Name: Alyssa Galik
Major/Minor: Strategic Communication Major, Marketing minor
Year in School: Senior
Hometown: Brecksville, Ohio
Involvement on Campus: I am the president of Miami Entertainment Program Board, which allows me to be a member of the Presidents’ Coalition, social chair for Alpha Omicron Pi, involved in PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) and a previous member of Vision Dance Company.
Program Board (PB) was established in 1957 and it’s mission is to bring programs of varying interests to the students of Miami University and to use to the student center as much as possible. PB offers fun, interesting events (usually held at Shriver) to the community. It allows people to get involved with other students and participate actively with the University. PB currently has 35 members, but they are always looking for more to join the organization! Get to know PB’s head of staff, Alyssa Galik…
HC: How did you get involved with Program Board?
AG: I have always had aspirations of being an event planner, and sophomore year I saw a table tent that asked if you are interested in event planning. I ended up attending the info session and joining fall semester in 2009.
HC: What was your first event?
AG: The first event I attended was Party on the Patio featuring Josh Kelley. After seeing the crowd and the involvement of the student body I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of. After a year of being involved, I became a programming co-chair, (the pair in charge of planning the events), and my first planned event was Grand Prix in 2010.
HC: What are some upcoming events?
AG: Our last event for this semester was last Tuesday, and it was a remake of the 90s television show, Legends of the Hidden Temple. We have the “steps of knowledge” with Miami history and temple games that consist of inflatables and obstacles throughout Shriver. All of our events for next semester are not set in stone, but Program Board and After Dark are bringing Dave Coleman, the dating doctor: America’s Real Life Hitch on January 20th to the Shriver MPRs.
HC: How do you stay current with students?
AG: Program Board works on staying current with the students by involving their opinions. When deciding our events we involve all of our members and bring the ideas to the table in determining what our campus has interest in and what we have the capabilities of doing. We are on many entertainment listservs and pay attention to what else is being offered on the campus to bring diverse events. I am always willing to talk to students or listen to their opinions to bring the most successful events to the student body.
HC: What are some challenges you face with PB as president?
AG: Some challenges I face are over programming, and planning over events that is occurring with other organizations. Keeping the motivation levels high and the organization involved within each other, but also with me, causes issues of people being uninformed or things not being properly completed. Taking responsibility for every problem that occurs below me provides for some touch decisions and consequences but I understand it is the responsibility I asked for.
HC: What is the most important thing you have learned from PB?
AG: One of the most important things I have learned from PB is how to talk to people and how to rely on others. I have had the opportunity to not only talk with fellow student leaders, but also advisors, employees, agencies and celebrities to give me experience in communicating with all different roles. Also, in working with another co-chair junior year, and being president this year it has allowed me to understand that I cannot complete everything myself and I need to rely on others for help. I have learned to trust others in completing necessary tasks and work together to make each event be the best it can be.
HC: What are the future aspirations of PB? Where would you like to see it go?
AG: In a lot of decisions I make I keep the thought of the Armstrong Student Center opening soon in my head. As our mission deals with bringing students to the student center I know that our future is in that building. The new student center will have many more rooms and opportunities to allow us to plan larger and bigger scale events. It is going to be a place students want to be and being sure that our organization stays strong and providing programming relevant to the University is very important to me. In the future I hope to see our budget grow to open up new opportunities that Program Board currently does not have as well as being able to plan events more frequently so students feel not only involved with the University but also in the new student center. In being able to plan more events I hope to grow the involvement of our organization to see through our current goals and surpass all the expectations we have.
HC: Would you recommend new/current students to join PB? How do the join? What role will they have?
AG: I would recommend new and current students to join Program Board who are looking to get involved. We really incorporate the strengths of every member and allow a number of different ways for our members to get involved in face new challenges. For many of us it has been a great way to find friends within the organization as well as in other organizations that we work closely with. If you are looking to join you can email miamiprogramboard@gmail.com your name and email address that you can then be provided with an application or you can also check out the Miami Entertainment page on The Hub and find our application in the documents tab. When they join they will become a general member and asked to come to weekly meetings and the events and from then on can become more involved and work towards being a member of the executive team.