The Student-Community Engagement Portal Helps Students Stay Connected While Staying Apart

Quinsigamond Community College Student Government Association President Jorgo Gushi (who also happens to be the Chair of the Student Advisory Council) is one busy person.  Since the College has gone to complete remote instruction, the sophomore engineering major has taken his talent and put it to great use, developing a Student-Community Engagement Portal.

The impetus behind the portal was to continue to keep students engaged and make sure they are still a part of campus life.

“We all know that COVID-19, this fast-spreading virus that has captured our planet and has forced us to #StayHome and has put on hold all our daily activities... Yet, we will not let things such as campus closures and the complete disruption of our daily lives spoil all of our activities. Instead, we adapt,” he said.

And adapt they have. To get the portal up and running, Student Government Association members put their heads together and came up with suggestions for activities and challenges that can all be done remotely. Each week Mr. Gushi meets with the Student Engagement Team that consists of QCC staff members Cheryl Pike, Lisa Gurnick, Josh Cole, Bonnie Coleman in order to get information and ideas to update the portal almost daily.

The Student-Community Engagement Portal is found by going to QCC’s home page, clicking on the Q, then going to the far left of the page and scrolling to the bottom.

Some of the portal contents include:

• Daily challenges for students to complete
• Athletics that include yoga sessions, nutrition and exercises
• Virtual Volunteering Opportunities
• Healthy Food Recipes
• Reading Time Videos (each Wednesday and Friday for the semester)
• Student Government Association Updates
• Phi Theta Kappa Updates
• Blackboard Help Videos
• Volunteer opportunities and so much more!

“Stay tuned and check our Student-Community Engagement Portal frequently, since information is updated daily,” Mr. Gushi added.