The OCCC chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society has created a half-hour informational video highlighting campus departments, services and student opportunities. The video is designed to inform new students about resources available to them at OCCC and is planned to be shown in the mandatory Success in College and Life course.
Phi Theta Kappa President Abby Odvodi encouraged students interested in the organization to attend meetings held every other Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Rooms 407A and 407B of the OCCC library.
The idea for the video originated in late fall when Vice President for Academic Affairs Liz Largent proposed the project to PTK advisors and student leaders. After receiving approval from participating departments across campus, Odvodi organized volunteers within the honor society and began filming.
Odvodi said the project offered a valuable experience for both herself and the organization.
“Being able to network with so many different departments here on campus was great, and it was good to get our name out there as well,” she said. “Phi Theta Kappa isn’t advertised as much as other clubs, so I think it was a good choice for our chapter.”
Throughout the video, viewers are introduced to campus leaders and learn about free services and academic support available to students upon request. Featured areas include the Biological Sciences Center, Students Connecting with Mentors for Success, the OCCC gym and several other departments.
The project presented challenges for the student volunteers, who worked around the busy schedules of campus departments while balancing final exams and the approaching winter break. Many students spent long hours filming and editing before turning their attention back to their studies.
PTK volunteer Michael Knight shared his experience managing both the project and his coursework.
“I was one of the people going to all the filming sessions,” he said. “Juggling that along with my classes was difficult since I had a pretty big load last semester.
“We edited the video for about 10 hours, well into 2 a.m. Still got all A’s though!”
The video was completed on Jan. 11 and is now ready to be shown to students. Odvodi hopes the project will inspire students to do more than simply attend classes.
“Incoming students miss a lot around campus because they just come to class and go home,” she said. “Since Success in College and Life is a required course for students, they will see this video at some point. Being able to view what the school has to offer – like all the different departments that are free – and how accessible it is will encourage new students to explore a little more.”
