Brittany Longhetano | The Montclarion
Red Hawk News emails are inconvenient and overcrowded with information and their hooks do not contain the right information. Many students recognize the emails which feature a picture of Montclair State University’s mascot Rocky along with a leading event or story and a timetable for when a student can enjoy some crafts at the CAPS building. All of this is followed by a long list of organizations and their upcoming events. This is excessive, especially when some of the information is not relevant to a sizable number of students.
The information in these emails is probably beneficial for students. It is a valiant attempt to motivate students to go seek out clubs to join, but it falls short on too many levels, like the links. All the events in the emails have links which open to new tabs. This easily becomes inconvenient, as multiple tabs causes computers to run slower. Never mind that students probably already have too many tabs open prior to the email. Then there is the fact that most students would have to sift through the entire email to even find something that would interest them in the first place.
Kimberly Balacuit | The Montclarion
This brings us to the problem of when the emails are sent. Seven or eight in the morning is not ever a good time to bombard people, especially students, with information of any kind. In the morning students are expecting emails from peers, professors or a specific organization.
In the morning students have a plethora of other things on their minds. If students aren’t watching out for a specific email, they are more than likely busy with classes to look at their email. The last thing they will think to look at is the Red Hawk News. For the students who attempt to look at the Red Hawk News, they find that most of the information is not pertinent to themselves.
Red Hawk News is a great idea, but it does not translate well into reality. It gets convoluted and becomes a nuisance. A better time to send the emails would be in the late afternoon or evening. Students are either winding down, or doing last minute checks of their emails. Students are more likely to look twice at Red Hawk News if they are relaxed. Most likely, they would be more inclined to shrug off a few extra tabs and not be overwhelmed by the amount of activities there are on campus. Instead, they may write a few into their agendas. While they won’t be jotting down every event, the list is extensive enough to have two or three things worth noting.
As it is, too many students say they glaze over or just delete the Red Hawk News emails. Communication between staff, organizations and students is important in that many of us students enjoy knowing what our school is up to as well as when and where we can get free food. An email crowded with information is not what we want.
Another thing is that those emails often do not start with the important information. For example, recently a Red Hawk News email was sent out announcing Rocky’s Sweet 16. However after opening it, the email contained no information regarding the birthday celebration or the fun events planned to celebrate Rocky turning 16.
The students who immediately delete the emails will automatically miss out, but the students who open the email to glaze over the contents will not be reeled in without the proper incentive.
Staff should consider that getting students to open the email is only one third of the battle. The other two thirds is keeping them interested and getting them to click on the links. The emails should be more than just automatic trash. Freshman especially benefit from emails like these. Organizations looking for more members or event attendees rely partly on these emails, but communicating efficiently and conveniently with students need to be a priority, not an afterthought.
