Focus on niche communities

THE sheer size of the student body at the National University of Singapore (NUS) works against fostering a sense of belonging among students.

Take, for instance, the 5,100-strong Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. It is easy to feel lost on those weekday afternoons when I have to rush for classes with hundreds of faceless strangers streaming past me on both sides.

If there is any sense of spirit and culture, it has to be within the student societies and clubs, or inside the six halls of residence.

I participate actively in the University Scholars Programme (USP), and I have been a resident of Raffles Hall for four years now. The USP and my hall have given me fond memories that will stay with me for years to come.

They are small and close-knit communities that have offered me the human touch, which otherwise would have been lacking from my university experience. I have built up firm friendships, some of which I believe will continue after I graduate.

So if I were to contribute as an alumnus, it would definitely be to these two areas. At the same time, I know that I will be indirectly contributing to the school as well.

Perhaps this is what NUS can do to combat weak alumni participation. Rather than try in vain to build up overall school loyalty, it could build and invest in the strengths of the niche communities that are its constituents.

Of course, it takes two hands to clap. Incoming NUS students should make the effort and join a student society or hall to find companionship and meaning in their varsity lives.

Jonathan Kwok, 24, is an honours student in economics at NUS.

Intimate culture at small campus

BIG universities like NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have the muscle and heft of champion athletes, with their huge cohorts of 23,000 and 21,000 respectively.

But numbers can be deceiving. A Straits Times article last August revealed that less than 5 per cent of alumni from NUS and NTU give back to their alma mater. To me, this means they do not really care about the universities that gave them their degrees.

Some of my friends who went to these universities say they found their years there 'not fulfilling or memorable'. Specifically, they felt lost in a sea of faceless strangers and did not see how they could 'make a difference'.

By contrast, Singapore Management University's (SMU) smaller campus - for now - seems to offer more ways for its cohort of 6,100 to participate and feel valued.

Over time, intra-school activities such as planning for Patron's Day or the Arts Festival help forge bonds, and these relationships translate into a school spirit that keeps students engaged with the school after they graduate.

The smaller school size and the hard-working student leaders seem to do the trick. SMU somehow attracts its alumni back, if not to contribute in terms of dollars and cents, then in minutes and hours. Despite their busy lifestyles with demanding careers in the financial and energy sectors, they have been enthusiastic in giving back to their alma mater.

In my three years at SMU, I have benefited from invaluable alumni expertise and networks in planning for my overseas community service expedition, improving my performance in competitive sailing, and even planning for a career after graduation.

Such energy and drive have helped shaped my ideals and nudged me in the right direction in my university endeavours. School life has been all the more fulfilling with their support and advice.

Meanwhile, my friends at NTU and NUS say the contact they have with alumni is, at most, limited to their co-curricular activities. Who knows how much they could have benefited if their alumni were as active?

I am hoping that as SMU grows, it continues to maintain its intimate culture because while it is natural to want to expand, nice things do come in small packages too.

Jason Zhou, 23, is a third-year economics student at SMU.

Student union has part to play

AS EARLY as a year ago, I started receiving both snail mail and e-mail asking me to give back to NTU after I graduated.

I always either put aside the letters or deleted the e-mail without much thought, because after almost four years at NTU, I have felt nary a semblance of university spirit there.

If I really had to give back, I would do so to my faculty, not the university as a whole.

Whatever sense of belonging I get from 'school' comes from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information alone.

At the start of every semester, our enthusiastic school club will plan homecomings with free booze and food. Every examination period comes with excellent welfare - cups of Milo and coffee, and snacks late into the night.

But there was never an equivalent at university level.

It takes a strong student union to create a strong university spirit and identity, something that seems to be lacking at NTU.

For example, in a survey conducted three months ago by NTU's online campus paper, The Enquirer, 93 out of 100 people polled had no idea who the student union president was.

Among my friends, the most frequent mentions of the student union were to blame it for the packed shuttle buses and their irregular schedules, or to wonder what varsity events were lined up for us.

For starters, the student union should make its presence felt and, at the very least, organise more events at university level that will appeal to us. A big homecoming at the start of each semester would definitely be welcome.

Also, a conducive study environment always helps in making students feel at home. Right now, the drab NTU buildings do not. Even though some new buildings are fresh and appealing, many campus buildings are still grey rectangular blocks.

It is hard to feel high about school spirit when the exterior alone gets you down. A makeover of the older parts of the school will definitely provide for a better university experience.

Lee Khai Yan, 22, is a fourth-year student at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, NTU.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.