At the Newtown campus, Bucks has a new face emerging in the world of Student Life. Chris Seifert is the newest coordinator of Student Engagement and the Centurion was about to get in touch to learn his story as well as the plans and ideas he brings to the table to expand upon the current Student Life at the college. He is a seasoned individual in his field and is very excited to get to work and bring a new level of quality to student life at the college.
When asking about Chris’ background he mentioned his past work experience as well as his career thus far. “For the last ten years, I have traveled around the country and overseas as a keynote speaker and leadership trainer working with students, faculty and staff (or as I love referring to them collectively: “staffulty”), administrators, and schools to help build leadership programs, improve school culture, and build stronger activity programs.” He has been working with students and schools for years now and is very articulated in student life, he says he is eager to focus down and stay driven in his new role at the college!
The seasons are starting to change around Bucks county and with the changing of temperatures and the blossoming of spring flowers, more students are eager to get out and rejoice in the warm weather after a rather harsh winter. Student Life is looking to capitalize on this fact and Chris highlighted various events coming up that students should look out for to be excited about! He highlighted several events such as the Freecycle event and movie in Zlock during the week of April 18th to help celebrate Earth Day, Bucks Spring Fling on April 26th, an Icecream Social sponsored by the Student government association on April 27th, and many more soon to be announced events slated for May! A large part of the events being planned is going to occur outside to relish in the approaching warm spring weather, check out the Student Life section of the Bucks website https://bucks.edu/studentlife/ for more!
The Student Life team already has a vast amount of resources at their disposal and Chris looks to use every means necessary to advertise and get the word out on each and every event occurring at the college. Many may already know but Bucks has an application already in use that assists students with getting connected to everything that’s happening around the college and our local community both virtually and in person, this application is called Bucks+. When asking Chris about how he plans to use Bucks+ he highlighted the added strength the app grants the Student Life team with planning events and getting the word out. “My goal is for us to have such frequent events and activities that students will automatically check Bucks+ every day so they know what is going on, from big events, like Spring Fling or the Ice Cream Social and petting zoo, to smaller ones, like our weekly fire pits and Bingo during break periods.” Students only benefit from the Bucks+ app and from the sounds of it things sure are to get busier on the app, you can download it from the QR code shown on the Bucks website at https://www.bucks.edu/bucksplus/
For various reasons, the college is currently suffering from an extremely low enrollment rate. The biggest cause for this is obviously the COVID-19 pandemic causing students and faculty to stay distant from social settings. And while COVID restrictions begin to loosen it still remains the case that student activity and enrollment, in general, are lower than usual this semester. Chris and the Student Life group face many challenges with organizing student activities and events because of this but are defiant and hopeful that they can reinvigorate student life through their own means and even bring more events and activities online to the students not able or comfortable yet with attending in-person occasions. “If we continue to have a large contingent of virtual students, then we will absolutely provide virtual opportunities for programs to make them accessible and enjoyable for our students…I really am so excited about the events and activities we have planned for the Fall, and I am optimistic students will be excited to come to experience them in-person”
To wrap up Chris wanted to mention how excited he is for this opportunity and that he is eager to get directly involved with students and how excited he is to meet everyone! “I really am so excited about the events and activities we have planned for the Fall, and I am optimistic students will be excited to come experience them in person.” He mentions how both student and he have the shared goal of making the Bucks college experience just that much more enjoyable all around, the college is excited to have Chris on board and to see the great things he will accomplish!