Of the many clubs and activities Rowan University has to offer, only a few get a chance to be in the spotlight. However, there is one club that involves trying to make innovative changes to campus and its many locations. That club is the Rowan University Student Planning Organization, otherwise known as RUSPO.

RUSPO is a club that works towards making spaces for students more inclusive while making sure the campus is being fully utilized and appreciated by the student body and the community. This club works with the planning majors that Rowan has to offer. Planning majors, for those who don’t know, are majors that work with the community and environmental spaces and plan for what gets to be built or removed for the benefit of the inhabitants in an area.

Raven Vijayakumar, a junior in the environmental and sustainability studies and geographic information science majors, is the president of RUSPO. Vijayakumar shared what the club meant to him.

“This club is an activity-based club that tries to bring communities and interactions together that get students more involved to use the spaces made for them. It’s a club for the community, but since planning is niche and it’s not known, there is a lack of notice for it,” Vijayakumar said.

The club operates by having meetings every other Wednesday, where ideas are shared among the students on what needs improvements on campus. This usually consists of whether spaces are being neglected by the college or if there needs to be a reevaluation of how some facilities are being used.

“When it comes to planning projects, it comes from conversations with the students or even the planning professors to make events. But overall, it helps this club create a space for those voices to be heard. This is one of the reasons why we wished we had more members so they can be more involved. In the planning process, it can help those learn how to make activities and gain perspective. All of it together expands on how to learn and use spaces for the people and that can cross over to other skills to learn from,” Vijayakumar said.

Victoria Basara is a junior who is double majoring in community & environmental planning and geography. As the secretary of the club, she shares how the environment is a good place to be in and be heard.

“This club isn’t just about planning. We get to discuss everything and anything we are interested in. You don’t need a background in planning to be a part of this club. We just look for members who aren’t afraid to make ideas and share them to see positive changes on campus. We also have days where we play games and do activities to get better connected with one another so that we get a chance to strengthen our community here,” said Basara.

RUSPO is currently working on adding bike lanes in specific areas that have high bike traffic on campus to allow for smoother travel for those who don’t walk to class. Aside from that, they are thinking of doing more pop-up events on campus, whether that is bake sales or making a game corner for the rest of this semester. There is even a trip to Philadelphia, which gives the club a chance to take planning ideas from the city and see if they can incorporate that to campus while still allowing students to have fun and look around.

The club is considered tier zero for its small size and limited interest, but with the prospects of new members, this could allow for more funding to make influential changes on campus more frequent and more inclusive for everyone.

The next meeting will be on April 2 at 3:30 p.m. in the Discovery Hall room 409.

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