Lack of Student Engagement: Myth or Fact?

Does AUBG seem quieter than usual? Especially now that all the recruitment parties once buzzing with excitement stand empty. Has student engagement at AUBG really declined or is it simply a matter of student perception?

This question still lingers in the air after club application deadlines have come to an end and all new members have been warmly welcomed into their respective communities. The reality, however, might be more nuanced.

As students – and especially club board members – have expressed concerns about a drop in engagement, the sentiment appears to be more pronounced among sophomore students and older.  

“There was this kind of lost connection” in the context of the COVID-19, pandemic, said Tsvetana Haydushka, University PR and Community Engagement Manager.

“Many student clubs, actually moved to online meetings,” “so maybe they're still recovering,” Albena Kehayova - Director of Communications and Marketing at AUBG - added.

The lingering question remains: Is AUBG quieter than usual? Maybe the disconnect from COVID-19 times made things seem far worse back then, but what’s the deal now? Classes of 2026 and onwards came to the university after the pandemic was essentially over. Is there something else at play?

“People are feeling a bit more different in their [post-Covid] social environment,” once an AUBG student, now staff member, Haydushka said. The pandemic appears to have brought about a more mindful approach to student engagement. “Right now, students are much more aware of their state of mind”.

So, is this drop in student engagement purely a case of student perception (or perhaps misperception)?

"I haven't seen a drop in student engagement. The opposite, actually,” Kehayova said. “The student activities and events that are happening on campus are overwhelmingly many.”

Haydushka raised a point about recruitment parties. Although she did not get the chance to attend many in person, she did reach out to clubs asking about student turnout. She noted how difficult it had been for clubs during the COVID years of 2021 and 2022. “They had a really hard time finding new members.”

Haydushka said the clubs’ responses were overwhelmingly positive, some having as many as 60 aspiring applicants. Haydushka attributed this to the university’s attempt to utilize a plethora of new tools like summer activities among others to promote student activities for a second year now.

Despite the impressive number of applicants, it also raises questions about whether this growth is proportionate to overall student engagement.

Moreover, with AUBG seeing its largest number of freshmen, is this really that big of a surprise? What’s more is the question of whether other clubs received proportionately as much attention from new applicants.

Another point of contention for the perceived decline in student activity on campus might be attributed to the separation between the on-campus freshmen and sophomores, combined with the juniors and seniors who live off-campus.

In a tight-knit community, it’s always the elders who teach the youngins. In an environment where they live apart, however, it is more difficult for groups to interact with one another. So, is this the answer? Has this division influenced the student body to believe that there is a lackluster sense of community at AUBG?

“I’ve heard from people saying it's a bit harder with the logistics for the student members that are not on campus,” Haydushka noted. “[But] we meet with all of them all the time,” she added.

The marketing team at AUBG utilized tools that try to actively engage students and connect them with the community.

For example, the team revamped the design of the Compass weekly newsletter. “We changed the look and feel of the newsletter to simplify communication,” Kehayova noted, “We decided that too many things listed in the email body make people kind of just look at it and not read it.”

The team has also introduced an easier way of keeping track of potential sudden appearances of events in the middle of the week after the Compass has rolled out. This takes the form of a page on the official AUBG website, visible both externally and internally.

“There you have like a highlight with an important event, you should know about, then all the events that are actually happening,” Haydushka said.

“We just need to find the best way for us to help the community understand what's going on and to stay informed. And then, on the other side, also to be inclusive and find ways to promote things that are pop-up things,” she concluded. 

The marketing team finalized the talk by urging students to reach out to them regarding events on campus and feedback on the weekly Compass.

Editors: Niya Manditsch and Eka Iakobadze.