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AUC School of Business and AUC Library Activate Students as Change Agents Initiative

Reem Abouemera
June 3, 2020

"Change is the law of life, and students are the most effective change agents in universities. Students as Change Agents and Partners is the Libraries and Learning Technologies (LLT)'s new philosophy and pathway for empowering students to actively improve AUC's overall life-long learning and research experience for themselves, their peers, and the community at large,” believes Heba Sayed, associate director, Strategic Engagement and User Experience, AUC Main Library.

 

The Students as Change Agents Initiative was launched in collaboration between the AUC School of Business and the AUC Library in the Spring 2020 semester.

 

“The initiative aims to meet the current need of the Libraries and Learning Technologies’ (LLT) for the development of a well-structured marketing plan to promote the AUC Library's service offerings to the AUC community,” explains Ibrahim Al-Sahouly, professor of marketing, who adopted the initiative among his marketing students.

 

Under the supervision of Al­-Sahouly, five business students: Dana Yehia, Malak ElShahawy, Perween Shinnawy, Dina Badras, and Mariam Bassily, introduced a full marketing plan for the activation of the initiative, including a comprehensive situation analysis on the current status quo of the library, with a particular focus on studying students as the core target through quantitative field research.

 

In essence, they studied the library’s entire main goals through their personally conducted field surveys with their colleagues, both undergraduate and graduate students who frequently recur to the library. Furthermore, they examined possibilities of the library’s expansion, space-wise and service-wise, and developed suggestions on enhancing the services overall.

 

In their report, the team analyzed both the micro and macro environmental factors and cultural obstacles facing the library, provided their own target market and segmentation as per the survey results, explored the marketing mix elements, and brainstormed, in-depth, the promotion initiatives that the library can undertake to promote its services while highlighting the importance of respecting the library’s environment.

 

Last but not least, the students went as far as detailing the marketing budget required to finance the mentioned promotions, based on the revealed limited budget per year, and prepared a timetable for the implementation plan.

 

"I'm exceptionally proud of my students being part of our AUC’s development, and I'm looking forward with great enthusiasm to having this special initiative sustained with my Fall 2020 marketing classes to reach advanced frontiers together," reflected Al-Sahouly. 

 

The AUC Library was founded in 1992 and has gained popularity as one of the most significant research libraries in Egypt with constantly expanding collections, including but not limited to books, journals, videos, microforms, rare materials, and a substantial collection of electronic resources. It also offers a bundle of services such as information literacy instruction, reference research guidance, document delivery, and more.

 

Its role is crucial in facilitating the transformation of information to knowledge through personalized services and a robust online environment, meanwhile playing an active and integral part of the university’s pursuit of excellence in all academic programs.

“The library joined efforts with the management department to develop an achievable marketing plan for AUC Libraries by students themselves and based on their growing needs and interests. Every recommendation suggested in this practicality will be further explored to be implemented in future academic years,” Sayed expressed.

 

One of the AUC LLT’s objectives is student lifelong learning experience, where acquired knowledge enhances students’ involvement and contributes to their lifelong learning. Accordingly, LLT solicits opportunities with various schools to implement programs that would positively develop students learning abilities, such as the “Students as Change Agents” initiative, which has crossed paths with business students for the first time successfully.