Mission & History of EXCEL

Mission The mission of EXCEL Campus Activities is to promote campus and community involvement through collaborating to develop and expand cultural, educational, social, and traditional programs for the enrichment of student life. History The organzation fondly known to us as EXCEL Campus Activities, has been around in some form or fashion for longer than most current students have been walking on this planet. The former name of EXCEL was the Student Activities Board, known for decades as SAB. SAB was divided into councils, not too different from the current  committee structure. However, each council was given its own budget to program activities in its respective area. The councils worked independently from one another; there was no General Body meeting. Thus, there were fewer people and fewer opinions to decide on how each bit of programming money was to be spent. The members of each particular council were aware of all of the activities sponsored by SAB, but there was little ownership or assistance with one anothers' programs. The structure of SAB was changed and the organization re-named to "EX-CEL" in the fall of 1992. A “star” was born! Back in those days, there were fewer student programming organizations on campus, and the organization had a very broad scope.  Originally, EX-CEL was an acronym: EXcellence in Campus & Community Service, Entertainment & Arts, and Leadership Development. These were the re-structured organization's original programming committees. In the spring of 2003, Campus & Community Service became the Campus Traditions committe after the creation of the UTA Volunteers. The following year, the Leadership Development committee became the Lectures & Debates committee after the creation of the UTA Leadership Academy. At this time "EX.C.E.L." (as it had come to be spelled) also included a membership committee, a marketing committee and a secretary position. In the spring of 2007, EXCEL went through more changes. The Lectures & Debates committee was reformed into the Special Events (now University Events) committee allowing the group to broaden its programming and work closely with other UTA organizations and departments. The former secretary and membership director positions were combined into a new vice president position. Because the name ‘EXCEL’ had become so recognizable throughout the campus the organization kept the name and simply dropped the periods. Although it's gone through many transitions throught an illustrious history, EXCEL's purpose remains the same: bringing students together to provide quality programs for the campus and surrounding community. Each committe is responsible for planning its own set of events; however, the General Body meetings are designed to provide a diversity of opinions about each program that utilizes student fee monies. It is every member's responsibility to understand the purpose of each program and talk to student-peers to see if there is an interest or need for the program. Each committee's job is to research proposed programs and coordinate the events. We encourage all members to actively participate in all events sponsored by EXCEL Campus Activities.