In the fall 2016, Michael Paestella, director of student involvement at Oswego State, posted a guide on the Laker Life webpage to aid faculty advisors in establishing a relationship with student organizations.

The Registered Student Organization Advisor Guide is a document Paestella created to provide a set of guidelines current and new advisors can follow for advice on their involvement with the student organization they oversee.

The guide provides resources, information regarding Laker Life, the common roles of an advisor and their responsibilities, as well as an excerpt from the student handbook. The given information was compiled from different sources so the advisor would be able to have a “one-stop shop,” Paestella said. Advisors then can follow the links in the guide with further questions on specific topics.

According to the “Student Organizations: Organization Advisors” section from the student handbook, the general purpose of an organization advisor is to provide insight and guidance that assists a student organization in furthering its purpose and enhancing the meaningfulness of organization membership.

“Some people have the inate ability to see people, see situations, give advice and work on things and that’s something that I don’t think necessarily matters what your field of study or work is,” Paestella said. “Some people just have a knack for it. For other people, it’s one of those things where they got it, but it just hasn’t been triggered.”

According to the guide, the relationship of the advisor to the organization will vary according to the organization’s needs. One organization may rely on their advisor to help oversee the set-up of events, and others may want a hands-off relationship with their advisor.

The guide takes this variation into consideration and includes suggestions for how an advisor and the officers of the student organization can settle on what kind of relationship they would like to have for that semester, especially if there has been a transition of officers.

“I think it’s a balance,” Paestella said. “Some organizations need a little more help from someone who knows the field. Say it’s for a science major and they have an advisor who is a professor, they may be able to get some insight and some guidance. But if it’s a special interest group, it may be a little different.”

The guide does not only benefit advisors, but officers and other members of an organization as well. Especially with new student organizations, the guide can give a new president ideas on what to talk about with the advisor of their choice to establish the relationship and proposed roles.

Dionisio Burgos, publicist for Vocal Effect, said their student organization has a completely hands-off relationship with their advisor. The vocal group organizes its own rehearsals, performances and holds its own auditions without an active role from their advisor.

“Our advisor gives us our space to work on our own,” Burgos said. “Everything we’ve done was our decision and we figured it out. I feel like we really don’t need one because we work. We’ve successfully worked without an active advisor.”

According to Burgos, Vocal Effect’s President has been in the group for eight semesters so they ask the president any questions they may have.

Burgos said if there comes a time after the older members graduate and they need a new advisor, they will consult the guide.