Thomas O’Donnell
Eastern Illinois University

Please provide a statement of your personal views on the role and contributions of collegiate recreation in higher education. In your response, describe how collegiate recreation has influenced your development.

Physical activity and recreation are essential components within higher education. As a result, campus recreation aims to provide a diverse variety of services to the students and patrons that utilize these facilities to improve upon their physical and mental wellbeing. Through these services, campus recreation encourages students to live their healthiest lives through activities they enjoy. Not only does this encourage healthy habits, but it also builds relationships and assists with fostering a sense of community.

This sense of community is one of the largest takeaways I have experienced as both a patron and staff member. As I have competed in and trained for powerlifting for many years now, I was able to connect with many like minded people who have similar goals and aspirations as myself. This allowed me to push myself further and increased my satisfaction of what I was training for.

Through my experiences working in campus recreation, I have seen tremendous personal growth and development. One of my greatest areas of growth has been my leadership skills. At the University of Illinois at Chicago, I had the opportunity to coach F45 classes. This was an area I was very nervous to enter into, but also an area I grew into significantly, where I learned how to confidently and effectively teach classes. Previously at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and now as Graduate Assistant at Eastern Illinois University, I supervise an effective team of student staff, which has improved my communication and delegating skills to achieve objectives.

Ultimately, I am extremely grateful for the opportunities collegiate recreation has provided me over the past few years. I would not be in the position career trajectory I am on now if not for my involvement and the people who guided me. I am very excited to apply for this position and have the chance to give back to this organization and the current students interested in the field.

Within the context of the NIRSA Strategic Plan, what area/item would you say is a major issue students face today? How would you address this issue during your term?

It is expected that not everyone in NIRSA will remain involved in collegiate recreation long term, especially young students who are sampling and exploring career paths. That being said, one of the goals of NIRSA is to increase students’ value by providing them the opportunity to develop professional skills and attributes they can take into their professional jobs, even if they are not going into the field of recreation. This is in line with the 2024-2027 goal of creating “A Robust Pipeline of Supported and Motivated Professionals”. We are assisting with the development of the professionals in our organization so they can learn and grow.

A persistent issue that I have observed within higher education is that a lot of students are not fully prepared to enter the job market after graduating. Many students lack necessary practical experiences outside of the classroom setting and do not have a path of how they will use their degree and existing skills to enter into the job market. This is especially prevalent in degrees which are oversaturated and typically require further education after completing a Bachelor’s degree, such as Psychology and Kinesiology. This is an area where I believe our field and organization can help address this problem.

I would use this platform to provide support to students as they explore the different career paths they could choose from. An aspect of this is emphasizing the transferable skills that students can gain from their jobs in campus recreation, and demonstrating how these refined soft skills can translate to their professional career, whether they stay in campus recreation or not. This would involve additional support through offering to provide resume and cover letter reviews, as a lot of students and people in general struggle with writing these effectively. Along with this, I would offer that if anyone simply wants to talk through something, my door is always open to connect with, while also encouraging students to connect with their direct supervisors and professional staff. This was an aspect that helped me tremendously when I was finishing my undergraduate degree. The support I received from my supervisors at the time and guidance they provided me helped pave the way for my professional development and career advancement. Helping students navigate and prepare for life after college is something I would love to help advocate for. This way we help and better prepare the students in our organization and field for their futures.

Describe your contributions to NIRSA (i.e. presentations, volunteering, previous leadership roles, etc.) and identify how your involvement and experiences qualify you to advocate for and serve the students of the Association.

Through my five plus years of experience in a campus recreation setting at four different institutions, I bring a unique skill set and perspectives that will allow me to serve and advocate for the student body effectively. An essential component to my leadership style revolves around the needs of the student staff I oversee and how to create opportunities for them to succeed after they graduate. This emphasis on growth and development has been further enhanced by my involvement on the NIRSA Region III Student Lead On Planning Committee this year, where I currently work on the Student Development subcommittee. Contributing to the planning of this conference has heightened my desire to contribute to the operations of NIRSA and how to create opportunities for the students and staff involved in the organization and field as a whole. Along with my involvement with attending multiple state workshops and Region III Lead Ons, as well as presenting at the 2023 Midwest Fit Fest, I possess relative experience that would allow me to effectively contribute to the planning efforts and coordination of conferences like these.

I have worked for a variety of institutions through my career in a wide range of departments. With these experiences, I have been able to learn a multitude of different systems of operation and how they affect the students at each respective institution. This has provided me insight into the wide variety of situations that the students in NIRSA and our respective staff deal with and what their needs are. This is heightened through my collaboration with students/staff of a wide variety of backgrounds and diversity, furthering my ability to serve and advocate for students as a whole in NIRSA and different college settings.

The Student Leadership Team focuses on student development and Student Member recruitment and retention. What skills, talents, and perspectives would you bring to the Student Leadership Team that would contribute to this focus?

I possess leadership and strong written and oral communication skills that I think would be beneficial for the Student Leadership Team. Through my experiences of leading teams of student staff at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and Eastern Illinois University, I have direct experiences with supervising and delegating tasks, as well as fostering an environment that promotes student’s growth and development.

Through my over five years of experience as both a student and professional/semi professional at a variety of institutions, I possess a wide variety of different perspectives that could be brought to this team. Each respective institution has divergent ways of operating, while also keeping traditional campus recreation and NIRSA values in mind. Having the opportunity to work for these different departments of varying sizes and operations has been instrumental for my growth and development. I have been able to observe how different ways of operating and leading others have worked for each university, and this has aided significantly in forming my own framework of what type of supervisor I want to be and what ideas I can bring to the table.

With my campus recreation experiences, an extremely beneficial component that has contributed to my framework has been my experiences working for several specific departments. I have worked in facilities/operations during my time at Harper College and at EIU, event management and reservations at UW-Madison, fitness at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and member services at UIC and EIU. I have gained valuable skills and a variety of perspectives working for these specific departments, and these are skills I will continue to develop and refine from here.

Describe your leadership style. How will it benefit you and the rest of the Student Leadership Team?

Although I consider myself introverted, the relationships I have built with others in the field have been one of my largest takeaways. I am very interested in how to help the other people that I work with, and building positive relationships with the students who I supervise are very important. Part of how I build these relationships is by trying to meet them where they are at and ask them about their day, classes, and how things are going. As part of the Student Leadership Team, one of my goals would be to form positive relationships with the other students on the team. This can lead to more productivity and trustworthiness between myself and the other team members.

Another important aspect to my leadership framework is my communication. I possess strong written and oral communication, and my goal is to always respond in a timely manner to messages and requests. Not only does this help with the delegation of tasks and streamlining communication, but it also helps with transmitting essential information quicker.

When it comes to relying on others to get tasks done, I am not a micromanager. I like to check in from time to time to see where people are at on projects, but my objective is to be a guide if people need help. Aside from that, I let people complete the tasks they need to complete while not looking over their shoulders the whole time. I trust the people I work with to get the tasks done they need to get done, and I am here to help and intervene as needed.

As a member of the Student Leadership Team, you have the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the field of collegiate recreation. However, we acknowledge and respect that you are a student first. Explain your strategies for maintaining a healthy balance between your various roles (student, volunteer, athlete, employee, etc.).

A strategy I began using towards the back half of my undergraduate degree was using a comprehensive calendar to keep track of my day-to-day and long term schedule. Between classes, work and graduate assistant responsibilities, second jobs, volunteering, traveling, Powerlifting, and outside responsibilities, it became essential that I develop a calendar to keep track of everything and make sure I am not double booking my time. This has allowed me to create a balance where I know what is coming next and how to plan for it.

Another strategy I use is prioritizing what needs to be completed first. For example, when looking at deadlines for academics, I take care of the projects and assignments that have closer due dates. I use the same strategy when completing my work tasks, as well as prioritizing the tasks I have that require collaboration or a response to or from others. When channeling these conversations and work, it is important to me that information is delivered in a timely manner to the people I am working with. I understand that others may be relying on my response so they can continue with their own work, so responding in a timely manner and double checking that the information is clear and accurate is a key component of how I try to conduct myself professionally.

Finally, I make sure to take time to destress and relax. This can include activities such as watching a new show, watching or playing sports, reading, working out, and spending time with my friends, family, and partner. Especially in graduate school, there are certainly busy times throughout the semester that can become hectic. Finding pockets of time throughout the day to calm down and relax has improved my work life balance significantly, and something I will continue to do for the foreseeable future.