The Minority Serving- Institution Student Council (MSISC) kicked off the semester by holding their 2021 in-person fall retreat on Saturday, August 21st. The learning outcomes for the retreat were:
Strengthen commitments and connections to council and fellow council members through participating in get-to-know-you and team-building activities
Explain foundational knowledge (i.e., history, purpose) about Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), particularly about the dual MSI designations
Demonstrate confidence in their roles as MSISC members through engaging in reflections around what successful advocacy or organizing looks like
Develop their skills in order to support their member-led initiatives and general MSISC programs through engaging in reflections around what successful advocacy or organizing looks like
During the morning session council members delved into the subject matter: Connecting our “whys” to the bigger picture of MSIs in the nation. This session provided a backdrop for MSISC members to better understand the different MSIs and also to learn more about UNLV’s designations. In this session, MSISC members were invited to align their purpose of being part of MSISC to the larger MSI timeline.
In the afternoon the council held a session that dealt with #OrganizationLyfe. The session included a panel of guest speakers from UNLV and the Las Vegas community the chance to give MSISC members insight into what “success” in organizing and advocacy could look like, drawing from the lived experiences of different professionals.
The day concluded with a team-building exercise. The purpose of this facilitated session was to give MSISC members an opportunity to build confidence in working together, especially as their work on the council requires them to plan campus-wide events as well as working on their individual projects that target historically underrepresented students during the academic year together.
