After you settle on "your niche" through the Assessment Step, you can think about the best way to get involved.
There are many opportunities on campus for involvement whether you are in your first semester or final semester. How you choose to get involved is a personal decision and what is good for your best friend on campus may not be for you, so it is important that you do some exploration before you decide.
Clubs and Organizations offer a variety of options. There are academic and department-based groups, Fraternities and Sororities, advocacy groups, honorary societies, groups of a representative or legislative nature and those that do programming.
To find out more about all of the current clubs and organizations, visit the Student Activities Clubs & Organizations site.
Some organizations are very broadly focused and have a large target audience. The Commuter Student Association (CSA) is the organization that represents all commuter students. This group works to promote community amongst the commuter students as well as represents the view points of the commuter students. If you are a commuter CSA may be a good group for you to be a part of.
The Residence Hall Association (RHA) is the representative body for the residence halls. It voices the view point of residential students and work to program and make policies within the residence halls.
The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) is also a great organization to start with because it represents the entire student body. USG is the governing body of all of the clubs and organizations at Stony Brook University. USG not only programs though the USG Student Activities Board (SAB) but, they also work to allocate your student activity fee, make policies in regards to activities on campus as well as oversee the Stony Brook USG Constitution. There are many ways to get involved in USG such as a class representative, SAB, a senator or, an executive board member. Also, USG oversees the students who work in the Ticket Office, the USG Event Staff, as well as USG Audio Visual area.
Finally, there are many ways to get involved on campus through job opportunities and internships on campus. Both of these options offer a way to get involved with staff or faculty on campus as well as meet new students who have similar interests. Remember, "Getting Involved" could indicate different things for people so really examine your options!