Importance of Student Involvement
For many students, extracurricular activities like campus clubs and organizations have been the highlight of their campus experience. Since the start of the pandemic, “cancelled” has been the common phrase. Campus events and meetups that students usually look forward to have likely been cancelled or postponed. Student engagement is crucial to all colleges and universities. Schools and organizations have been trying to find creative ways for students to stay active while staying safe. How students stay involved during covid has been an adjustment. But, many have adapted and are continuing to maintain that connection and dedication to students.
Virtual Student Involvement
Many college organizations and clubs had to go virtual or practice social distancing. This is because colleges still wanted to connect with their students and stay active. Students tend to feel “isolated and stressed in their homes, separated from friends and support groups”. For this reason, maintaining clubs and organizations is important and necessary. Below are some tips for remote student clubs and organizations that have “quickly transformed practice to meet new and unique student needs”.
Stay Connected
Below are some tips for transitioning to virtual and how students can stay involved during covid. The tips are provided by Campus Intelligence.
Check Ins
Check in with student leaders over video—Cameron Eaves, a student organizations advisor at Auburn University says this “allows her to more accurately assess if a student needs to be pushed to keep a routine and stay engaged, or if they just need some space”. She reminds us that students might not get this one-on-one attention within a classroom, where faculty may still be adjusting to the abrupt shift to online curriculum delivery.
Using Zoom
Hold office hours or drop-in meeting times—Abbey Rutschilling, a program coordinator at Capital University, shared that office hours with Zoom are a key divisional strategy for staff to engage with students as they would on campus. A student might join to say hello, and gradually an advisor can help them debrief and reflect on ways to grow and continue to connect in a virtual environment.
Online Newsletters
Communicate via an online newsletter—Brian Garsh, assistant director of student activities at Kennesaw State, uses their biweekly newsletter to communicate with student organization leaders and advisors as a way to keep RSOs informed of resources and services available to them. “We are trying to maintain as much normalcy as possible while recognizing that our definition of ‘normalcy’ has changed,” Garsh sa
Social Media
Use social media—Post or host events on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok or other platforms your students use. This is also a time when student leaders, nervous about the loss of potential word-of-mouth promotion of their events and organizations, can improve their social media skills and their club or organization’s online presence. Social media can also be used to ensure students are up to date on student organization policies, budget applications and activities as they transition virtually.
Gulf Coast State College
The clubs and organizations at Gulf Coast State College have been actively serving students during the pandemic. One organization in particular is The Student Government Association (SGA). This is a great example of how students stay involved during covid! If you are walking around campus, I’m sure you will see SGA doing something for the students out there! This organization has not allowed the pandemic to slow them down. Each week is filled with cool activities, tasty treats and opportunities for safe student virtual and in-person interaction. They are super active on social media and getting the message out to students and faculty. On SGA’s Facebook page, you can find campus news and upcoming events. Sophie Theiss, SGA Internal Affairs Liaison updates the community with the latest news and events of the week via video. Here is the most recent video with “Earth Week” events every single day!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jada Pierce
Student Author - Spring 2021
