{"id":5755,"date":"2019-03-15T09:51:08","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T13:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=5755"},"modified":"2025-08-24T11:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T15:25:11","slug":"where-are-the-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2019\/03\/15\/where-are-the-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Are the Students?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Violets Office<\/p><\/div>\n

Ever since its inception in 1903, the University of Maine of Presque Isle\u2019s staff has always tried to make the campus feel like a second home to its students. But with just over 1,400 students enrolled, it can be difficult to make everyone feel at home. The\u00a0 staff members attempt to set up events all across campus to gather all of the students. \u00a0But, unfortunately, that sometimes does not work out as planned. Violet Washburn, the coordinator of campus engagement of the university for the past two years, has noticed this.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo my understanding, it\u2019s been a trend since last year. I\u2019ve been asking students to see why they haven\u2019t been going. And I found that it’s for multiple reasons. I\u2019ve been told that it\u2019s normally due to the weather. \u00a0Or maybe some of the students\u2019 friends don\u2019t plan on going, so they end up not going either. \u00a0And some students are just simply lazy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The weather is always a consideration in northern Maine. Maine\u2019s winter temperature highs, on average, only go up into the 20s. So, it\u2019s no surprise to see people planning on huddling inside instead of going out.<\/p>\n

Regardless of how little the participation may be, it hasn\u2019t discouraged Violet\u2019s efforts. She still plans up to an average of 20 events a month. It\u2019s an impressive number, especially knowing that she has one set budget for the entire academic year. She has to split the budget in half per semester. Not to mention setting up for these events aren\u2019t as simple as throwing the concept to the wind, either. \u00a0It takes time. \u201cIt\u2019s a process: there\u2019s a lot to prepare in setting up these events. I\u2019ll have to first approve the idea. If it gets approved, you\u2019ll then have to find the space for it.<\/p>\n

Marketing the event. \u00a0Staffing for the event. \u00a0Then, of course, there\u2019s setting up for it. And if you don\u2019t properly plan these aspects out, you\u2019re out of luck,\u201d Violet said.<\/p>\n

Out of the 18 events that have been held since the start of the 2019 spring semester, only five of these events had fewer than 10 people. \u00a0Three events had between 10 and 20 students attend.\u00a0 \u00a0Six events had more than 20 students. \u00a0And one event had more than one hundred students attend, this being the Snowball dance that happened in January. It also makes sense with students being too distracted in their own lives. Between the wide availability of the internet and young adult hijinks, there are many more distractions going on than ever before.<\/p>\n

These numbers may sound high to us, but it\u2019s not the goal numbers Violet wants. \u201cThere are over 200 students in the residence halls. And for small events, it\u2019s hard to get 20 or more there. For the bigger events, I always want over 100!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It’s not just the campus-wide events either that are having difficulties getting higher attendance numbers. \u00a0It\u2019s also the events in the residence halls that are struggling. First year residence assistants Margaret Dickinson and Jordan Hanscom noticed. \u201cWe’re supposed to set up two specialized events a month. But not a lot of us set up events last month, so there are a lot more guidelines to follow now,\u201d Margaret said. Jordan set up five events last semester, while Margaret set up seven.<\/p>\n

But unlike Violet\u2019s events, RA events can be at risk of cancelation \u201cIf we get less than five students to attend, then we would have to cancel our event ideas. And I do know a lot of RAs end up having to cancel or reschedule events because students would just not show up,\u201d Margaret said. Margaret has only canceled one event this year in Merriman Hall. \u00a0Jordan had to cancel three events. \u201cIt\u2019s more difficult over in Emerson. \u00a0The upperclassmen just don\u2019t want to do anything,\u201d Jordan added.<\/p>\n

Violet has no direct involvement with the RA events other than approving the ideas for the events. So the challenge to keep the events known to the campus is up to the RAs themselves, and it can be a challenge for them. \u201cIt depends on what kind of RA you are. I make fliers for each event. \u00a0I set fliers for my events. It\u2019s all up to the RAs to make sure that your event is known among students.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s important that students should, at the very least, consider going to any future events. The only way to have a good time and make some memories is to go out and actually participate. \u00a0Most students only get to experience college once, so it is important to make it as positively memorable as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever since its inception in 1903, the University of Maine of Presque Isle\u2019s staff has always tried to make the campus feel like a second home to its students. But with just over 1,400 students enrolled, it can be difficult to make everyone feel at home. The\u00a0 staff members attempt to set up events all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5755"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8521,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5755\/revisions\/8521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}