Powering student life at scale: 440+ clubs, 80,000 members

AUSTRALIA

Overview

Arc is the student life organisation at UNSW, supporting clubs, events, volunteering, sport and student representation.

Arc uses Rubric across most of its engagement areas – student affiliations, events, grant applications, volunteering and sport clubs, with student elections moving onto the platform next. Before Rubric, that work was spread across a range of different systems. Bringing it together has given clubs more independence and given Arc a much clearer view of what’s happening across campus.

440+

clubs & societies

80,000+

members

3,000+

club events per year

The background

Like a lot of large student organisations, Arc had built up a patchwork of tools over time – a different system for affiliations, another for events, others for payments and communications.

With clubs running their own activities across all of those, it was hard for Arc to get a clear picture of what was happening at any one time. And the previous platform didn’t help: it was clunky and unappealing enough that students were reluctant to use it at all.

"The previous system was very ugly to look at, and actually discouraged people from using it… People didn't want to engage with it."
James Wilson
Clubs Manager
Arc UNSW

What changed

Arc moved its core engagement areas onto Rubric, giving clubs a single place to run their own pages, take payments and tell people what they’re doing – and giving Arc one connected view across all of it.

"It's provided our clubs more of a voice in a way that they didn't have before. They can set up their own web pages, their own payment system, [and] let people know what they're doing in a way that they couldn't do before."

Impact

A one-stop shop, and a clearer picture 
With clubs, events and payments in the same system, Arc can finally see what’s happening across the board, and the team owns that process end to end.

"We had a range of different systems, and Rubric brings everything together in a one-stop shop… With it all in the one spot, and with us having ownership over that process, we have a much stronger understanding of what our clubs want and what they're doing."

Better elections, run centrally
Arc has moved club elections onto Rubric, replacing an inconsistent mix of voting methods with one transparent process.

"Having a platform where we can get clubs to run everything through a centralised location will improve democracy, and it will improve outcomes for student clubs moving forward."

Looks that drive engagement
For a student audience, how the platform looks turned out to matter a lot! Where the old system put students off, Rubric draws them in.

"The way that Rubric looks is a big factor in the way that people engage with us, and engage with each other."

About Arc UNSW

Arc is UNSW’s student organisation, run by students, for students. Its mission is to create the best possible student experience for everyone who studies at UNSW, through clubs, sport, volunteering, events, wellness, student representation and more. As Arc puts it, they’re “that mate at uni” who knows what’s happening, where, when, and why it matters – helping students make the most of university life and feel supported along the way.

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