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Screenshot of the #WIUnique video created by WIU College Student Personnel students Tenisia "Tee" Adams, Becky Collins, Lizzie Gill, Michelle Hunter, Eddie Koelzer, Kristin Nelson and Jonathan Stewart. View the video at youtu.be/pD0QO7LBFKI.
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Screenshot of the #WIUnique video created by WIU College Student Personnel students this fall semester.
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Screenshot of the #WIUnique video created by WIU College Student Personnel students this fall semester.
[Download Print-Quality Image]

Screenshot of the #WIUnique video created by WIU College Student Personnel students this fall semester.
[Download Print-Quality Image]

Screenshot of the #WIUnique video created by WIU College Student Personnel students this fall semester.
[Download Print-Quality Image]

WIUnique: CSP Student Project Celebrates WIU Individuals and Campus Community

December 9, 2013

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MACOMB, IL – This semester, groups of graduate students in Western Illinois University's College Student Personnel (CSP) program set about to make the world a better place. An assignment for their "Group Dynamics" CSP 581 course, the projects the students implemented to achieve the assignment's objective ranged from a "Midterm Madness" study session (for which one CSP group provided tutors, doughnuts and coffee in a residence hall study area) to "Chalk and Talk," an initiative that included a chalkboard that moved around campus and provided space for students to answer questions about what makes them happy, sad or different.

The group that Tenisia "Tee" Adams (Morrow, GA), who also works as a student recruitment graduate assistant, was a part of used a video medium to achieve the goal of their assignment to "make the world a better place." Other members of her group included, Becky Collins (Monee, IL), Lizzie Gill (Brookfield, WI), Michelle Hunter (Brandon, IA), Eddie Koelzer (Canton, MI), Kristin Nelson (St. Charles, IL) and Jonathan Stewart (Chicago, IL). Amber Bedee (Colorado Springs, CO), a second-year graduate student the in CSP program, served as the group's guide in their discussions about group dynamics. (Instructors for the course are Jill Bisbee, the CSP program manager, and Ronald Williams, assistant vice president for academic affairs.)

"Our campaign was themed, 'WIUnique,' so we were focused on creating a piece about Western pride and being able to show the amazing students that make up the Western community," Adams explained. "We started with evaluating what things in our world needed to be addressed in order to make the world a better place. Overwhelmingly, our group felt like it would be beneficial if we focused on the WIU community. We noticed some of the WIU community lacks school pride, and after we decided to address this issue, we came up with the idea of creating a video because we wanted something that could reach masses of people."

The video (which is viewable at youtu.be/pD0QO7LBFKI and is set to the song "Good Life" by OneRepublic) features an array of Western students holding a large white poster that describes how they are each unique.

"We wanted students to be able to share why they are unique through writing on our whiteboards and being a part of the video," Adams said.

The video also highlights various campus activities and venues in which Western students share common everyday experiences, such as hanging out and eating in the University Union and in the dining centers, as well as taking part in athletic social events like tailgating. Adams said the video has had about 300 views so far, and although the Fall 2013 semester is almost over, she said she and her fellow group members hope it will continue to be shared around campus and beyond.

"The project isn't just about showing that Western students are special, but how every student is a special part of our WIU campus," Adams noted. "The end of the video sums up our point of view, in that together we are one, but are made up of many—we are all Western Leathernecks, but we're individuals, as well. We hope the video continues to be circulated around the campus community, so more students faculty, staff and friends and families of students can see how we are #WIUnique."

Learn more about Western's College Student Personnel program at www.wiu.edu/coehs/csp/.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing