OnionRings, students innovating the university: digital in the service of academic life
WAI meets a Milan student reality that turns listening, technology and collaboration into tools to simplify the college experience
In the listening journey promoted by Welcome Association Italy through the WAI Atlas of University Hospitality project, discussion with student associations is a key step.
Understanding the university experience means, in fact, listening not only to institutions but also to those who live the university every day. Students are often the first to intercept practical difficulties, concrete needs and aspects of academic life that do not always emerge through official channels.
The meeting between WAI and OnionRings, a student association linked to the context of theUniversity of Milan, composed of students with skills and interest in information technology, fits into this perspective. A young, dynamic and innovative reality that combines direct knowledge of university life, technological skills and attention to the real needs of students.
An association born out of the daily experience of students
OnionRings was born from a simple but very important idea: many aspects of university life can be made clearer, more accessible and functional through digital tools designed from the concrete experience of students.
Every student, during his or her academic journey, is confronted with information to retrieve, deadlines to meet, procedures to understand, platforms to use, communications to follow, and services to locate. These are ordinary activities, but they can become complex when information is spread across multiple channels, when it is not clear who to contact, or when communication does not come in a simple and timely manner.
OnionRings fits right into this space: it observes students’ daily difficulties and works to imagine solutions that can improve organization, access to information, and communication within the university context.
The value of the association lies not only in the technological component, but also in the method. OnionRings values peer collaboration, sharing of expertise and mutual support. This approach makes it possible to look at university problems from a concrete point of view, close to students and oriented toward finding practical solutions.
Technology, collaboration and peer support
In an increasingly digital university system, technology can become an important ally, but only if it is designed in a way that is truly useful for the people who will have to use it.
OnionRings’ experience shows that students can be not only recipients of university services, but also active players in improving the academic experience. Through IT skills, collaborative spirit, and attention to concrete problems, the association works to make the relationship between students, information, and university tools easier.
This dimension is particularly interesting for Welcome Association Italy because it confirms how important it is to involve organized student realities in listening and innovation processes. Student associations are often able to intercept practical needs that are not always fully represented in institutional pathways.
Thus, OnionRings represents a valuable voice: one that knows the daily university life closely and tries to turn critical issues into concrete projects.
Why this experience is also important for international students
While not exclusively focused on international students, OnionRings intercepts issues that deeply affect their experience as well.
For an international student, navigating the Italian university system can be particularly complex. The difficulties an Italian student may encounter in searching for information, understanding procedures, or managing university communications can become even more challenging for someone arriving from another country.
Language, distance from the Italian administrative system, initial lack of a network of contacts, and the need to quickly understand documents, deadlines, and services can make the pre-arrival and initial placement phase particularly delicate.
From the discussion with OnionRings, some central issues for university reception emerged: the fragmentation of information, the complexity of administrative procedures, the difficulty of navigating between offices and platforms, the need for clearer communications, and the importance of creating opportunities for socialization and integration between Italian and international students.
These aspects are also at the heart of WAI’s work. Reception, in fact, is not only about the moment of arrival in Italy, but the whole path that allows the student to feel oriented, informed, accompanied and part of a community.
Digital tools for a more accessible university
During the meeting, OnionRings recounted some projects geared toward improving access to university information and making the daily student experience easier.
Without going into the details of the individual solutions being developed, what emerges strongly is the association’s desire to work on digital tools capable of responding to real needs: to better navigate services and procedures, to find information more immediately, to improve communication, and to support students in the most complex transitions of academic life.
This approach is particularly significant because it starts from a concrete question: how can we make the university more understandable, accessible and close to students?
The answer is not only technological. Technology alone is not enough. It takes work of listening, analysis, planning and collaboration. It takes understanding what information is missing, what procedures are unclear, what steps create the most disorientation, and what tools can really help students.
In this sense, OnionRings offers a positive example of student innovation: not abstract technology, but technology built from the real university experience.
The role of student associations in hosting
The meeting with OnionRings confirms an important point: student associations can play a strategic role in reception, orientation and integration processes.
International students, especially in the early stages of their journey, need clear information, but they also need human references. They need to understand what documents to prepare, what offices to contact, what deadlines to meet, what services to use, and at the same time, they need to build new relationships in an often unfamiliar context.
Student associations can help bridge this gap. They can facilitate peer-to-peer discussions, promote moments of encounter, share experiences, intercept needs and create opportunities for participation in university life.
OnionRings, in particular, adds a specific expertise to this function: the ability to use digital as a tool for simplification. This makes it an interesting entity not only from an association point of view, but also from the point of view of innovation applied to university life.
A student voice to be enhanced
The meeting with OnionRings confirmed how important it is to listen to student realities to better understand the transformations taking place in the university world.
Associations that have sprung up within universities often represent a privileged observatory on the needs of students: they intercept practical difficulties, gather daily experiences and help bring out aspects that do not always find space in institutional channels.
In the case of OnionRings, this contribution takes on special value because it combines firsthand knowledge of university life with digital and design skills. The association demonstrates how students can be active agents of change, proposing ideas and tools capable of making the academic experience easier, more accessible and closer to real needs.
For Welcome Association Italy, realities such as OnionRings represent valuable interlocutors in the listening journey started with the WAI Atlas of University Welcoming. In fact, understanding students’ point of view means building a more complete vision of welcome, capable of holding together orientation, access to information, inclusion, participation and innovation.
From listening to action
One of the most interesting elements that emerged from the meeting was OnionRings’ ability to go beyond just observing problems.
Many student realities play a valuable role in representing needs, difficulties and critical issues. OnionRings also adds a project dimension to this level: it identifies problems, gathers listening elements and tries to construct possible responses.
This step is crucial. In order to improve the university experience, it is not enough to know that students encounter difficulties; one must also imagine tools, pathways, and initiatives capable of addressing them.
This is precisely where OnionRings’ experience takes on value: in its ability to transform listening into planning, participation into innovation, and digital expertise into concrete support for university life.
Toward a clearer, digital and inclusive university
The university of the future must be increasingly accessible, understandable and inclusive. This means simplifying procedures, improving communication, making information paths clearer, and fostering encounters between students with different experiences, languages, and backgrounds.
The contribution of student associations will be increasingly important in this process. Realities such as OnionRings demonstrate that students can actively contribute to building a better university by bringing in ideas, skills, and solutions born from below.
For Welcome Association Italy, listening to and valuing these experiences means strengthening its commitment to a more effective university reception, capable of starting from the real needs of students and building concrete responses.
The meeting with OnionRings thus represents an important piece in the journey of theWAI Atlas of University Hospitality: an opportunity to learn about an innovative student reality and enhance its contribution in the debate on university, digital and inclusion.
