Behrend students were introduced to a new face of a familiar student activities platform at the beginning of this semester. After months of planning by the Office of Student Activities, BehrendSync was up and running on Dec. 18, with the final introduction at the start of January 2018.

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Because of the campus’ contract with Campus Labs, this switch was inevitable. Behrend’s previous organizational platform, OrgSync, as well as CollegiateLink, were bought out by Campus Labs and merged into one. The primary purpose of this transition was to implement a platform that would get students engaged and connected online to make processes more efficient.

This new site holds portals for all of Behrend’s clubs and organizations, just as the previous platform did. While change is often not received well, the hope is that the pros will outweigh the cons, according to Jaime McCaslin, Assistant Director of Student Activities.

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This site was designed with the actual students in mind. While it has many of the same features as OrgSync, it has simply added on some new aspects. Some of these features include online forms, file uploads, more information sharing, and perhaps easier ways to connect with students. “It’s just a few things we’re trying to get used to and I think it’s been received well- just different,” McCaslin shared. “Change is hard for people.”

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One of the positives, McCaslin believes, is that the platform is customizable to each individual campus. While the OrgSync headquarters was located in Dallas, Texas, Campus Labs is based out of Buffalo, New York, putting them much closer to Behrend’s campus. Because of this, the campus consultant from Campus Labs can be much more connected and is planning a visit to Behrend in the coming weeks.

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One of the most favorable aspects in the eyes of Student Activities this far is the flexibility of the new company. “We’ve given them lots of feedback about features that the old platform had that we used significantly,” McCaslin stated. They have taken this feedback and starting working towards developing what will best suit this campus. The main focus of this company is to learn about what each location needs and to help support those campuses and their students.

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While this new platform has been accepted well by Student Activities, BehrendSync users also have a say in what this site has to offer. James Knoerdel, junior elementary & early childhood education major, has been using student activities platforms throughout his time at Behrend for various roles. Knoerdel, a Club Hub assistant and Resident Assistant of Ohio Hall enjoys the general layout and how you can see all of your active clubs and organizations on the front page. However, he sees some room for improvement. “I think it needs some more work in order to make it easier to navigate,” he stated. What he misses most is the event calendar in order to view all of the events taking place on a specific date.

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Janine Zaunegger, senior elementary & early childhood education major is the president of Behrend’s chapter of Gamma Sigma Sigma. She uses BehrendSync to manage the members of the organization, create events, and publicize their activities to the campus. “I found the other website way more user friendly and easy to manage,” she shared. “But I’m sure with time I’ll get the hang of it.”

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While any new feature may take some time to get used to, the Office of Student Activities welcomes feedback and questions from students. They also encourage anyone to share what that they would like to see added to this site.