By Scott Zielsdorf
This year, NAIT’s annual Student Service Fair is going virtual. The event serves as a means for students to connect with the services that support them on campus. Nicole Blomme, a career/employment liaison for Transition Services, says the event is a great opportunity to connect with various student services.
“It’s a really good opportunity for students to come and connect with NAIT’s student services, and the staff members at those service areas,” said Blomme. This year is no different – aside from all the “booths” being hosted online.
“[Students] can also learn about how they can access all the services virtually this year…You can be familiar with the services, but how you access them virtually is going to be new to everyone,” Blomme added.
Rather than filling the CAT building floor with booths and people, the entire event is now being hosted as a virtual expo. The online booth layout is accessible right now, and links to the various chat rooms will be available during the event. Students will be able to drop in at any time and connect online with NAIT service staff.
As with many things in our new COVID-19 reality, the chat rooms will be carried out entirely on Microsoft Teams. Students can join a virtual booth via the Microsoft Teams mobile or desktop application, or join as a guest through a web browser. Information regarding Microsoft Teams can be found on the event website. Blomme believes the service fair will be easily accessible for everyone because of this.
“There are a couple of steps, but it’s fairly intuitive…and we hope that providing all that information will fill in any gaps or questions students may have,” said Blomme.
Even in a period where students will be spending much less time on campus, it is important to stay informed on what the school is doing to support life and learning. Blomme says events like the Student Service Fair remain crucial to understanding what services are being offered during a mostly online schooling environment.
“We’re encouraging any student – regardless of where they’re at in their time at NAIT to come to the event…there’s still a lot that all of the service areas can offer to students, despite being virtual. Coming to this event is a great way to learn about those initiatives,” said Blomme.
The event runs from September 15 – 16, with both days starting at 11 a.m. and ending at 2 p.m.
