2021
Sep
NEXT United Cultural Festival Webzine
University clubs in the non-face-to-face era...
It's better that my friends don't.
“Only formal conversations were possible. We don’t even know who is who.”
This is the answer from the '2021-1 Club Activity Survey' conducted by Team 1 of the NEXT Journal Track of the United Cultural Festival targeting 75 college students in the metropolitan area. Currently, as non-face-to-face communication has become routine due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the club, the flower of college life, is in danger of being cut off. In places where face-to-face gatherings such as performance and sports clubs are essential, it is difficult to continue club activities, and non-face-to-face clubs are also having a hard time adapting to the changed activity method. We have covered the actual operation of clubs at these universities!
(If it wasn't for Corona) The flower of college life, the strength of clubs
one! Prepared for social advancement
Students experience various activities through clubs and acquire a wide range of thinking and experiences. All clubs provide meaningful extracurricular activities for students, although the gains may vary slightly depending on the club's characteristics.
In this process, preparations for future social workers are also made naturally. By combining credit management and club activities during the semester, you can learn how to efficiently manage time, as well as learn how to communicate and how to be considerate because teamwork is important because clubs are basically group activities. Sociality education, which is conducted in confrontation with peers, is also one of the essential processes to be carried out before entering society.
It is no exaggeration to say that the network between seniors and juniors formed through club activities is the most valuable asset you can get from college life! Did you know that networking is an element that cannot be ignored in social life? Especially for beginners, the wide network means that there are many seniors in life who can ask for help or receive advice when needed.
A good example! Park Young-gyu, a 16th grade student at Konkuk University, whom we interviewed, said, “I gained a broader perspective on memories and life while participating in club activities… If I hadn’t been involved in club activities, I wouldn’t have met the good people I met in college.”
two! A variety of face-to-face activities and events
After joining the club, members attend many activities, such as regular meetings, MT (Membership Training), and senior-junior fellowship. In general, regular meetings are held at least once a week on a specific day and time. The small group 'TUM' of Dongguk University's Department of Media and Communication held a meeting for year-end magazine production in the classroom every Thursday at 6 o'clock until last year to edit articles or card news.
MT is also one of the club's core events! To promote friendship and unity among members, many clubs regularly operate MT programs. The club management team also provides a place for seniors and juniors to socialize once a semester or once a year. Each club has a different way of organizing a social gathering, such as the name of the event and the way it is run, which makes it even more special!
In addition, the range of club activities is endless, such as operating booths during university festivals and operating a daily pub with a special theme in cooperation with a nearby bar. (Schools of 20 and 21, a fever ㅠㅠ)
Obstacles to a happy college life, Corona 19
one! The start of the room club activities..
Due to COVID-19, there has been a major change in the way clubs operate, which used to be mainly face-to-face activities and events. Due to the nature of the gathering of students from all over the country, universities have decided to operate classes non-face-to-face to prevent infectious diseases. Students use their home as a campus to live their university life. This made it difficult for students to get together, and as the number of private gatherings was limited according to the social distancing stage, face-to-face meetings became even more difficult.
As a result, many clubs had no choice but to switch their operation to non-face-to-face. As a result of a survey conducted by Team 1 of the NEXT Journal of the United Cultural Festival, 42.9% of the respondents answered that the club was operated completely non-face-to-face, and 35.7% answered that it was operated in a mixture of face-to-face and non-face-to-face. In addition, club executives said that they are considering following the quarantine guidelines as the top priority in deciding how to conduct activities.
The club that most of the students dreamed of was a face-to-face activity. Gathering in a club room, having time to get to know each other, putting up a performance together, or working out with a sweat. These are the things that have been called the romance of college. However, there are difficulties in conducting these activities non-face-to-face.
Team Leader Kim Beom-jun of Sungkyunkwan University's Student Support Team said, "Non-face-to-face club activities are limited in experience activities such as performances, sports, and social service, so the range of experiences that can be shared is reduced, and it is a big obstacle to the formation of human relationships and networks among club members. ” He also expressed concern.
two! Falling club satisfaction.. and students leaving the club
It is questionable whether the students are really satisfied with the club activities that are being conducted in a different way than before. This is because it is clear that satisfaction with the club will have a substantial impact on whether the activities will continue in the future and the change in the number of members of the club.
In the aforementioned survey, when asked about their satisfaction with club activities, 12.5% and 17.9% of respondents chose 'Very Low' and 'Low', respectively. A total of 30.4%, that is, about 1 in 3 people said that their satisfaction with club activities was 'low' or less!
The answer to whether club activities will continue next semester is also a noteworthy indicator. Shockingly, one-fifth of the respondents said they would quit club activities next semester. When asked why they did not continue to participate in club activities, some respondents said, “I think it is meaningless because it is practically impossible to operate.” and “If it is not conducted face-to-face, it will be difficult to feel a sense of belonging to the club.” It was clear that he was leaving the club because he was not satisfied with his activities.
three! Manpower shortage is key in the future!
As many clubs switched to non-face-to-face activities, an overall headcount was predicted, but this was not always the case. Most of the clubs we interviewed answered that there was no significant change in the number of people. When face-to-face activities such as sports clubs are essential, there was a decrease in the number of people.
However, as we looked at the survey results, if club members show low satisfaction and a continuous trend of departure from clubs that are continuously operated non-face-to-face, there is no choice but to change the number of people from a long-term perspective, right? In addition, from next year, the 3rd grader, the center of the club operation, will be replaced with a 'Corona 20', which has never experienced traditional school events such as freshman orientation and festivals.
Team leader Kim said, “There were clubs that did not meet the registration criteria for the central club due to the suspension of club activities, but there has been no significant change (in club-related statistics) as of yet due to online recruitment activities, etc.” Although there was a reaction, he also expressed a negative outlook, saying, "If the pandemic situation continues, there will be a big crisis next year, when the 20th grade will be in the 3rd year."
So, what direction should the club go in the future?
one! A new quarantine system is needed to keep up with the prolongation of the epidemic!
COVID-19 continues to threaten us in the form of a mutated virus. In this situation, we may have to prepare for the 'with Corona' era with Corona 19 in the future. The UK and Singapore are already realizing the era of 'with Corona' by shifting the focus of quarantine to reduce severe cases and deaths rather than being tied to the number of confirmed cases.
Domestic experts, including Myeong-don Oh, chairman of the Central Clinical Committee for Emerging Infectious Diseases, the highest authority in the field of domestic infectious diseases, also raised their voices that it is necessary to review a new quarantine system suitable for a prolonged epidemic. As there is no brake on the spread despite social distancing in the fourth stage, the opinion is that the quarantine strategy should be changed from controlling the number of confirmed cases to preventing the death and aggravation of high-risk groups.
Now that the world is slowly entering into coexistence with COVID-19, it is time for universities and clubs to enter a new phase!
two! A club that coexists with COVID-19!
Face-to-face activities should no longer be neglected in the era of 'With Corona', right? This is because clubs that require face-to-face activities cannot continue to operate, and there are points that non-face-to-face activities cannot satisfy. In fact, Konkuk University's hip-hop club 'Wanna Family' had dance practice and song work centered on the club room.
Schools should provide active support to ensure face-to-face activities while maintaining social distancing as much as possible. Team leader Kim said, “Clubs that need practice space due to the closure of the student center also supported the cost of renting an external practice center and provided a COVID-19 self-diagnosis kit during offline practice so that they could practice after checking whether they were infected in advance.” You said that you are working hard for the activity. However, such information is not well communicated to students, so it seems necessary to more accurately communicate the support policy for face-to-face activities to each club in the future.
On the other hand, it is predicted that non-face-to-face activities will of course continue in the era of 'With Corona'! This is because the advantages that were not obtained from face-to-face club activities were revealed through the current COVID-19 situation. However, as online exchanges become more active, activities that were difficult to meet in person are now possible. I don't think it's sudden or weird when I contact anyone. Whether you are from another school or from any country in the world, you can reach out to anyone you want to work with and interact with. If you use the characteristics of the untact era more wisely, you might be able to have more meaningful club activities than ever before!
By. Long Long, Yu Zheng, Jung Kong