Hillel of San Diego

1. Staff

This year there were 12 staff members. Most of them will be the same, or similar, in the fall.

SDSU

1. Jackie Tolley, Director. Your supervisor and mine…the one, the only. Jackie has been with Hillel of San Diego for ages, and she does an amazing job. She knows so much about how the school works and what the students are like. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. She will nurture you and help you grow. And she has a great sense of humor! Don’t forget to catch a Padres game with her.

2. Marla Scher, Program Director. Marla is a great person to work with. She has wonderful insight and wit, and is very organized as well as creative. Even though the populations you work with are different, you will have opportunities to collaborate. We often chat about what’s going on with students, in the world, and within the agency. And she is just 30 feet away on the other side of the building!

3. Lipinsky JCSC Fellow. The past two years it was me, now it is you. I have been doing my best to prepare the students for you, and to ask them to be welcoming and excited. Don’t be totally surprised if someone says “Oh, so are you the new Sarah?” I think it happens to every Fellow at some point. Don’t sweat it. You will fill my shoes and more.

Area-Wide

1. Beth Gross, Director of Special Projects. Beth’s major project is to raise all this wonderful money we use for program expenses. Her portfolio includes a student component in the Internship Program, which is an excellent internship opportunity for our students that is worth promoting. Beth also runs marathons!

2. Kara Rosenwald, Area-Wide Program Director. Kara’s two main things are graduate students (including law students) from various schools all over San Diego, and Area-Wide programs, which are large-scale events planned for students and student-age folks from all over San Diego county. These events, which include the Purim party, a Chanukah party, and others, are generally tons of fun; you will be partially responsible for promoting them to your students.

3. Keri Savage, Multi-Campus Queen. This year Keri has been the Multi-Campus JCSC Fellow, but over the summer will become the Multi-Campus Program Coordinator. Keri is a real firecracker, and is excellent with the students. She has been making a lot of waves this year, and will have a chance to do so even more in the year to come.

UCSD

1. Rabbi Lisa Goldstein, Director. Doubling as the Hillel of San Diego Executive Director with the greatest of ease…. I have found that Lisa is a terrific resource Jewishly and professionally. She is open and kind and loves what she does. You will see her most often in her roles at board meetings and staff meetings, as well as agency-wide events. Don’t hesitate to get to know her!

2. Nicole Uritz, Program Director. Nicole is leaving to pursue graduate school in the fall. Her job has been basically parallel to Marla’s, though the campuses are different. In her place will be the highly talented Dan Mikelberg.

3. Daniel Mikelberg, Jacobs JCSC Fellow. The aspiring Rabbi Dan is warm, sensitive, funny, and fabulous with the students. He is very open to collaboration, into Jewish learning, and a great Israeli dancer! I benefited greatly from working with him as a Fellow, but he will do great in his role as the program director. The new Fellow’s name is Noam Raucher, and I don’t know anything about him. But you will!

Administrative

1. Yvonne Lawrence, Office Manager. Yvonne is your new office mate, as well as being the woman to keep this agency from going to pieces. She is an incredibly organized, efficient, and highly competent person. She is the one who will print lists, write reimbursement checks, input student data, and a whole bunch of other things that have less to do with your job. She is also wonderfully friendly and warm. (And if you ever want to butter her up, invest in champagne.)

2. Marg McKnight, Secretary. Marg answers phones and does clerical work at the Office of Religious Affairs at UCSD. She is the sweetest person you could ever want to meet.

3. Deena Leventhal, Administrative Assistant. Deena does administrative work at the area-wide office, including much of the data organization for the agency, such as donation letters and the like.

2. Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is the lay-leader branch of Hillel of San Diego. They are the ones who run the fundraising and public relations for the agency. There is one board for all of Hillel of San Diego, which is beneficial in that we are collaborating rather than competing for resources. Board meetings will never be the most exciting part of your month, but if you relax and take it all in, you can learn something. Our role at board meetings is to be available to answer any questions about life and activities on campus that the board may have, and to be cordial with the members of the board. Though they rarely show, it is also not a bad idea to invite board members to some of your major events, especially those concerning community service.

3. Tracking

This is a quick note about keeping track of students. Everyone needs to do it, and keeping the information organized is key. So far, the system of choice is DonorPerfect. The agency uses it for donations and board members, as well as student addresses and information. It is very helpful in that a) Yvonne inputs the student information, so you don’t have to and b) you can have Yvonne print out various lists, based on your needs (by target group, by zip code, but year in school, with e-mail or without e-mail, etc.). It definitely has its limitations, which you will discover as time passes.

You may also wish to do some tracking of your own. It is good to keep lists or a notebook of people you have one-on-one encounters with. That way you have a record of where each student is at, and how far they have come in the semester. You may also want keep separate lists of people you know or have heard of. Especially among the Greeks, I found that I met people who decided I was cool enough to hang out with, but they weren’t ready to “sign-up for Hillel” yet. So I kept their names and numbers and would invite them to things, and hopefully later on they would be ready to fill out the ominous little card. Whatever you do, make sure it works for you, and that students don’t slip through the cracks!

4. Engagement and Empowerment.

Engagement: Hillel’s methodology for involving students who are not typically active in Jewish life on campus.

Empowerment: Hillel’s methodology for developing Jewish student leaders and empowering students active in Jewish life to create Jewish renaissance on campus.

Engagement is job of the JCSC Fellow. Empowerment is the job of the Program Director. That is the easiest way to look at things. However, at SDSU, there are very few true empowered students, and most of the board members were engagement students at some point. This makes things a little more complicated at times, in terms of not conflicting with times, ideas, or themes either with Marla or with the JSU. There are only so many days on the calendar, and only so many programs any student can make time to come to. Target groups are helpful in managing this, but often students fit into more than one target group. It is best to keep the lines of communication open and try to make the programming compliment each other (as it is designed to do) rather than compete.

There are two steps to this engagement thing. One is just meeting people—as many Jews as possible. The biggest push is at the beginning of each semester, but lasts all year long. This is where things like tabling, opening BBQs, and major events come in—things that draw in tons of people. And of course, meeting the friends of the people you have already met. It’s all about the networking. The second step is to provide all these great people you meet with the opportunity for meaningful Jewish experiences, or with the experiences themselves. A direct approach is to introduce them to other Jewish students, invite them to Jewish programs, and help them plan Jewish things in their halls, houses, neighborhoods, and on campus. Some students require a more indirect approach, which is where one-on-one coffees and lunches come in, getting together with students in the gym, those types of things. That way the students get to know you, trust you, and feel comfortable when you try to advance to the next level (participating in programs and events). So, you do the tabling to bring the students in, one-on-ones to nurture them, and the events to have them participating. It all comes as a package—each step is important.

Here at SDSU especially, there is also a key follow-up element. Meeting new people is always crucial. But bringing people back is also valuable. Once all the information cards are entered into the database, you will have lists of people in your target groups. Engagement isn’t just adding names to that list. It is also connecting and re-connecting with the people already on it. Engagement includes “engaging” the minds of people who may have filled out a card and forgotten about it, or who weren’t impressed the first time. Go down the lists, try to be in contact with each person at least once or twice per semester. Call new people when you get their cards. The second encounter is as important as the first!

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