New club aims to help get students involved on campus
Campus Vibez uOttawa president Justin Patrick hopes to improve the clubs experience in campus. Photo: Kim Wiens
Getting involved on campus can be intimidating. With the multitude of clubs available for students to explore at the University of Ottawa, sometimes it can be hard for students to find their niche. Luckily, Campus Vibez uOttawa is here to help.
The club’s mission is to introduce “a sense of what extra-curricular life is truly like at uOttawa.” said the club’s president, Justin Patrick.
Patrick believes that student engagement helps students to “develop skills and interests that (they) might not get from their classes or programs, to meet people and even discover hidden talents.”
Campus Vibez uOttawa is a branch of a larger organization called Campus Vibez, which promotes extracurriculars at universities all across the country.
One group it’s partnered with on campus is the U of O Pop Orchestra, a group of musicians who play outside of the usual university orchestra repertoire.
“They reached out to us… and offered promotional materials for club events,” said Olga Koppel, former vice-president of finance of the Pop Orchestra. “We were super excited about that, we were a new club and no one really knew about us yet.” Campus Vibez uOttawa then promoted one of their events, and helped them get more exposure with a photographer.
Campus Vibez uOttawa uses promotions through their Facebook Page, website, Twitter, photographing events, promotional videos to increase the visibility of different clubs.
“It’s such a huge campus,” said Koppel, “a lot of students who would want to get involved with clubs might not have heard of them yet.” Campus Vibez uOttawa also wants the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) to streamline the clubs experience.
The club put together an 11-page feedback report based on their experience with SFUO-run clubs last March. The report included ideas on how to enhance communications within the club system at the U of O, identified the challenges of club networking, and included an extensive informative guide of solutions for these problems.
Last year, the SFUO had already begun to institute changes to make the clubs experience easier.
Patrick says that the new SFUO executives “replied with positive reactions to the guide for the groundwork for future clubs” and is hoping to maintain a good relationship with the SFUO to keep helping them improve the club system.
Campus Vibez uOttawa is currently involved with several of clubs on campus and they are hoping to double this number in the upcoming year.
As the club continues to grow, they are always seeking new members who have a common dedication to connecting students to fulfilling experiences within the university.
