Students are now encouraged to become involved with Bucks’ Clubs and Organizations through the College’s new platform Bucks+ this fall semester and moving forward. Meetings will be held via Zoom and any social media already established by each club will be utilized due to the unprecedented times colleges face in this pandemic.
Most student clubs have suspended all activity due to COVID-19 and regulated to remote learning. Staff and advisors have been working from the beginning of the summer to keep the community together by introducing the new app. It is generated by Suitable, and many schools, such as Temple University, have taken on their own form of the app.
The Bucks+ app is what the college hopes to use to keep the clubs going and students connected during the pandemic. The primary goal the college wants to achieve is that the app will be utilized after COVID-19 passes, so that students who choose to learn remotely can still be involved in the future.
Student life and athletics department director, Matthew Cipriano, stated in a recent Welcome Luncheon via Zoom that there is no rule for student platforms and what they may use. While the college encourages the use of the app, they understand most clubs already have their own platform for connection and recruiting.
Matthew West, the Minister for Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO), said that his club is learning to utilize the Bucks+ app while already using their established social media sites, such as Instagram and Facebook. Clubs like CCO and Habitat for Humanity are in the process of setting up virtual meetings via Zoom with the hope that Bucks+ can be an asset.
“Student organizations are going to play an important role this year. Clubs are one of the biggest activities holding the community together and are behind the scenes for a lot of campus events,” said Cipriano.
“For the college shared at the Luncheon that each club will have a specific Zoom account made available for them as requested,” said Technology Director of Classroom and Emerging Technology, Damon Hunnicutt. “The college will be moving away from BlueJeans, the originally preferred platform, although it is still available. The College hopes to be able to communicate meeting times for clubs through the Bucks+ app so that it is easily accessible for students and not entirely public.”
Bucks is still learning and adapting to a world with COVID-19, like so many other schools. The college’s staff is excited to share Bucks+ with students so much that teachers are offering extra credit to download the app and take advantage of it. Also, students can start their own club by having an advisor sponsor them.
They encourage students to meet one another, and the best way to do that is by joining a student club.