`Runner Involve aims to increase student engagement on campus

Students can learn skills, earn experiences and rewards as part of platform

By California State University, Bakersfield

August 29^th, 2024

When Student Organizations Coordinator Ed Webb attended Fresno State soon after graduating from high school, he stayed focused on academics and avoided getting involved in organizations and events on campus.

“I was intimidated at my understanding of what college was like. I didn’t want to do other things because I was afraid of messing up my college progress,” he said. “What I ended up doing is I disconnected myself from the university. I never built a network and I ended up leaving anyway.”

Webb was determined to get more involved after deciding to restart his higher education journey at California State University, Bakersfield in 2010. He ended up getting his bachelor’s in communications and a Master of Public Administration degree.

“The first thing I did was join a club. Those people are still my friends 14 years later,” he said. “Being involved on campus can really help students feel a stronger connection to the university and persist to graduation.”

To encourage more students to participate in clubs and activities on campus, the Office of Student Involvement has expanded its club management program — formerly known as RunnerSync — and rebranded it as `Runner Involve.

Now the platform allows students to do more than just join clubs and manage their involvement. They can also learn skills as well as earn experiences and rewards for attending events.

“We know that there’s learning that goes on by being involved in campus activities,” Webb said. “I’m really excited about the possibilities. I think we’re going to see some really creative stuff come out of this.”

`Runner Involve aims to increase student engagement on campus

Skills

There are currently 100 skills that are available for students to learn across 18 competencies, such as community service, leadership, fiscal responsibility and professional preparedness.

Students can show that they’ve learned a skill by participating in activities associated with it, such as volunteering time at the Edible Garden to demonstrate campus service. Sometimes one activity can apply to multiple skills.

There are three levels to each skill — beginner, intermediate and advanced — that depend on the level of student involvement in the activity.

“We don’t just want to give you a list of everything you did in college. We want to be able to show what you’ve learned by doing these things outside of the classroom. It’s not just about saying you attended events — what did you get out of them?”

Experiences and points

Students can also earn experiences through `Runner Involve that each have their own requirements, such as attending an event or being a member of a club. For example, the Be True to Your School experience challenges students with attending five events hosted by any of the colleges.

Experiences with event requirements include links to a list of eligible events to help guide students. As with skills, one event or activity can satisfy the requirements of multiple experiences.

Experiences are grouped into categories such as Get Involved, Service Learning, Athletics and Student Services.

The last big feature of `Runner Involve is points, which reward students for participating in clubs, events and activities. Students will be able to redeem `Runner Points at the Student Union information desk in exchange for CSUB-branded swag.

“The goal is to find the students that are not getting engaged and to encourage them to try something out,” Webb said. “It could be we’re not providing content that they’re interested in. It could be we are providing the content but not marketing it correctly. I have students a lot of times say there’s nothing to do on campus, and really that’s not true. There’s always something going on — it’s just a matter of how do we let them know about it and incentivize them to participate?”

The skills, experiences and points students earn are all included in a co-curricular transcript that students can download through their `Runner Involve profile. This transcript can then be used in applications for jobs, internships and other opportunities.

'A whole different experience'

Senior Giselle Degante, director of clubs and organizations outreach for Associated Students Inc., said she’s excited about `Runner Involve. She has already begun talking to students about it.

“I think it’s a great thing to do to get more students involved and to incentivize them to engage with the campus,” she said. “I hope the students will feel more connected to the campus, not just going to class and going home. It’s about making them feel welcome, feeling that they belong here.”

Degante has been involved in clubs since coming to CSUB as a freshman and believes they’re a vital part of students’ college experience.

“Clubs add a whole different experience to your college life,” she said. “It’s where I’ve met all my friends. I’ve learned so many skills — interpersonal skills — that I wouldn’t have learned just in the classroom.”

Webb hopes `Runner Involve gains traction with students and ultimately helps connect more of them with activities on campus that will enrich their overall experience at CSUB.

“What I hope will come from this is that student persistence will improve and graduation rates will improve,” he said. “We have students who don’t stop for anything. If we can get those students to try a couple of things, they’re going to build a stronger connection to the university.”