You may not have heard of the Fox College Council, but it plays a critical role in the Fox Student Professional Organization (SPO) ecosystem.  

Fox College Council acts as a liaison between the Fox School Dean’s Office and SPOs. The council ensures that SPOs are correctly following community service requirements, aids them in securing funding and properly budgeting, and helps them grow in membership.  

We spoke to the four 2024-2025 College Council officers and discussed their inspirations for joining, their goals for the year, and the skills they have acquired as members of the council.  

But first, let's introduce the council: 

Caris Daneker, President 

• Hometown: Lancaster, PA 

• Year: Graduating spring 2025 

• Majors: Finance and entrepreneurship and innovation management  

• Minor: Management information systems  

• Favorite Temple course: Financial modeling with Bora Ozkan 

Dayo Onanuga, Director of Financial Reporting  

• Hometown: Minneapolis, MN 

• Year: Graduating spring 2026 

• Major: Management Information Systems  

• Double Minor: Health policy and healthcare management 

• Favorite Temple course: Intellectual Heritage I with Douglas Greenfield 

Sarah Maher, Director of Operations 

• Hometown: Moorestown, NJ 

• Year: Graduating Spring 2026 

• Majors: Marketing and management information systems 

• Favorite Temple course: Integrated marketing communications with Jennifer Sunstrom-Fitzgerald 

Scarlett Burns, Director of Community Engagement 

• Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA  

• Year: Graduating spring 2025 

• Majors: Human resources management and risk management 

• Favorite Temple courses: Intro to HRM with John McLendon and Intro to risk management with Michael McCloskey 

• Fun fact: Scarlett and Caris met in a statistics class on the first day of their freshman year!

What is the College Council’s overarching goal for 2024-2025?  

“This year, the council will finish and implement a handbook for all SPOs to follow,” says council president Caris Daneker. This handbook will be a central source for community service guidelines, leadership requirements and financial information for the SPOs. Each organization president will be required to read, understand and agree to the bylaws written in the handbook. The council hopes this handbook will clear up any confusions that SPOs have regarding requirements thus reducing the back-and-forth between SPOs and the council. 

Additionally, Daneker wants to help smaller SPOs increase enrollment this year. She believes that, with the help of the handbook, small SPOs can increase their numbers through proper marketing, strong outreach and engaging events. Daneker wants the council to do what they can to help these organizations succeed and reach their enrollment goals.  

What career skills have you learned from being in College Council?  

Director of community engagement Scarlett Burns says her time on the council has helped her improve her general business and office skills.  

“Things like staying up to date with email, writing emails, organizing people... skills you don’t think about learning to do until you have to do them,” she says. “I’m really glad to have had this opportunity and to learn these skills while in college.”  

Through her time in the position, Director of financial reporting Dayo Onanuga has learned to be flexible, create financial reports and to push for change and equity within the SPOs.  

How can students get involved with College Council? 

Burns says that students who want to apply for College Council in the future should reach out. 

“Most of us are graduating, so there’s going to be spots open, and we would much rather these positions be held by students who genuinely care,” she says.  

Students become eligible to apply for a position if they meet a GPA threshold. Additionally, the director of financial reporting role is specific to finance or accounting majors. After applying, students go through two rounds of interviews, one with the current members of the council and a second interview with the president of the council. The first interview is a technical interview where students must demonstrate they can handle the job, and the second is a more general interview.  

To learn more about College Council and get information about a variety of requests, start here.