Over the course of the semester, SA has chartered several new clubs. Among them are the TU EMS club, Society of Global Professionals and TU: Magic the Gathering.
The TU EMS club gives students first-hand medical experience. Srivats Srinivasan, the founder and president, said the long-term vision of the club is to run a 24/7 medical on-call unit that would work with Campus Security. Campus Security, in a medical emergency, could then send students over or take care of the situation.
This year, the club had CPR/first aid training for their officers and is planning how to operate on campus. In the future, the club plans to host CPR/first aid training twice a semester, potentially with subsidized cost, as well as medical seminars twice a semester, detailing topics like how to deal with alcohol poisoning.
Several other universities have student EMTs, and Srinivasan contacted them for some advice. To maintain a 24/7 service at a university this size, the team will need about 45 to 50 people. As as the club grows, he expects it to evolve from foot or bicycle transportation to potentially having an ambulance. Because of the size of the campus, medical emergencies aren’t as common, but Srinivasan also believes the club could be on call at SA-sponsored events or as a trainer on standby for intramural games. Interested students should watch for more information on the club as it finalizes its plans.
The Society of Global Professionals hopes to help international students find jobs after graduation. The club plans to have info sessions with career services, talks by TU alumni with jobs that take them abroad, visiting representatives from industries not always seen at TU and job application roundtables. In roundtables, students will search and apply for jobs together. Renan Kuntz, the president, was motivated to start the club because finding a job can be difficult after graduation, and collectively, students may be able to achieve more than separately.
The club also hopes to dispel the misunderstanding by companies that international students need a sponsorship to continue to work in the U.S.
Optional Practical Training and their student visa allow students to stay another year, and STEM majors can stay another two years. After this time period, if the company has an international location, the students could relocate there.
“If we show employers that TU is the place to hire such unique professionals, we will see our alumni doing great things and occupying important roles outside the U.S.,” Kuntz said. He hopes this club will assist TU in creating globally ready professionals.
“With an international student population of twenty-five percent of our campus, affordable and available study-abroad programs and internationally-renowned research programs, TU students have the best environment for developing skills for the global market,” he said.
For their first event, they hosted an immigration specialist from the International Student Services office to tell students about applying for the Optional Practical Training. The next event will be a resume/cover letter/LinkedIn training. Any students interested in global careers can join the club by reaching out to their email, sgputulsa@gmail.com.
For students who love or are interested in the deck-building game Magic: The Gathering, TU has a new club solely dedicated to it. The club will have weekly meeting dates as well as monthly or bimonthly tournaments. They’ll also have “limited format events where we play with booster packs and build decks from what we open,” according to founder Justin Sohl.
The events will be for those who have never picked up cards in addition to experts. Sohl was motivated to start the club because he realized “the absence of but need for a Magic community on campus.” The first event will be at the Heartland Gaming Expo on April 7, where they’ll have a booth to teach people how to play Magic. If you don’t have a deck, Sohl assures you’ll still be able to play, as many members have multiple decks and will share. Those interested should email Sohl at justin-sohl@utulsa.edu to be added to the GroupMe.
