Neumann University currently has 20 active and registered clubs on campus, ranging anywhere from academic, athletic, arts, and culture & diversity based. All these clubs provide more opportunities for students to get involved on campus.
However, clubs have expressed that no one attends events and students express frustration of having nothing to do on campus.
Director of Student Engagement & Orientation, Ann Mitchell, has highlighted the successful clubs on campus, why they have had success with attendance, and what support the OSEO is offering to clubs.
Putting our Knights Programming Board (KPB) in the spotlight, Mitchell shows they have proven to be one of the most involved and most attended clubs on campus.
“We have seen exponential growth in attendance to programs that the Knights Programming Board has hosted in the fall semester. All other clubs have standard attendance for their individual programs,” said Mitchell.
“KPB is a standing committee of the Student Government Association. It was established to create, organize, and implement events to help Knights connect through social, cultural, and recreational activities.” Mitchell said.
Showcasing some of the current achievements of KPB, Mitchell continued, “They have successfully collaborated with the Black Student Union. KPB has hosted large scale programs such as manhunt, the homecoming glow party, the boo bash with BSU, and the Bates Motel Trip.”
Mitchell, the OSEO staff, and SGA members try their best to be of assistance to clubs who are struggling with attendance issues.
They have recently implemented a new swipe system for all clubs to use. This swipe system is similar to swiping into the dining hall or a residence hall.
“The swipe system is used to capture tangible data. By having the students swipe their ID, we know how many students have attended a program. We could also take it a step further and ask for assistance on identifying statistics as residential versus commuter students as well as year classification. That helps us see things like first year residential students may be the ones attending the Friday night programs. Additionally, I place data into a monthly dashboard that Student Affairs uses for end of the year summaries that in turn will be used in retention efforts reports.”
Mitchell and the OSEO are striving to help clubs gain attendance and support while also welcoming new clubs to Neumann.
“I have been so excited to see new faces come into the OSEO office with new ideas for clubs! For example, the Student Accounting Society is a brand-new club and is already hosting their first big event on 11/21. They are presenting the Style meets Success fashion show!” said Mitchell.
