BY WESLEY BUTLER
If you want to buy or sell textbooks, ask questions or check out the latest events at the college, then take a look at Conestoga Students Inc.’s awareness website.
The site, which has been up since last year, went through a revamp this school year, giving students insight into what CSI is all about. They can also get information about activities CSI is holding and minutes from meetings.
“Since students are moving online, we’re posting a lot of our information digitally,” said Ciara Byrne, president of CSI. “We’ve moved to a new social media-type site, so students could access it at 2 a.m. if they wanted to.”
Throughout the past couple of years, students have created several groups pertaining to Conestoga College on Facebook. The idea of the website was to blend all of them together, by providing a platform where students can share ideas, get information on clubs, buy and sell textbooks and carpool with other students.
CSI has seen the number of students using the website increase from when it first started. This year, approximately 2,300 students are using it on a regular basis.
“The students are getting more engaged,” said Byrne. “This past month and a half alone, we saw more students getting involved in our activities.”
It was difficult for CSI to utilize the website entirely last year because everything was still new to them. But this year, CSI has gotten their bearings and are seeing the number of students signing up continuing to rise by the hundreds. They believe that social media will help in piquing students’ interests.
Byrne said she expects to see its traffic go up even more within the next few years, because she hopes by then the site’s capabilities will be utilized completely, making more students want to join it and become involved in the college’s events and activities.
Rebecca Saba, program and communications co-ordinator of CSI, oversees the website and is responsible for making sure the events schedule is up-to-date and posting answers to students’ questions. Saba also hopes it becomes popular among students.
The website is run by the web development company SquareCrop, and costs CSI $300 a month to maintain. The company specializes in websites for student services.
“When there’s something big that we need done, they’ll do it,” said Byrne.
“We have graphic designers and other people who take care of the layout and other esthetics.”
To visit the CSI awareness website and to get more information about it, go to www.conestogastudents.com.
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