Student organizations gain recognition through Web site design

Group sites provide easy communication with members, the public and prospective Elon students

Andrew Baker / Reporter

There is always something going on around a college campus. A lot of this has to do with the fact that there are numerous student organizations on every college campus in America.

Now that more and more college students are spending a lot of time on the Internet, these organizations need a presence on the World Wide Web.

Here at Elon, there are more than 100 student organizations, many of which have Web sites. Many of these Web sites are very helpful in communicating with current members, recruiting new ones and getting their message out to the public.

Three organizations on campus that strive to send out their message to students through their Web sites include Hillel, Sweet Signatures and Alpha Xi Delta.

“Our Web site gives prospective freshmen and their parents the opportunity to learn about Hillel and Jewish life at Elon,” said Lisa Beuerle, faculty adviser for Hillel. “In fact, we get several e-mails a week from prospective students who have visited our site.”

Beuerle also said that a primary goal of the organization is to “foster and promote relations between students and faculty.”

The Hillel Web site gives viewers the chance to visit other Jewish organizations sites on its links page, view photos from group activities and find out some general information about the organization.

Sweet Signatures, Elon’s only all-female a cappela group, is another student organization on campus that uses its Web site to its advantage.

“It is hard to get all 15 of us together as a group at one time unless we are at a concert, so this Web site allows people to see all of us and put faces with names,” said Virginia Galvez, Sweet Signatures’ vice president.

There are two other big advantages to having a Sweet Signatures Web site. Since Sweet Signatures is a music group, it can sell its CDs online, and the Web site gives consumers the information they need, such as where to send checks and how much CDs cost. Site visitors can even listen to sample tracks before they purchase the CDs.

The group’s Web site also allows any other group or organization to contact the musical ensemble about scheduling singing gigs by listing contact information.

The Alpha Xi Delta sorority also manages a Web site. Their Web site is important to the sorority because it is full of information about its history, photos, recruitment and philanthropy.

“Our Web site really benefited Alpha Xi Delta during rush this year,” said Kate Freeman, a member of the sorority. “It really helps the young girls put a face with the members of the organization. These faces that match up with the name of Alpha Xi Delta really help the girls feel more comfortable about our organization.”

The sorority’s site is also important because it allows chapters nationwide to see what the women of Alpha Xi Delta are doing at Elon.

None of the student organizations on campus would be able to have Web sites if they did not have their webmasters. These are the people who put their time into these sites for their organizations and maintain the sites.

How much time each one spends really depends on what type of organization is involved and how much the group wants to include online.

“It isn’t a difficult responsibility as long as you know how to use the programs and have good resources for problems you encounter,” said Megan Karrenbauer, Alpha Xi Delta’s webmaster.