Last week, Carolina Productions announced the names of their new Executive Board for the upcoming semester, including the induction of a new president. Rachel Scola, a broadcast journalism student, was selected by the previous CP board to lead the charge this semester.
"I was setting myself up to not get it," Scola said. "I was bracing myself for either outcome. And when I heard that I was offered the position, a wave a joy went over me. I was ecstatic and very excited to start to think about the future and the growth of CP."
Scola was off campus at the time she heard the news. "I was home alone when I got the news and I couldn’t stop smiling," she said.
Adam Mayer, former CP president, spoke highly of each new member of the board.
"We had 14 highly qualified student leaders that applied," he said. "I couldn’t be happier for all 10 on the board and the direction CP is moving."
"I could not be more excited about this board and more ready to continue CP’s legacy and watch the rest of the exec board grow in the next year," Scola said.
As for the rest of the board, members' duties range widely. Luke Ferguson will serve as Vice President of Internal Affairs. Corey Johnson will be Vice President of Programming and Diversity. Vice President of Media Relations is Taylor Hooper, Stephen Simmons is Cinematic Arts Coordinator, Jeni Adamo is Concerts Coordinator, Dillon Clemmer is Comedic Events Coordinator, Special Events coordinator is Tori Creekmore, Marketing Coordinator is Sarah Pfeiffer and Daytime Events Coordinator is Michael Brooks.
Scola and the rest of the executive board will be responsible for a host of collegewide programs over the coming year.
"I think Rachel has a lot of leadership under her, and I think she’ll really be able to motivate CP to continue to move forward in the future," Mayer said.
According to Scola, her goal for this year is to "increase membership and retain membership" at CP. She also hoped to propel the organization's longevity by creating "at least one event that becomes a yearly tradition for Carolina in general whether it be a concert [or] a comedian." This will be no small task, considering the volume of programming CP develops every year.
During the 2013 fiscal year, CP spent $441,400 on programming, $39,339 on operations and $31,000 on marketing, for a total of $511,739.
The average CP event attendance sat at 305 people. For movies (with four showings per movie per week), the attendance rate was 331 people. The average cost per head at events was $25.26, and $2.59 at movies.
The campus activity fee in 2013 was an $83 lump sum for full-time students, and a prorate for part-time students, costing $7 per credit hour taken.
"I want to solidify CP’s presence on campus and have us be a strong structure that everyone is aware of and obviously continue the tradition of bringing events to everyone in the community," Scola said. "CP is an organization of the community for the community, and we always want to hear everyone’s opinions about it."