First-year students are developing their leadership skills as they not only form connections, but post about them too.
Connections is a six-week small group centered program designed to help new students find their place in the TCU community.
Katie Davis, one of four Connections directors, said Connections provides an opportunity for first-year students to “meet other first-year students, mentors and faculty who will be at TCU for awhile and can help them find who they are and who they want to be at TCU.”
This year, Connections is undergoing some changes. The directors said they added two programs this year to stimulate more participation and excitement.
Darby Dame, junior education major and Connections mentor, said she hopes the additions will show the students that the mentors and directors really want to listen to what they’re doing.
“We hope by bringing this new mentality to the program, the students will see we are trying to connect at their level, and in return, they will come to our level,” said Dame.
The first addition to the program is CNX Circuit.
CNX Circuit is a competition between the program’s small groups to earn the most points during the six weeks.
Director of the TCU Leadership Center Dede Williams said “CNX Circuit allows that healthy competition that everyone needs.”
“The point system is mainly focused on attendance, and if the group has full attendance, they will receive 100 points,” said Davis, a junior entrepreneurial management major.
The groups also receive points for hanging out together outside of the weekly meeting time. In addition, the groups receive points for using the #CNX2014 on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
“We are encouraging them to take pictures and post them to get the program out there so that more students can hear about it for next year and so that the CNX Circuit really gets blown up,” Davis said.
Connections is also an opportunity for students to find out what organizations there are on campus and how to get involved.
Instead of having different people come in and talk about various organizations on campus, the directors are creating “CNX Now” videos.
Connections Director Bryan Tony, a junior political science and economics double major, said CNX Now will update students on upcoming programs, highlight faculty advisors of the organizations and provide dates for organizational deadlines.
“We will also highlight things going on in Fort Worth because those are great opportunities for them to hang out as a small group outside of Connections,” Tony said.
Meredith Whiting, first-year mechanical engineering major, said she thinks these new programs will create a reason to hang out in a small group and also provide ways for all new students to get involved on campus.
Williams said Connections had 221 students participate last year and has about 500 students registered this year.
“I’m really excited about this growth because I think it means that that many more people are really wanting to jump into their leadership development right off the bat from their first year,” Williams said.
The group with the most points from CNX Circuit gets to have dinner with Chancellor Victor Boschini. The winners will be announced on Oct. 8.