New app aims to strengthen student associations at Arts
It’s easy to lose track of the many communities available at AU. There are countless Friday bars, student associations, and other activities. A new app, Find din forening (find your association, ed.), aims to make it easier for students at the Faculty of Arts to connect with one of the more than 100 associations within the faculty.
Disclaimer: This text was translated using machine translation / AI and post-edited by Maria Nielsen Pedersen
A new app, Find din forening (find your association, ed.), provides an overview of the many associations at Arts, making it easier for students to find a community within their degree programme. It also helps associations to promote themselves more effectively to students.
The person behind the new app is Louise Griberg Spaabæk, who is the wellbeing coordinator at Arts:
“The associations at Arts have requested help with increasing their visibility. The faculty is keen to support the associations at Arts in various ways since they play a crucial role in creating a social study environment, which is a significant part of university life. The app is designed to remind students of the many opportunities to join communities at Arts,” explains Louise Griberg Spaabæk.
“A unique feature of the app is that associations can indicate whether they are open to new members or not. Previously, you might have faced a closed door when trying to join an association, and I can imagine that encountering too many closed doors could discourage you.”
In addition to easily seeing which associations are looking for new members, the app also lets you search for associations and view a calendar of upcoming association events.
More than just Friday bars
Find din forening is still in its early stages, and marketing for the app will begin in the coming weeks.
One of the associations already using the app is HUMBUG, the party committee at Arts:
“We’ll be posting all HUMBUG events on the app to make it easier to keep track. On Facebook, events can easily get lost among others," explains Mie Juul, chair of HUMBUG.
For Mie Juul, the app has proven useful:
“I was surprised by how many associations I found on the app. You mostly notice the Friday bars, but the app lets you find all the other associations that exist at the university,” explains Mie Juul.
Louise Griberg Spaabæk hopes the app will encourage more students to get involved with the associations at AU.
“Joining associations lets you meet new people and build new connections. For smaller degree programmes, it’s particularly valuable to find communities outside of your small classes.”
Additionally, many student associations focus on more than just academics:
“In association communities, there isn’t necessarily the same emphasis on performance as there is in academic communities,” explains Louise Griberg Spaabæk.
Wish to increase visibility
Louise Griberg Spaabæk came up with the idea for the app after working with student associations for a while:
“I conduct workshops several times a year where associations can get help and advice. A common topic is how to increase visibility for their association,” explains the wellbeing coordinator.
The COVID-19 lockdowns had a significant impact on student associations. Although Louise Griberg Spaabæk is tired of discussing COVID, she still believes the effects are evident:
“We’re probably still in a phase where people are getting used to signing up for activities again after everything was shut down. But it might also just be a matter of making students aware of the many associations at Arts, and hopefully, the new app will help with that."
Find din forening was developed by the same Computer Engineering students who created the Bar’Fredag app. This app gathers information about Friday bars in Aarhus in one place.
You can read more about the app and find download links here.