The Canisius Center for Student Engagement Leadership Development (SELD) introduced a new hub for student events at the beginning of the semester.
Jason Francey, director of SELD, provided an explanation for the switch between the two platforms. According to Francey, this is due to the ending of a three-year agreement with the company Modern Campus which hosted GriffNet, the former platform for campus events.
Following the expiration of the agreement, the SELD Center came across the company Campus Groups, which hosts the new GriffConnect system. Francey described this system as having “a better value” as well as “better features in the software.”
Francey explained this new system as a step up. For starters, the program is visually an improvement. According to Francey, the SELD office has “already gotten compliments” about the site’s appearance from students. He notes that this new site provides the SELD Center with data regarding usage of the site's services. This includes the Today@Canisius emails which are read by 70% of students, according to the program’s data services.
Francey has also received positive feedback from student leaders who use the GriffConnect system to plan and promote their events.
There are also new check-in features on the site. This includes the new RSVP service that helps leaders get an idea of how many students will be attending an event. The RSVP service also helps other students see who else is planning on going to the event. By RSVP-ing to events on GriffConnect, and then attending them, students can earn an extra Petey Point on top of any that they would receive for showing up to the event.
One of the best new features for students – according to Francey – is that students can now connect with one another more thoroughly.
GriffConnect gives students the ability to explore on-campus groups, and gives students the option to create their own profiles, with the ability to reach out to other students who share similar interests.
The new GriffConnect system can be found under the “News, Events, Sports” tab on MyCanisius and can be accessed by its website or through the app.