USU College of Science Student Clubs Go Online to Greet New Aggies

To say Utah State University’s campus looks and feels a bit “different” this fall is an understatement, but scholars in the College of Science are making lemonade from lemons with a collection of short, fun and sometimes quirky, videos to welcome new students.

“Each fall, the university hosts great activities during ‘Weeks of Welcome’ and, obviously, things are a bit different with the pandemic,” says USU College of Science webmaster Spencer Perry. “Our college’s marketing team, along with our student leaders, got together and asked, ‘What can we do to help students feel welcome and get to know new friends?’”

The answer was to get behind a video camera to create virtual windows into college life, which the College of Science debuted this week on its Student Organizations page.

“We reached out to student clubs and organizations within our college and asked them to create brief videos to introduce new Aggies to their groups and invite them to get involved,” Perry says. “And they delivered.”

Thinking some students, without video experience, might be timid to approach the project, Perry created a list of suggestions and best practices to help fledgling videographers get started.

“But they outpaced my expectations,” he says. “Students immediately responded with enthusiasm and said, ‘Hey, we’re super excited to get going.”

Every video is unique, Perry says.

“The student videos include everything from a student-choreographed dance to hand-drawn images,” he says. “It’s really cool to see the students’ creativity in producing great videos on a shoestring. In a challenging time, Aggies rise to the occasion.”