Featured Student: SDA Adjustments

By Janet Zimmerman

I have learned a lot and gained a lot of experience this year as the SDA president at my school.  I have gotten to meet many of the dietitians in my community, help with many health related events, gain leadership experience, and get to know my fellow dietetic students more.  I would not trade the opportunity to be president, regardless of the added responsibility and sometimes stress it adds to my school year.  I highly recommend getting involved and holding an office in your schools dietetic association if you are not already!

With elections for the Student Dietetic Association coming up in the next couple of weeks, I would like to share with you some adjustments that we have made or are making right now for the officers next year.

1)   Started a Peer Mentoring Program:  This February, around the same time that I wrote the mentoring post, the officers and I implemented a peer mentoring program for SDA members.  Upperclassman and DPD students take on a mentee (a underclassman) and talk to them about getting dietetic experience, important things to do before applying for DI, how to get through certain classes, and life in general.  I highly recommend that you help start one of these programs in your SDA if you do not have one already!!

2)   Making an SDA procedure manual: The 2010-2011 officers and I are outlining what events, jobs, and volunteer opportunities we did monthly and what role each officer is responsible for.  A major problem that I found with the SDA at my school is that we start over with a whole new group of officers yearly, and so each year there is an adjustment period where the officers are learning what they are supposed to do.

3)   Implementing a new office called the “Peer Adviser”: The peer adviser is a office that is open to any returning officer (specifically a returning President or Vice President). The job description includes: serving as a mentor to the first year officers, answering questions about positions or past events, being present at events and meetings, recommending what works and does not work for events, and helping the president with planning successful events.  I feel that this position is important because it allows some the experience of SDA from past years to carry into a new year.

I hope that you find some of these things helpful.  Are you involved in the SDA at your school?  Are you making any adjustments to your organization?  I’d love to hear from you!