The beating heart of SOU’s clubs is the platform HawkNEST, which hosts clubs, events, and other forms of student engagement. Students can login to HawkNEST and browse clubs and events whenever they want, through hawknest.sou.edu. The application can be added to the Okta browser by going to okta.sou.edu, clicking the “add apps” tab on the left of the screen, and searching for it. In the near future, perhaps before the end of the term, a HawkNEST mobile app will be launching. The Student Belonging and Engagement Office heavily suggests students download the app when it comes out.
“Our tagline for Hawk NEST is ‘Hawk NEST is your online landing for News, Engagement, Support, & Teamwork,’” wrote Jessica Haywood, SOU’s Belonging and Engagement Coordinator, and the main architect behind HawkNEST’s implementation. “The purpose of Hawk NEST is to provide a tool for students to boost their engagement with SOU student clubs and events.” Alongside joining clubs themselves, which is done through the platform, HawkNEST is a hub for hundreds of events hosted by student groups and different departments on campus that are available to all.
The University hopes to consolidate all student events on a single platform. This will boost SOU’s sense of community, give students an easily accessible way to see what’s going on around campus and give clubs a straightforward way to promote engagement and spread their message. Promoting student engagement will, hopefully, lead to more students getting involved with clubs and extracurricular activities.
“Studies show that students who are more involved on campus are more successful and more likely to graduate,” Jessica told me, “so we are using this platform to boost engagement.” The Office of Belonging aims to equip HawkNEST with all the cool features students in any role could dream of, without overcomplicating the platform. Right now, its most important functions are registering and checking in for events. In addition to this, students can chat directly with clubs. HawkNEST even has a point-based reward system– club leadership points– that encourages engagement and recognizes club leaders for driving up participation.
The HawkNEST app is available to students now. As a result, the Office of Belonging and Engagement hopes now more than ever that students will try the platform, and check out new facets of campus life.
