University vs. College Clubs - Should there be a difference?

When I look at the background of our alumni members a lot of them came to our college after completing a degree at a university.  So why is there a perceptible difference in the way our Toastmasters club is viewed within the college and the way the best Toastmaster clubs are run on University campuses. 

When I look at a university club like Ryerson Toastmasters

http://ryersontoastmasters.ca/home/the-team

Their talent pool looks absolutely strong and their club has built a really good leadership model including means of financing/sponsoring the club as a student club and not just as a Toastmasters club.  This is what makes campus clubs different from community club, that one expects the talent pool to be more innovative for the simple reason that minds involved in education are usually fresher and sharper than those dulled and bogged down by corporate work existence and the energy sapping politics of the modern workplace. 

Colleges can have their energy sapping politics also but where there is strong leadership, it often overcomes the mediocrity necessary to perpetuate politics.  One thing is true is that where the relationship is heavily political, whether it be an academic or business venture, the rot that creates the stench of political animals is rooted in mediocrity.  There is nothing worse than working with an institution that lacks leadership kahunas and operates with the inferiority complex of best practices and other follower type practices.

I am interested in leader type practices where leadership is front and center.  With the Ryerson example, it is a well thought out model, which has been hard-wired into that club culture and this particular campus club is not shy of entrepreneurial practice.  It is the kind of practice which does not fall under the Toastmasters mandate, but it certainly does fall under the practices of a Student Club mandate.  Since we have not created that student club mandate in our own club, we lack financial muscle and worse an effective presence in the life of the college.  In many ways other clubs get attention for the college, but for insignificant reasons in the hope of competing against other institutions and own potential bragging rights.

This is 20th Century competitive mindset in a 21st Century learning environment where the new neologism is CO-OPETITION - a portmanteau of Competition and Cooperation

http://blog.toastspot.com/ yet that same team which performed so well a couple of years ago are now no longer operating at this high standard level.  This is a function of more visionary leaders passing through the Hubspot Toastmaster club and leaving their imprint in that particular time.  That in retrospective is one of the problems with "leadership", how one leaves behind a legacy and a sustainable practice after new teams take over in subsequent years.

For now we can only compare with what is happening in the moment and here there is a visceral difference between how a toastmaster club is operating in a university environment and how a comparative one is operating in a college environment.  The university environment based club has been getting a lot of good vibes and support from its institution and students union, whereas in other colleges, a club can just viewed as one of numerous extra curricular activities for students.  This is when mediocrity breeds mediocrity and what are deemed "best efforts" are more a testimony to an inferiority complex as a college tries to compete against universities.

That this difference means that a comparative club in a University is celebrated, that same type of creativity at a college level falls under the radar and so in cases like this, it can be a frustrating experience and one that ultimately drains even the best leader in the club of their energy.  It is important to establish a clubs unique identity and then have the institution weigh in on positive feedback from the wider arc of society. 

At my campus club, the underlying value that has the potential to save our club from the perils of mediocrity is the idea of the "Creative Campus".  This idea has had some remarkable successes, so it is one idea that had delivered.  That will be the subject of another buzz.  For now it is interesting to ponder how a club can rise above the self-limiting mindset of colleges that are comparing themselves with universities and thus look far less in the process, compared to colleges that are defining their own way and identity and transforming and disrupting the market leaders as a result.

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