Alan Potash, Director: Alan is the CEO of our Hillel, and his major responsibilities are managing people and money. He supervises the entire staff, works with National Hillel to incorporate National initiatives into our programming and offer opportunities to our students, and meets regularly with the staff as a group to evaluate our vision and our goals. Through his work with the Governing Board, he communicates the activities of our Hillel to alumni, parents, and Chicago-area Jewish movers and shakers to raise money that supports our programming. Alan has been the Director at the U of I Hillel for four years, and prior to that he was the Director at Purdue Hillel. His background is in Jewish communal service and art education and he has a great perspective on student development.

 

Jeremy Seaver, Program Coordinator: Jeremy's primary responsibility is coordinating all programs that happen in the Hillel facility. He also recruits students for leadership conferences and leadership roles within Hillel and works to connect students with National Hillel scholarships and initiatives. This past year, he coordinated several development and public relations efforts, including updating and maintaining our donor database and designing brochures to market our Hillel to donors and parents. He supervises the student interns and is accountable for general office and facility management (broken computers, Entertainment Room maintenance, etc.). Jeremy was a JCSC Fellow at the U of I during 2000-2001, and is an alumnus of the University--he's a great resource for getting to know the campus, Champaign-Urbana, and Hillel.

 

Marlene Goodfriend, Administrative Assistant: Marlene is our receptionist and bookeeper--she is the person who takes messages and gives money--she has a very important role in making sure things run smoothly for you! She also is the person to get in touch with for ordering supplies (from Post-Its to dreidels). Marlene has worked with Hillel for over 10 years.

 

Larry Chillis and Robert Williams, Building Supervisors: Larry and Robert maintain both the external and internal appearance of the building. They are the people to go to when you need a room set up for a program or help moving furniture (and both have been incredibly gracious this past year in helping us do both!).

 

 

Engagement involves bringing Jewish life to students where they are at. "Where they are at" implies both a physical and a psychological location--where they live, work, hang out, are already comfortable, and on an accessible, fun, interesting, and personal level. Empowerment involves facilitating students' discovery of their potential to create meaningful Jewish experiences for themselves and others. Looking at Jewish communal work as the establishment of relationships between individuals and the nurturing of relationships between individuals in a group, the engagement-empowerment balance depends on the particular situation. In one-on-one situations, it is important to gauge where the individual student is at--there are engagement students who are empowerment students in disguise. Some empowerment students become like engagement students when they're in a group of their friends who are engagement students. At the U of I, the majority of our students are engagement students. The University operates like a commuter campus--so many students are from the Chicago area that their lifestyles are more like that of commuter students (coming to school during the week and going home on the weekends). Because of their close ties to home, and their choice to go to a state school, many of our students maintain relationships with their high school and youth group friends throughout their time at the U of I, working to replicate their experiences from that time. A barrier is created for us--students will do things only with their friends and only want to do Jewish things that look and sound like the Jewish things they did at home.

 

The JCSC's job is to work with engagement students, but since engagement students are so many in number, the job is really to work with all students. The JCSC is the person students will go to with questions, concerns, and interests, because the JCSC is the face of Jewish life on campus. Students see the JCSC everywhere--in their dorms, dining halls, Greek houses, and on the Quad. Because the JCSC has the most first-hand experience with students, the staff relies on the JCSC to evaluate what students need and what interests them. JCSCs see which engagement students can become empowerment students, and can be the first contact an engagement student has with an empowerment opportunity.

 

The engagement-empowerment balance on this campus is just that--a way of equalizing the two so that no one outweighs the other. Because the JCSC also has a role as a staff member at Hillel, there isn't really a 80%/20% divide in terms of engagement and empowerment work. While it isn't the JCSC's responsibility to train and develop empowerment students into leaders, it is the JCSC's job to find, interact with, and support students who have leadership potential.

 

 

Supervision is the one hour a week you can devote to thinking about yourself. It's a chance for you meet one-on-one with Alan to process your week and discuss your goals for the next week. Sometimes it's hard to take the time commitment seriously, but you deserve the whole hour. Catching Alan during the week for 15 minutes at a time, although possible, isn't the same as having an entire hour to evaluate how things are going and make plans for the future.

 

Suggestions: Value supervision time as you would value an appointment with a student--don't blow it off. You are entitled to a full hour of uninterrupted time. Make the appointment with Alan for the same time every week, at a time when you can concentrate on yourself. We had our appointments on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Sometimes it helps to come in with a list of things you want to talk about--you should control the floor for most of your supervision time. Alan enjoys supervision--it's the time when he gets to hear about what you're working on--so come in with things to share with him. Also, if there have been any problems that have come up during the week, this is the best time to bring them up. Alan is the person to go to when you have problems with any students, whether it be a conversation that just didn't go right or a major personality clash. It's important for you to be able to understand what may have caused the problem, but also for Alan to know that the problem exists. Last but not least, supervision can be in or out of the building. Both of us sometimes had supervision at Panera or Espresso Royale--a nice break and virtual insurance of fewer interruptions.

 

 

Hillel and Federation share a building, and often co-sponsor programs throughout the year. Lee Melhado, Federation Director, is a great resource herself.

 

The other Champaign-Urbana Jewish community connection. Sinai Temple is located about 10-15 minutes off campus. There are educational and cultural programs that occur at the Temple, and many of our students teach in the Temple's religious school.

 

3104 W. Windsor Rd., Champaign, 352.8140

 

The Jewish Studies department offers classes in Hebrew and Yiddish and a number of other courses in topics ranging from Jewish American culture to Biblical studies. The department also sponsors a number of lectures.

 

109 English Building, 333.7978

 

 

Get to know, watch, and use the people around you. We both realized what great resources and role models the people we work with are, but pretty late in the game to be able to watch them critically and learn from them. Alan, Jeremy, Marlene, and Lee have been working and living as a part of the U of I, Champaign-Urbana, and Jewish communities and all have perspectives to share that may help you get to know the campus and the area better.

 

Balance what your role models think with what you think. The JCSC Fellow has some of the most up-to-date and accurate knowledge of Jewish life on campus issues. While the JCSC might not have years of experience, the Fellow does have a here-and-now perspective based on living and being a part of creating community in the present. Some ideas that might not have worked three years ago will be brilliant in the current atmosphere. Programs that worked three years ago might not work now.

 

Before listening to other staff, and even before listening to yourself, listen to your students. They are the population you are serving. They have the best ideas, they just need to be asked for them. They also know what will fly and what won't. Try out your ideas on them, but also keep your ears open to hearing their creativity.