RIT holds 7-session virtual annual Student Government Consortium

December 9, 2021

RIT University and all of its campuses organize a Student Government Consortium every year so that all of the Student Government teams have the opportunity to meet, learn from each other and get inspired for the ongoing academic year. Prior to the pandemic, the consortium was a live event and each year one of the campuses hosted everyone for a few days of teambuilding.

This year, being mindful of the pandemic-related challenges, the university has decided to organize a virtual 7-session consortium that will take place throughout the year. The consortium started in September 2021, with a leadership-themed session organized by the advisors. The following sessions will be hosted by one of the campuses. So far Zagreb, Rochester and most recently Kosovo had the opportunity to introduce their cities, campuses and teams. In the Spring semester, Dubrovnik, Dubai and China will have the same opportunity.

An interesting fact about this consortium is that it is being organized live online the first time; also this is the first one in which China joined so we have representation from all campuses. With four out of seven sessions completed, students are already coming up with new ideas that were inspired by the shared experiences.

"Being my first year attending the consortium, at the same time it being held in an online format throughout the entire academic year has been a wonderful opportunity to meet peers from other global campuses and exchange ideas, potential projects, and our struggles in order to figure out the best way to get past them together", said Džejla Šuman, President of Student Government from RIT Croatia, and adds: "Communicating with colleagues in leadership positions helps me figure out what changes we can make in the structure of SG in the future. All these people live in various parts of the world and as such, their experiences and lives enable them to have different perspectives which we otherwise wouldn't be able to encounter. Through activities and team-building exercises we get to see what could have potential to become something bigger on our campus and how we can work better as a group. I enjoyed each consortium we had so far, but at the most recent consortium meeting I was fascinated by the RIT Kosovo campus. Their student-powered initiatives and inclusion of students in the projects focused on bettering their campus has really inspired us, and we hope to be able to work more closely with them in the next year."