WebsterCanal Celebrates 1-Year Anniversary

Student-run website WebsterCanal is a multimedia platform where students practice their skills and build community connections with their peers, faculty, and staff. The website is not only a central access point to campus news and events but also a space where students can publish their work. WebsterCanal posts up-to-date campus events and news, featuring a monthly calendar to view events at a quick glance.

“WebsterCanal was able to bridge our Webster Leiden community together. Within one click, you are brought to a site that has all of the events available at the Webster Leiden campus, including articles, blogs, student clubs, and interviews!”

– Sina Ammann, Student Ambassador

The site features information about student clubs, opportunities in the community, and important campus contact information. A range of student work is also showcased, from interviews conducted with our talented faculty to blog posts about lockdown in students’ home countries.

WebsterCanal is visited from countries across the world–  The Netherlands, The United States, Singapore, Germany, Russia, Nigeria, Kenya, France, India, Pakistan, and many more– a true representation of our diverse community. During the period of March-April 2021, we were visited by more than a thousand people– an enormous accomplishment and a significant milestone for WebsterCanal.

“The website is an important platform for students to see their efforts in photography, film, writing, and editing materialized for a (potentially) wider audience.”

– Taco Bakker, Faculty Member

WebsterCanal is all about connecting. The idea for the website began during Noemi’s first meeting with the media club– as the new head of the media communications department , she was open from the beginning for ways to connect with one another. At the time, students expressed that the Leiden campus was missing a central communication point. There was a lot of news scattered across various platforms and students struggled to find important events and contact information. Creating WebsterCanal provided a solution to bring us all together, and quickly became a focus point of the media club. 

“The WebsterCanal website, led by Dr. Noemi Mena Montes together with a dedicated group of assistants and content creators is very special. Because it proves the inherent driving force for us creators; to seek out interaction by making things.”

– Matthijs Uivel, Faculty Member

“WebsterCanal helps students as well as faculty members to stay in touch with events, clubs, and fun activities.”

– Mony Akpakan, Student Ambassador

The website launched almost in sync with the pandemic and international lockdowns. Connecting took on a whole new meaning as we suddenly relied entirely on online communication. In times of the pandemic, the only way we can communicate is online, and we need an online community space now more than ever. 

“The Webster Canal initiative is important in times of lockdown, for the community spirit which is strong at Webster Leiden Campus, and unique as compared to other universities in the Netherlands.” 

– Marije Balt, Faculty Member

“What I’ve learned from working behind the scenes of WebsterCanal is how truly resilient and strong our international community is in the face of change.”

– Nikki Jennings, Student Ambassador

Forming connections online is incredibly difficult, and WebsterCanal helps to foster a sense of community dialogue. For example, the Faculty Interview Project involves student ambassadors who interview faculty, alumni, and staff members about their unique experiences both at Webster and with their own work. Through the interviews, we learn interesting information and foster connections while in-person connections have been scarce. These interview articles can be shared across multiple platforms, sparking conversations and drawing attention to the wonderful faculty, staff, and students at Webster.

“The Faculty Interview Project has been a great success as a collaboration between the WebsterCanal team and the Student Ambassador team.”

– Naya Pessoa, Admissions & Recruitment Officer

The Faculty Interview Project brings the faculty and staff to the students. The more we know about each other, the more inclusive and open our community becomes.

– Dr. Piotr Perczynski, Faculty Member

WebsterCanal gives the opportunity for our student community to find out about events, to get to know their faculty in a more personal way, and to practice their communication and media skills. The team was invited to participate in the annual Webster University International Teaching Festival as an example of best practices to create an inclusive online environment and best practices to share for faculty and students. 

 “We have discovered that the personal element can have a significant impact on creating connections between students and teachers.”

– Jonathan Talbott, Faculty Member 

In WebsterCanal, we give students the leading roles to create, develop and maintain the platform. It has been a great journey to learn from each other and to develop an online multimedia site that is also connected to our social media channels. Special thanks to the WebsterCanal team for being really creative, fun and professional! 

“I am very proud of the team that has been working with me in the development of WebsterCanal. It has been great to see their roles developing, maintaining and running this platform to give visibility to their work and to connect the Leiden Campus Community.”

– Noemi Mena Montes, Head of Media Communications Dept.

“I’m sure that no matter what awaits me on my journey, I will use the knowledge I have gained from working on this project & cherish the opportunity of creating this platform.”

– Artyom Napolski, Graduate Student

To see how far we have come as a team and witness all the milestones Webster Canal has reached is in itself a rewarding experience. The WebsterCanal team sends a huge thank you to everyone who helped this project come to life, and we’re excited to see what the future holds!

Click through the Prezi below to see WebsterCanal’s journey from 2020-2021: