Allison Roberts
Staff writer
Camp SE kicks off with its first weekend on June 23-24. The next camps will be held July 21-22 and 28-29. Camp SE Online won’t be available until the second week of the fall semester.
Asked why they are all held on Sunday nights and Mondays, Student Life Coordinator Liz Howard said, “because there are no students here, we’re not interrupting classes if you want to be loud.”
Howard also said that the campus radio station, U92, will be having Summer Splash events on the Sunday nights of Camp SE.
Aside from this being just the second year that Summer Splash events have occurred and been part of Camp SE, the camp will be doing some things a bit differently from last year.
Howard explained that last summer, workers from Cross Point Camp in Kingston came to the school and had the attending students participate in a low ropes course.
This year, different activities will be taking place since “a lot of students that come and are in Honors or PLC do it again two weeks after,” Howard said.
Two new activities that Howard talked about having available for students are iPod Idol, which will be about the quality of entertainment in the performance rather than vocal talent, and Minute to Win It games, examples of which can be found on YouTube.
Sunday will be the relaxed day full of games, Howard said, “and then on Monday, we kind of go back to reality.”
Likely to the relief of many students, there are no tests taken during Camp SE, but Howard said that students can expect to learn a lot of new information about the school and its resources for them, which is the purpose of the camp.
The online version does include surveys at the beginning and end of the mini-course, but Howard said if students really focus, “it takes about no more than an hour” to complete.
It is also geared more toward nontraditional and commuter students than the weekend Camp SE is, Howard said.
Attendance is much higher in person, Howard said, and the students who opt for the online version generally already know about college in some way.
Information offered at weekend and online versions of the camp will include how to log into and navigate various online and computer systems the school has.
Howard said there will also be an Oklahoma Money Matters session at each weekend camp, intended to better educate students about how to budget wisely, avoid or get out of debt and save money rather than spend it.
To register for any of the Camp SE dates or the online course, students or their parents need only to go to www.se.edu/campse and click the “Register Now” link. There are options to pay online with a credit card or in person with cash or check.
Students who neglect to attend a Camp SE weekend, which costs $80, or to enroll in the online version, which costs $50, will have a Dean’s Hold put on their account, Howard said.
A Dean’s Hold will prevent a student from enrolling in classes for the semester after it is put in the system.
“It’s really not a bad thing,” Howard said of the camp being required. “It’s about a student getting knowledge of the university resources. Students don’t realize how many resources we have until they konw them.”
Howard, who has been the student life coordinator for a few years, said she hopes students want to come to Camp SE.
“I know it’s mandatory,” Howard said, “but it’s really fun, and it really helps you to connect with the university.”