Want to boost attendance and secure extra funding for your Recognized Student Organization (RSO) events? By tagging events in ’Cuse Activities with Syracuse University’s six Shared Competencies, you can receive supplemental funding!
Why Tag Your Events?
- Help Students Build Skills — Tagging shows attendees what transferable skills they’ll gain by attending the event. These skills are:
- Ethics, Integrity and Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
- Critical and Creative Thinking
- Scientific Inquiry and Research Skills
- Civic and Global Responsibility
- Communication Skills
- Information Literacy and Technological Agility
- Increase Event Visibility — Students can now filter events by Shared Competencies in ’Cuse Activities through the “Categories” function, making it easier to find yours!
- Get More Funding — RSOs that tag events can apply for Shared Competencies funding. The funding form can be found on the Forms webpage in ’Cuse Activities (RSO leaders must be logged in to view the form!). The submission deadline for the form is Wednesday, April 30, and funds will be distributed in September 2025.
- Boost Your RSO’s Impact — Aligning with Shared Competenciers strengthens your RSO’s role in student growth and leadership.
How to Use Tags Effectively
- Pick the right Competencies for your event (e.g., a leadership workshop would probably be classified under Communication Skills).
- Design events with intentional learning outcomes (group discussions, guest speakers or hands-on activities).
- Encourage students to reflect on their learning—badges or certificates can make it even more rewarding!
RSOs like Innovate Orange have received $500 of supplemental funding to support them this semester due to their commitment to tagging their events in ’Cuse Activities. We chatted with Innovate Orange vice president Alan Tom about how he thought that this initiative perfectly fit his organization.
Q: What made you decide to apply for the Shared Competencies supplemental funding?
A: We decided to apply for the Shared Competencies supplemental funding when we learned about the initiative and realized that our usual weekly workshops applied to some of the categories, namely Information Literacy and Technological Agility, and Scientific Inquiry and Research Skills.
Q: How does this award help your team going forward?
A: We can use the funding received to scale up our workshops and projects. The money gives us options to explore new physical tools that will boost engagement and learning! We also plan to use these tools, like Raspberry Pi, to further enhance the capabilities of our own projects at Innovate Orange, like having a dedicated server for our Discord Bot, a tool for all our members to find jobs and aid with career readiness.
Q: Any advice for students who are looking to win the same award funding?
A: We think that knowing your club’s purpose and projection is very important. Constantly ask yourself and members what’s expected and how the club can improve. Set goals for your club and find out who has the resources to help you!
By tagging events, students can reach wider audiences through their RSOs. Next time you’re planning an event, tag it with Shared Competencies and make it count!
Written By Naimah Rahman ’25, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications