Andrews Engage is a relatively new service that connects students with events, activities, and organizations around campus. Through carefully crafted summaries, each club is able to show what they represent right on the AU Engage page. The page allows students to sign up for clubs and acquire information about upcoming events they can attend. Although many helpful tools can be found on this website, is there anything that makes it frustrating or challenging? What works best?
One of the first things you notice when you browse the home page of Andrews Engage is all the upcoming events within the following week. The layout is clean, not cluttered or overwhelming. Once you are a member of a particular club, you can see club-specific events on the home page. There is also an option to browse various organizations to find ones you might be interested in joining! Once registered in a club, you can quickly locate the events the club is organizing. The events present themselves right on the page and make registering for certain events quick and easy.
When I asked Hailey Prestes (junior, architecture), this year’s AUSA Social VP, what she thought of AU Engage, she said, “I think it’s a nice thing to have so that all clubs can be easily accessible and events can be seen all in the same place.” Accessibility to information is key to any organization. Having club, and club officers, information available helps each club feel like they would like to connect with their potential and current members. Even the summary of the club is enough to draw in potential members. The page also specifies how much the club fees are, which has often been a confusing ordeal at the Club Fair.
There are many positives to AU Engage and the community environment it creates. However, it was essential to uncover the inner workings of AU Engage. I caught up with the Andrews University Latino Association (AULA) president, Brandon Alvarez (junior, biochemistry and business administration), to ask for his opinion on AU Engage. He had a few frustrations, saying, “I initially thought AU Engage was going to be more of an expedited process in terms of getting event locations approved, but there are still so many people and departments you need to talk to actually host events.” He continued, “I think AU Engage is aesthetically pleasing, but as an ‘old man’ with computers, I think it is difficult to navigate and manage. The idea is there, but it still needs improvements!” These sentiments were echoed as I attempted to determine whether the student body found this site helpful. Some students I had initially asked were unaware that this site existed or had only used it once. Getting the word out about this application is one way AU Engage could reach its full potential. Danny Frederick (sophomore, computer science) said, “AU Engage has a lot of overwhelming and confusing information on their page, and sometimes the emails that are sent out are unclear, so it is hard to see what’s what.”
Overall, AU Engage is a smart way to bring all the vital details together for club and campus-wide events. Making the improvements suggested by the student body would greatly benefit the site and the student body’s comfort in using this page for daily information. Check out AU Engage for all the latest updates on all of your favorite events across campus!
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.