to discuss the annual Phi Theta Kappa honors study topic. In 2008, Dr. Brandon Warmke, Adjunct Instructor of Philosophy, gave a presentation on The God Delusion, the controversial book by Richard Dawkins.
  • Association of Latin American Students (A.L.A.S.), averaging 19 members annually, celebrates and participates in many Hispanic cultural events on campus (for example, Hispanic Heritage Day, “Day of the Dead”) and off-site academic activities (trips to the Mexican Arts Museum and the Collegiate Leadership Development Program), in which the campus community is invited to participate.
  • Criminal Justice Club, which was founded in the fall of 2009, currently has 68 members. During the FY10, the club arranged on-campus public presentations by a current U.S. Secret Service agent, a Federal Air Marshal, and an undercover Rockford police officer.