The long line of tables along the pedestrian spine during Wednesday’s annual club fair illustrated a problem that the Office of Student Life and Leadership is glad to have.
With 200 registered student clubs, the process of keeping track of members, merging calendars, planning events, collecting dues and complying with university policies is a logistical challenge of almost mind-boggling proportion, according to Brad Bayer, executive director, Student Life and Leadership.
For help, the department recently purchased a new software program, Org Sync, that puts many processes online and is connected to social media. The software is in place at more than 300 college campuses across the nation. Since July, a team of Student Life and Leadership staff members have learned to use the new software, adopting the name Mountain Lion Connect. With the start of the academic year, staff members are now working with clubs and organizations to help them learn to use the new software.
“It’s important that we meet the students where they are,” Bayer said. “That’s online.”
Mountain Lion connect will help student clubs maintain up-to-date membership lists, publish websites about their club, plan events, track who attended meetings, and who completed requirements such as service hours or trainings. As an online resource, Mountain Lion Connect will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Let’s just take planning an event as an example,” Bayer said recently. “Instead of running all over campus or sending a dozen emails, the student club will have the ability to complete the required event paperwork and permissions from one computer screen. This will save a lot of time and emailing back and forth across campus.”
While making processes easier was a goal for implementing software, Bayer and his team have bigger student-centered aspirations and motives.
Getting students involved in campus activities positively affects student retention and satisfaction with the campus experience, Bayer said. Making it easier to get involved, and to be aware of campus events, should improve student involvement. He also believes the new system will provide data that will guide his department to create better student programs.
Students who attend university events will swipe their IDs upon entry. That process will provide accurate attendance data as well as information about major, year in school, and age. Mountain Lion Connect also provides a survey feature with the ability to send questionnaires to students asking them if they liked the event or to provide suggestions for improvement. There’s also a polling option.
“We hope to use the data that we collect from students to inform programming choices,” Bayer said. “This is all interconnected.”
When asked to dream big about the capabilities of the software, Bayer doesn’t hesitate. Someday, he hopes to provide students with a co-curricular transcript upon graduation.
“Imagine, being able to present an official document at a job interview that says ‘these are all the things I did outside of the classroom that compliment my academic preparation.’” Bayer said. “That will be a powerful tool to show involvement and service to the greater community. Potential employers are going to be impressed.”
For more information about Mountain Lion Connect, email [email protected] or call 255-3470.
— Photo by Jeff Foster
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