Located in Austin Texas, OrgSync is a hosted service provider (a business that delivers a combination of traditional IT functions such as infrastructure, applications, and security) that supplies tools and applications used to organize and manage student organizations as well as accommodate their members. According to the OrgSync website, OrgSync’s mission is “to provide the ultimate online networking and member management service” as well as “to centralize all aspects of student involvement in order to ultimately maximize their education.” The company claims that, by using OrgSync, clubs and organizations will enjoy improved communications, better organization, increased efficiency, and improved retention. The company’s objectives are achieved by “offering dedicated customer attention, along with highly regarded, proven technology, [to] create an exceptional experience for our clients.”

What functions or tools does the OrgSync software provide to students? The OrgSync software has many applications. When a student logs into an OrgSync account, all of the student events are displayed according to date. OrgSync also displays updates to students as well as a complete list of organizations a student is involved with, a calendar, and a to-do list. Students can be invited to organizations through OrgSync, streamlining the process of officially joining clubs. The site also provides a “resume builder,” which allows a student to create, update, and maintain an organized resume.

OrgSync is accessible through other networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Once connected to OrgSync on Facebook, students are able to “publish desired information into their Facebook feed, such as when they join an organization.” By publishing OrgSync stories on Facebook, non-members of a club or organization can also learn about a club or an organization’s updates on Facebook feeds. Students can monitor club and organization news from any computer with a just an internet connection.
By using the OrgSync site itself, students can now receive updates from their clubs or organizations without logging into their H-SC email account and going through emails.

Hampden-Sydney College has recently become a client of OrgSync and is using OrgSync’s technology to change how clubs and organizations interact and operate. According to Secretary-Treasurer Willis Davis, 22 clubs or organizations, the IFC, Residence Life, and the Dean of Students Office have pledged or donated over $6,500.00 with a $500 pending pledge to finance the purchase. He said that OrgSync was purchased to streamline the processes of running and participating in activities on campus: “OrgSync won’t fix all of our . . . problems over night,” says Davis, but rather, “it is an investment for the future.”

How has OrgSync shaped club and organizations interactions at Hampden-Sydney College? The President of the Fencing Club, Matt Jones says that OrgSync has the potential to accomplish what it sets out to do. Jones says that OrgSync is useful in consolidating email lists as well as creating a public calendar that makes events accessible. Jones also believes that even though he has not used OrgSync to its full potential, he can see OrgSync “doing a lot in the future” for the fencing club.

Other academic institutions, such as the University of California, Los Angeles, have found OrgSync’s software useful. According to their website, the assistant dean of students Kenn Heller said that UCLA “is using (OrgSync) extensively . . . and have found [OrgSync] to be extraordinarily easy to work with.” Others on Hampden-Sydney’s campus remain skeptical of OrgSync’s value for the money the college paid for its two-year contract with the company, but despite this, OrgSync is here to stay at Hampden Sydney, at least for the next three semesters.

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