Cedars, January 2018

January 2018 8 CAMPUS by Zach Krauss C edarville University’s Student Life Programs owes their many success- ful events to the behind-the-scenes, student-led group of workers known as the Ops Team. Ops stands for operations, and head- ing up operations is exactly what this team does. The team is made up of eight student workers, two of whom act as executive of- ficers. These executive officers help their leader, Brian Burns, director of Campus Experience, sort work orders and make sure the whole team knows what they need to be doing during a given week. The Ops team serves as a behind-the- scenes crew of efficient setup and tear down workers who also specialize at audio, video, and technology tasks. Members of the team also often stay during events in order to make sure someone is there who can help in case something goes wrong. Ops oversees many of the events on campus that SLP sponsors, as well as events that Event Services sets up. Groups like Career Services are also able to ask for the team’s help. Ops works along with Student Center Activities Board to make events happen. SCAB works with the planning of actual events, helping to figure out what will be needed at an event and how to make the event fulfill its purpose. Ops comes in af- ter plans have been made in order to grab supplies and necessary setup to put things together and decorate. The whole team meets for a few hours each week to plan what needs to be done. Once a plan has been made for a week, the team begins to start setting things up in ad- vance so they only need to make finishing touches on the night of the event. As a part of Campus Experience, the Ops Team is responsible for events like Get- ting Started week in August, which ushers in new students for each new school year, and CULead in January, which is a cam- pus-wide event required for students who plan on being involved in leadership or stu- dent government. Ops is also in charge of the setup for each of the four Alt Nights that students are able to enjoy twice a semester which typically include a movie, food and beverages, and student activities. Ops is pivotal in the setup and tear down of Campus Christmas, a yearly event in which the beginning is marked by the decoration of the entire Stevens Student Center. This year’s decorations for Campus Christmas included more than 3,000 pingpong balls that hung from the ceiling of the upper Stevens Student Center to simulate snow, as well as dozens of trees and full-size presents. The Ops Team headed up that setup, as well as the setup of the stage in the dining hall to be used later in the month for Christmas karaoke. The team comes back along with much of the rest of Student Life before Getting Started weekend in order to begin their training. After undergoing the foundations portion of training that all Student Life partakes in, Burns helps the team learn the specific skills for the job they will have to implement during Getting Started weekend. Burns said Getting Started weekend functions as one of the first hands-on learn- ing experiences for the Ops Team with the team helping with setup as well as audio for the first weekend that students are allowed on campus. Burns said the team is always fortunate enough to have at least one or two returning students to help to pass along knowledge and help figure out exactly how everything will work out for a given year. Kaleb Irey, a junior math major on the Ops Team, says his favorite thing about his position is being able to see all the of the re- actions of people when they see what’s been done. “I’m a tour guide as well, and just the other day my partner was able to explain to some students about Campus Christmas,” Irey said. “I got to see without bragging how people like the work we do, and that’s some- thing I really enjoy.” Irey also says the job has taught him time management. Sometimes, because of the na- ture of the job, something might need to get set up earlier than expected, or someone else is needed in order to efficiently solve a prob- lem. This means that the students need to be able to look ahead so that they can complete all of their tasks even if issues come up. Because of Burns’ love for attention to Invisible Servants The Ops Team serves Cedarville behind the scenes Photo by Macey Wymer The Ops Team is responsible for setting up many of the major events on campus, including the decorations for Campus Christmas, which transforms the SSC into a winter wonderland.