HAILING THIS school year as “one of the best organization years for the council,” Council of Organizations of the Ateneo (COA) President Kenneth Abante lauded its 49 student organizations during the State of the Council Address (SOCA) held at the Leong Hall Auditorium last November 23.
The SOCA is held annually during the second semester to present COA’s internal situation, the accomplishments of its organizations and the council’s plans for the remainder of the school year.
COA is the official assembly of all accredited student organizations of the Loyola Schools. It currently oversees nine clusters of 49 student organizations.
“Silent successes”
For Abante, organization life has been at its prime, with many organizations achieving both national and international recognition. He also acknowledged that there were other organizations that have done well but were not as widely recognized.
“The success of the council is measured by the silent successes of its organizations,” he said.
Abante also mentioned that the organizations’ achievements were due in part to the many meetings that the council has conducted with them, which he estimated to be around 200 to 220.
Aside from the awards, several organizations have also been more visible through their events. Some events have had huge publicity, such as the Ateneo Management Association’s Big Bang Bazaar, which was even featured on ANC.
Internationally, some orgs have been active as well, such as the Ateneo Debate Society’s World Debate Forum and the Ateneo College Glee Club’s European tour early this school year. The Ateneo Project for Asian and International Relations (A-Pair) was also successful in reinforcing its relationship with its home organization, sending four delegates to the H-Pair conference in Harvard last February 2011.
Abante also noted that several organizations have been more socially oriented this year, with around a fourth of the organizations coordinating with the Office for Social Concern and Involvement for their projects. During this year’s Blue Christmas, an outreach program for children from different communities, more than 700 volunteers hailing from different student organizations joined the event.
Challenges and transitions
These successes, however, did not come without its share of difficulties. Member inactivity, for instance, is still a persistent problem. Although Abante noted that 92.3% of all Loyola Schools students are members of at least one organization, he recognized that COA has not been able to tap all of these students to participate in projects and activities.
In the case of the Ateneo Junior Marketing Association, President Jackie Kawsek noted the increase in participation among their members, which leapt from a steady 15-16% participation rate to 33%. For her, the change was significant as it was not uncommon for member participation to be low.
In response to criticism from many student organizations, COA is also currently mediating reform efforts on the Office of Student Activities’ Performance Management System. Starting with a study conducted last semester to evaluate the system’s effectiveness, the yearlong process aims to improve the way an organization’s performance is measured.
The next challenge, Abante noted, was the transition to next year’s goals and new sets of leaders.
“[The] year is only as successful as the orgs’ successes. The challenge is to bridge the success to the following year,” Abante said, adding that there have been problems with the transition of new officers. To solve this, he proposed creating internal plans within each organization that are sustainable for more than a year.
“It is true that the success of this year will only be measured through the success of the next year. We must make sure that we are able to form good, sustainable relationships and sustainable culture,” he added.
