Student clubs at the HSG

As president of the HSG student union (SHSG), the 23-year old Irina Kopatz manages about 40 employees during a year. She also has financial responsibility. “You can take on great responsibilities whilst very young at the HSG through various student clubs”, added Kopatz. Admittedly, the SHSG is not a club, but a sub-entity of the university, however HSG students can also get involved in it voluntarily. 

Student engagement enriches curriculum vitae

In addition, there are about 140 student clubs and initiatives on the HSG campus. Their best known activities outside HSG are the St.Gallen Symposium and the Start Summit founders' conference. Both events bring thousands of international guests to St.Gallen.
Student commitment enriches CV

The clubs in addition cover career and business topics, politics, sport, culture and social involvement, for example. “You can explore various topics and tasks, try things out - and make mistakes at the same time”, says Kopatz. Depending on the nature and scope of the commitment, the club work can also enrich the curriculum vitae of the students. “This can also help students when they are looking for jobs after graduating”, she adds.

“What's remarkable is that the diverse HSG club landscape arose bottom-up thanks to the ideas and initiatives of the students and is based completely on voluntary work”, comments Ulrich Schmid, HSG Professor for Eastern European Studies. As Vice President of External Relations, Schmid is the link between the student clubs and the HSG. It actively promotes club activities by supporting club events with small amounts for individual projects. As a result, students who perform extraordinary services for a club in the interests of the university as a whole can in addition receive up to 12 ECTS points - so-called campus credits - for their studies. 

Lively HSG campus also thanks to clubs

According to Schmid, the clubs also actively shaped university life. “At the HSG, there are almost daily events by and for students. This ensures that the HSG campus is also full of life after the end of term”. He regards this as an example of the original idea of the university, as a place where teachers and students engage in exchanges as a community. “Furthermore, many clubs also take up current questions, such as security policies or sustainability. Renowned experts often appear at their events”, Schmid reveals. 

In the 2022 spring semester, the clubs helped to configure various public events: for example, at the end of February, many students took an active part in the programme at the “Open SQUARE”. Three thousand visitors were able to experience climate change that day in the SQUARE, for example with sustainability clubs, by completing a challenge with the HSG rugby club or solving a creativity task with start-up clubs. The Squared music festival was also staged in the SQUARE in mid-March with international and Swiss bands. Amplify, the club for music and event planning, was behind this. “These activities demonstrate that the club landscape at the HSG has a great deal to offer - as a result, it's one of many arguments in favour of studying at HSG”, points out Irina Kopatz.

Photo: Hannes Thalmann; START Summit 2023