The Student Activities Center (SAC) introduced a new online club network that will provide a central space for student organizations to publicize events. The network will give students access to information about the time, date and location of club activities. According to SAC manager and biology major Hyewon No (senior), the network currently runs on Google Calendar and on the SAC Facebook page, “Oxy411.”
“The club network is simply supposed to be a more transparent form of communication between student organizations,” No said via e-mail.
SAC Secretary and Diplomacy and World Affairs (DWA) and Spanish Studies double major Dana Rust (sophomore), who conceived of the idea, will work until the end of the semester and over the summer to determine what information needs to be included in the network. She created a Google Document for clubs to fill out about upcoming activities and hopes to incorporate the email address of a club representative, who will act as a point person for that club’s event.
No sent an email to club leaders on behalf of the SAC requesting voluntary participation of clubs.
Rust would also like to see participation in the network become a requirement next year for all registered clubs. She is working with Associated Students of Occidental College (ASOC) Vice President for Finance and economics major Sid Saravat (junior) to make this a reality. Saravat and Rust hope the network will not only reduce over-programming, but also encourage collaboration and joint sponsorship of events, which will bring clubs together.
Rust, who is president of the Active Minds club, recognizes the amount of over-programming on campus.
“There are so many clubs doing similar things — or things that you support — while you are doing your events, and that really limits people’s abilities to support different clubs,” Rust said.
Currently, the only place to see scheduled club activities is the online Master Calendar, which is for booking rooms, not networking, according to Saravat. According to No, the SAC network is not a replacement for Master Calendar. Clubs will still be required to reserve rooms for on-campus events through the Office of Student Life (OSL).
Rust hopes that the network will provide an accessible place for students who are affiliated with clubs to explore their interests. For Rust, it is a much-needed resource but requires a universal commitment from student organizations.
“It doesn’t work unless everyone participates in it and if it’s something that people know about,” Rust said.
