RAPP Potluck - Yummy Snacks, Fun Games

Many thanks to the folks who came out to last night's RAPP Potluck. We took time to break from the stress of exams and - for a lucky few - celebrate the completion of the quarter.

The snacks were delicious (especially Amber's brownies!) and the company was good fun.

Eddie (XXIII) and Nicole (XXIV) enjoying Amber's delicious baked goods.

Kenzie (XXV) gives the night a thumbs up - and Jojo (XXIV) has his eyes closed in the photo as always! :)

Mia (XXII) brought along her visiting friend to meet us fun RAPP folk! Amber (XXV) relaxes in the background.

Brice (XXV) and his friend James look on as Jojo keeps the eyes-closed tradition going!

-Rebecca

On the Road Again... Next Stop, Cincinnati State!

I'm off to another college's campus today to meet some students and have interesting conversations.
I'm visiting with Prof. Gloria Rowe's classes at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. I'll be dropping in on her 1 o'clock Issues in Human Diversity and talk about RAPP and what we do. With her 2:30 class I'll do the same and also do an activity with them.
Cincinnati State is just down the road and is a great educational resource for people all over Cincinnati. I've had several friends over the years involved in teaching the Issues in Human Diversity class. I'm excited to visit it because it models, to me, how issues of social justice can be approached with an academic (not just personal) benefit.

Get to Know RAPP XXV

Now that we have the group in place in terms of those who committed to RAPP XXV, I'm finally getting together some basic info about this year's batch of RAPPers. In particular, I'm looking at academic diversity. I find it pretty interesting, though I definitely understand others may not. :) Still, here it is:

RAPP XXV has 68 members who've committed to the program. These members represent ten colleges in our University. You can see the break-down by college below.

(A&S=College of Arts & Sciences; CoB=College of Business; CECH=College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Resources; DAAP=College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning; CAHS=College of Allied Health Sciences; CCM=College Conservatory of Music; CoN=College of Nursing; CAS=College of Applied Sciences; Clermont= Clermont College; ENGR=College of Engineering)

Though much of our more visible promotion happens at events targetting incoming first-year students, our group represents a range of academic years. Not shown in this graph is our increase in non-traditional students; it simply shows where people are academically.

(Not included are 1 pre-Junior, 1 transfer student, and 1 who didn't give their year in school).

Our members represent 44 different majors. The most common are Psychology (6), Communications (4), Criminal Justice (4), Finance (4), and Journalism (4). Five members declared they're pre-med.

This year's group's academic diversity unsurprisingly surpasses last year's - we've got 68 members compared to ~48. Last year's group was considered quite academically diverse, though: they represented 29 majors in 8 colleges (plus CAT) and had a similar spread of academic years.

By looking at this data starting last year we were able to debunk the myth we knew was a myth: "RAPP is only for liberal arts folk." As this info shows, RAPP is popular across a wide variety of academic and career interests. As we learn more about who has been in RAPP over the last almost-25 years, I think we'll find this has held true from the beginning.

RAPP Potluck

If there's one thing RAPPers know how to do, it's eat! And lots of other things that can happen during eating: have thought-provoking conversations, make friends, play games.

Join us for some of all of this! We'll be having a pot luck this Wednesday, December 9th from 4-7PM in the 6th Floor Open Space in Steger Student Life Center (just down the hall from the RAPP Office).

If you can come for ten minute or for two hours, I hope you stop by! If you can bring something to share, that's great. If you can't, that's great too - still come!

All RAPPers current and previous as well as our many "friends of RAPP" are encouraged to come. Take some time out in the midst of exam week to relax, share some food, and hang out with some RAPPers.

(pic - RAPP XXIV having dinner at spring retreat)
-Rebecca

A Few Thoughts on This Year So Far

At the end of the quarter, I spend a lot of time looking at feedback from our members and the few numbers I have about our group. This year I found something exciting in our retention rates that I want to reflect on openly.

Retention rates in RAPP are something I have limited data on. We know some limited numbers on RAPP XVIII through XXII and more thorough information on RAPP XXIII through now.

There are three numbers we keep track of nowadays:

• Acceptance - How many people we have on our roster at the first meeting.
• Commitment - How many people continue after the second meeting (meaning, they could come to the first two meetings to try us out, but we consider them committed if they attend retreats/meetings after that).
• Completion - How many people participate all the way through to the end of the schoolyear.

We calculate retention by dividing the commitment number by the completion number.

Given that RAPP is a time-intensive, energy-intensive co-curricular, my goal is a retention rate of 80% - which can be a challenge to reach. The years that we do have data for our retention rate has ranged from ~50% to 80%.

Part of why we calculate from commitment rather than acceptance is that it can take folks those first two meetings to figure out if they can make the commitment of time and energy in a co-curricular way. There's a natural drop in numbers after the first meeting or two every year. From there people continue to withdraw their commitment as academic and personal demands may pull them away.

Here's why I tell you all of this: RAPP XXV is currently at 100% retention. This is amazing, and in some ways absurd! It's a pleasant surprise, to say the least. We accepted 71 people into RAPP XXV and 68 committed. From there, so far we've kept all 68 - not something we have a precedent for.

I don't really know why this is as it is at this point. I'm going to throw out a few ideas I'm starting with:

• We have an amazing group of committed individuals! It's shown true to me so far. During their interviews, we explored issues of commitment and group development and why they wanted to be in RAPP. To a tee, folks were able to give well thought answers, demonstrating an understanding of what they were getting into and what it took to be successful.
• We have an amazing team of Peer Leaders and facilitators! DeVorah, Emma, Krystal, Nancy, and Tad have been doing amazing work supporting RAPP XXV members - they challenge them to think in new ways, they support them through the difficult times, and they bring a lot of fun and friendliness. Sarvani and Tar have been blowing me away with their insight, facilitation skills, and planning of interactive sessions.
• We have an amazing group of committed individuals! People have been doing their best to demonstrate commitment through attendance and engagement. Communication has been key, with folks communicating clearly why they're there and why they're not when they're not.
• We're a bit exclusive! We accepted 71 people - which in the end left several people still on a waiting list to get in. For me, this seems like it's a bit of incentive to make sure that I demonstrate my commitment - I know that my spot was wanted by someone who didn't get the opportunity to participate.

I've got more information to wade through because our evaluations from members came in this week. I'll hopefully have more insight into why our group is rockin' awesome soon!

(pic - RAPP XXV Wednesday folk at fall retreat)
-Rebecca

Upcoming Event: Kwanzaa Celebration

Thursday, December 3rd, we have a celebration of Kwanzaa on campus hosted by UCASA, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Lambda, and Collegiate 100.  The celebration starts at 7PM and is in the Max Kade German Cultural Center in Old Chemistry.

Whether you've celebrated Kwanzaa before or you've know nothing other that you've heard the name, come out if you can!  It's a great opportunity to connect with our community and learn about the holiday.

World AIDS Day & Stupak Day of Action

RAPP XXIII member and XXV Peer Leader Emma sent info our way about two upcoming campus events (message copied below). Click this link for more info on the World AIDs Day events.

From Emma:

Today is World AIDs Day so I encourage you to take note of the red ribbons foun on the commons and around campus today and stop by our table in the TUC Atrium from 9-4 today to say hello and get some information on HIV/AIDs.

Also tomorrow is the Stupak Day of Action. Stop by the table in TUC outside the mart near the bookstore from 11-3 to sign the petition and call your senator to let them know that you want them to stand up for women and make sure that all women have access to safe abortions. If you can't stop by the table, call the switchboard number on your own and get transfered to your senator. The number is (202) 224-3121.