A commonly known fact among Cobbers is how easy it is for one to end up over-involved on campus. With many groups, music opportunities, athletic options, and events happening, it is more likely to be absorbed into the time-sucking whirlwind of activities than to be left with nothing to do (not counting weekend mornings). The strong sense of community and involvement at Concordia is easily a selling point for most students, but why do not have a better system of organizing such valued events? Students never talk about the struggle to keep all the events straight and the lack of a source where the information is united yet it permeates our daily lives.
As of now, advertisement on campus consists of daily email messages sent by Concordia and the traditional method of plastering posters around campus. All of the large and small-scale campus events are advertised in these locations. And while they are marketed well, it is hard to keep up with the numerous posters and events all around campus on top of the ease of walking by posters countless times without engaging with them.
Breaking this loop of miscommunication and eliminating one less issue from Cobbers’ minds was an obvious goal of the recently launched ConcoLife app. The app has a large-scale calendar and media option that seems like the Hail Mary to this issue. Yet, many students are unaware of this resource and even more students have glitches with the app or are unable to even open it. This is a recurring issue and many students are left without a resource to read up on the events and opportunities they want to explore in their time here. On a small scale, this issue would be a petty fight to pick, but for how small Concordia is, mass communication should be simple compared to other universities.
One example is the bulletin boards just past Anderson Commons where students glance at events as they rush to their classes in Grose or Bishop Whipple. TV monitors that are constantly looping ads for upcoming speakers or a group on campus can be found in the Centrum, the Library, and the Business Center. These all go a long way accompanied by the tried and true method of postering, yet there is a lack of synthesizing the constant engagement opportunities for Cobbers. As nice as the email daily reminders and notifications on chicken nugget day can be, the events they offhandedly mention usually lack critical information and are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to events happening that day. Upon getting frustrated with the lack of a concise schedule or representation of information students may try to revert back to the Concordia website, only to find even more holes and vague descriptions of events. This extensive breach in our campus communication leaves students frustratedly digging and desperately reaching to professors for answers that should be at their fingertips.
Although these facts sound minuscule, the holes of communication in Concordia’s constant stream of activities have large effects that force students to miss out on priceless opportunities that they came here for. Organizations like Campus Events Commission (CEC) or Campus Ministry thus have an inaccurate representation of students that are interested.
It is hard for Cobbers to BREW when they are constantly missing the opportunity to hone these talents. The ConcoLife app is a huge leap in the right direction but the inability to realistically rely on the resource at this stage in its creation leaves students in a void. As Cobbers address issues on campus and seek to balance overinvolvement with challenging academics, it is time we have a functioning resource that allows a piece of mind when it comes to dates outside the classroom.
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