Extracurricular activities used to be take it-or-leave it affairs, but now UI freshmen are expected to participate in at least one.

The UI Student Success Team has adopted a program — for the second year in a row — that requires all freshmen to pick one activity outside of class to participate in.

Hence the name, Pick One.

Sarah Hansen, the coordinator of the Student Success Team, said research showed UI students were not as engaged in out-of-classroom activities.

Data show being involved in “something meaningful” outside of the classroom will help students in many ways, she said.

Students should register their Pick One activity by Oct. 1. There are nine types of activities available, ranging from campus employment to community volunteering. The university will use the Pick One Exploration tool to get reports on students who are participating in an activity, and Pick One will follow up with the students to facilitate in their decision-making.

“This is a university expectation of all of our incoming students, and I have no doubt actually whether the class of 2013 members understand exactly why we want them to Pick One,” Hansen said.

But some freshmen believe that it shouldn’t be forced upon them.

“I don’t think that they should make them [register],” said Dagan Roberts, a freshman from Clinton. “It should definitely be encouraged.”

UI freshman Natalie Davis, who studies pre-nursing, disagreed.

“I think it’s cool, and it gets a lot of people involved,” she said. “I think it’s fair.”

The initiative gives students the chance to meet others on campus who they might not spend time with otherwise, she said.

Though the freshmen did not agree on the required registration, they are both involved in campus groups. Davis is a sorority sister, and Roberts is a member of Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow.

The school year began with another “mandatory” activity — the convocation, when resident assistants guided students to the Pentacrest event. Subsequently, freshmen made their way toward UI President Sally Mason’s house as part of the Welcome Week Block Party.

The Pick One campaign has not slowed since then. Buttons bearing its slogan have been distributed across campus and in the residence halls. Students are encouraged to pin their buttons on their backpacks.

That’s how the Pick One Prize Patrol will identify potential prize winners during the weeks of Sept. 14 and 21.