Why aren’t students getting involved on campus?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Lya Zhang

Staff Writer

More than 50 clubs, 13 sports teams and a diverse selection of events that run on campus offer many opportunities to take advantage of. However, many of these options are ignored.

One example of the lack of participation on campus was at the “Let’s Talk Mental Health” event on Monday, Feb. 18 in the Wellness Center. Larry Ellis, Associate Director for Counseling and Transfer, organized the event to make students aware of the importance of mental health. However, only one student attended the event.

Another event, held on Monday, Feb. 25, was the “Domestic Violence Prevention, Title IX” in the Student Leadership Conference Center. It was presented by Dr. Sandra J. McCarthy, the school’s Deputy Title IX Coordinator. Four students attended, all student senators.

Hudson Valley Community College attempts to inform students about events on campus, clubs and sport teams through emails, signs, bulletin boards and fliers. Yet, many students either aren’t aware of the information or simply don’t have interest.

Bonnie Garb, digital media major, wasn’t informed about the Halloween pumpkin carving contest last fall but wished to participate. “I didn’t do it because I did not know it was going on until the last day,” she said.

Computer science student, Jack Gartner, referenced the flawed “Hudson Valley Community College Weekly Student Announcements” that are mass emailed to all students. “The weekly email shows ‘oh this is happening today,’ but it happened last week,” he said.

Willy Aybar, entrepreneurship major, agreed that communication from the school regarding events and clubs were insufficient.

“I want to go to events, but sometimes I don’t know about it until after it happened,” Aybar said.  “If there is free food I will go to activities, but if I don’t know about it, I will hear about it afterwards.”

Aybar believed that the events on campus are interesting, but that student awareness of such events are severely lacking.

“Maybe not everybody will find them interesting, but a lot of people would if they knew about it on time,” he added.

“When an event is going on in the Campus Center, people know about it because they just walk in and realize it, but if it is in BTC auditorium or stadium, people are not going to know about it unless you promote it,” said Ali Cheema, engineering science major and student senate Vice President.

An example of support for Cheema’s claim is individual studies student, Taylor Engster.

“I don’t really know that there are events unless I see them in the campus center when I go to the Center of Academic Engagement, or Mr. Ellis tells me about it,” she said.

Despite the disconnect between how the campus spreads information and how students receive it, there are other factors at play, causing low student participation on campus.

For Engster and Aybar, they have competing priorities such as class and sports commitments.

Patrick Whitney, in the emergency medical technician/paramedic program, has an internship that takes his time away from campus.

Biological sciences major, Abuhamza Hossain, doesn’t find many events which are in his interests, and some conflict with his class schedule. “I [only] attend events related to my clubs or classes,” he said.

Some students, such as Gartner and Garb, leave campus after a long day.

“[I am] usually exhausted after class so I just want to go home,” Gartner said.

“I am pretty much here just to learn,” Garb stated.

Clubs and sports are another hit or miss on campus.

“I am not interested in the clubs,” Kate Demos, majoring in the emergency medical technician/paramedic program said. “I work after school, and I live in Clifton Park, so it’s like a 30-minute ride,” she said.” If it’s at night, I have to do extra driving. It means more gas and more money.”

Hossain brought back the idea of poor promotion and competing priorities. “I think [students] don’t join because of not knowing that there are clubs that match their interests, or the class timing conflicts with club timings,” he said.

Since Hudson Valley Community College is a commuter school, keeping students on campus after class is difficult, according to Demos.

“Students have better things to do,” Engster commented.

For students such as criminal justice major, William Mather, it’s all about time.

Mather, who coaches in high school and runs the wrestling club, doesn’t have time to attend events or other clubs on campus.

According to students, different measures can be taken to increase student involvement.

“[The school] should reach back out to students who filled out the interest form [at orientation] and connect them to these clubs,” Hossain said. “Also, share that this [involvement] can go on their resume or give them transferable skills.”

To promote the student senate, the organization does giveaways. More recently, they’ve been testing new methods to draw attention.

“This year we changed our approach; the student senate finally has a Snapchat and an Instagram account,” Cheema said. “This really helps us reach out to people,” he said. “We recently designed fliers so people can follow us and stay updated with the different events going on on campus.”

According to Engster, Garb, Demos and Gartner, the best way to inform students of upcoming activities is by email. Whitney preferred signs. Hossain liked the idea of receiving text messages from the college about upcoming events and club meetings. He also believed that electronic banner boards on buildings, or a hub spot for all information, could create more student interest.

Aybar had a different suggestion.

“It’s sad but true [that] nobody looks at flyers and boards,” he said. “A good option is word-of-mouth because people are always talking to their friends, so one person talks to another and it keeps going.”

Cheema agreed with Aybar that fliers are not the way to grab students’ attention. “People don’t really read the fliers because there are lots of fliers on the boards, and they don’t really have the time to read them,” he said.

Many students felt that social media was the answer to informing students about events before they happen.

According to Cheema, promoting through social media such as Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook is a good alternative to current tactics.

“The best options to get information is to follow [Hudson Valley Community College] and the student senate on Instagram and Snapchat, put them on electronic screens or stop by the student activities office,” he said. “There are always fliers outside and [students can] grab one to see what is going on.”

One recurring problem that students voice is the type of events that are run on campus. Some aren’t interested in what’s offered.

“I would be interested in events about designs or competition,” Garb said.

“I would go to events that has something to do my major, or help me in class,” Demos commented.

Most activity from students comes in the form of joining clubs that spark their interest. However, as the year goes on, students tend to forgo extracurriculars.

In order for clubs to stay active, they have to work harder to keep retention every week.

The Investment Club maintains its activity with 43 members. “The key is everyone is welcome, and everyone is given something to do so we have good leadership and good membership,” said Joseph Stenard, adviser of the Investment Club.

The members of the club use every means available to gain new members and retain current ones.

“We have very active marketing officers for the club, and have creative ideas,” Stenard said. “The student senate promote the club, but we also do word to mouth, host an investment challenge for everyone on campus, we sponsor guest speakers, we take a trip to the New York stock exchange, we take a field trip to Siena or to the trading floor in downtown Albany and we invest real dollars as partner with [Hudson Valley Community College].”

The Animal Outreach Club has been active for over 10 years with the help of adviser and librarian, Valerie Waldin.

The Animal Outreach Club experienced a decrease in students during the year.

“At the beginning of the year, we had a welcome day in which 40 students signed up, but as the year goes on, it goes down to about 10 students,” she said. “Some students just want to check out or have obligations with school”.

Waldin understood that a lower turnout is to be expected at the end of the year, and in general for a community college.

“I think because we are a commuter school, students have so many obligations with school, work, and family that anything extra is low on the list,” she explained. “It is just time and priorities,” she said. “Our club president makes the time and is really passionate about [the club, while] some students are mildly interested.”

Waldin believed that if the campus wanted to increase student involvement, big changes need to be made.

“If [clubs] were tied with academic credit, I think it will be a boost,” she said. “Students could volunteer on sites instead of doing research papers and get academic credit if their instructors agree with the help of the service-learning center.”