Organization of My community
Introduction
Just like the rest of the society, my community has special aspects of life which determine its peculiarity. As a university dormitory, it comprises of people from diverse racial, geographical, cultural, political, religious and ethnic backgrounds. This has made it so challenging for everyone to comfortably accommodate. This is because each of them has specific beliefs, abilities, interests and goals which may be challenging to meet. This paper gives an in-depth discussion on social organization of this community. It does this by focusing on the structure of leadership and their relation to the rest of the community members.
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1. Organization structure
As small as it may appear, my dormitory community is well organized. It has a set of leaders who are used in the discharging of day to day operations. Since it is a learning set up, the university has come up with policies to promote peace and harmony amongst all the occupants. Usually, learners have been classified as a troublesome section of the society. In the absence of a well organized leadership structure, it may be extremely difficult to tame them. Therefore, the following leaders have been installed to oversee their operations:
The office of the AC is responsible for the provision of guidance and counseling services to the residents of the dormitory. As a learning institution, the priority should be put on the academic prosperity of the learners. However, as a result of the peer influences from their colleagues, they may be swayed into misconducts. This makes it necessary for this office top organize for private and public counseling sessions for them. No success can be realized without discipline.
ii. Resident Director (RD)
The function of the RD is to implement university programs such as ResLife, community development and residential education. Besides, he also assist in crisis management and monitoring the students’ conducts. This makes the office very important in promoting discipline and the school-community relationship.
iii. Resident Assistant (RA)
It is the office of the RA which is involved in the direct administration of the residential halls. These officers help student in their daily activities such as class schedules and the submission of work orders to the relevant channel. Moreover, they can also participate in looking for academic and emotional support needed by the students. These are essential services that the students can not afford to do without.
iv. Learning Community Assistant (LCA)
As students, LCAs have a deeper understanding of the challenges facing students in their day to day lives. They can use their experiences to serve their colleagues in the residential halls. In deed, the complexities in student life necessitate the need of these student leaders in working hand in hand with their colleagues in the residential halls. This makes them feel better since they use their skills to help one another. After all, they are all students who undergo similar circumstances.
2. Transition
Just like any other learning institution, this university admits students on annual basis. Meaning, it receives a new set of learners every year. However, after a successful completion of their studies, these learners graduate and leave the university. This implies that there is a constant flow of students. While new ones are fused into the system, the senior ones are expected to leave and create room for the new lot. This represents a constant rate of transition (Barker, C, 2003). As an old idea, it is necessary for the continuity of institution. It enables the university to continue with its operations without any unnecessary break. Besides, it gives the learners an opportunity to interact with as many students as possible.
The same trend is reflected in the dormitory because the new students are given an opportunity to occupy the available residential spaces. This kind of constant shift makes it possible for the community to be in existence through the year. At no one time can it lack students who get admitted to be part of it.
3. Formation of Social Groups
My community is set up in an institution which brings a lot of people together. However, many of us have taken advantage of this situation to form small groups of convenience. As a social animal, man is prone to social groups. A number of students have formed friendships based on different reasons. First, there is an issue of tribe (Carr, D., 2004). Most of these students have formed cliques exclusively made up of people from their ethnic groups. The other form of affiliation is classes.
Many students have also based their friendship on their courses. In this case, those who perceive one another as a classmate have formed groups that can bring them together. However, this should not be refuted because it is a normal occurrence (David, 1999). While most of them use such groupings to benefit them, others only form them as a convenient way of proving their arrogance to the school administration. It is for this reason that the institution has set up leadership structures to tame such peer groups and counsel them.
4. Rules and Regulations
In my community, there are sets of rules which every student is expected to follow. Otherwise, they can be liable to different forms of punishment. First, whenever anyone is found violating these rules, they are subjected to the disciplinary actions recommended by the administration. As Christopher examines, it is a must that each of these students must abide by these rules because they make their stay there more comfortable. The department of student affairs always works closer to students. Whenever there is any issue to be resolved, they all come together and seek for a solution.
However, the students who constantly cause problems to the administration are not left scot free. After being given a fair trial, they are given the appropriate punishment that measures their offences. This has made the institution be in a position ‘of instilling discipline to the students’ Elazar, B., 2012). None of them is expected to misbehave. After all, they are prepared to be responsible members of the entire society. Without rules, it is not possible for any community to smoothly operate. They are the essential tenets for any such institution.
Conclusion
Evidently, my community is ideal for a sociological discussion. As a small dormitory, it represents a typical community which comprises of complex structures such as leadership hierarchies and set of rules. As explained in this article, the existence of the community leaders is a fundamental pillar in this community. The bringing together of students from varied backgrounds may pose a very great challenge to the administrators. However, as an organized institution, the university has come up with strategies to promote cooperation which is necessary for peaceful coexistence. All the diverse interests of learners must be catered for. Anyone who decides to deviate from these norms faces the long hand of the law. The due process in the hearing of disciplinary cases is appropriate for taming any misconduct which may arise from a section of the community members.
Works Cited
Barker, C. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. London: Sage, 2003. Print.
Carr, D. Introduction to Sociology (7th Ed.). New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2004. Print.
Christopher, D. Social Inequality and Social Stratification in US Society. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc, 2013. Print.
David Card, "Causal effect of education on earnings," in Handbook of labor economics, Orley Ashenfelter and David Card (Eds). Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1999: pp. 1801–186.
Elazar, B. The Retreat of Scientific Racism: Changing Concepts of Race in Britain and the United States between the World Wars. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print.
