Last week, the University launched a mobile application called "Guidebook" for first-year Orientation.

The Guidebook program includes a building and office locator and a campus wide events calendar, among other features. All these tools helped first-year students adjust to their new lives on campus. While we support the creation of this new app, we believe it should be extended beyond the features that are currently available in order to to benefit all members of the community.

Including more information about the many resources available on campus could transform the app into a comprehensive information center. The "First-Year Survival Guide" that was given out during Orientation includes information relevant to every student on campus that could be included in the Guidebook app. The survival guide includes a wide range of information from how to declare a major to the Campus Crystal Shuttle Service times and advice about how to obtain a job on campus.
In addition to these features, the app could also have a LATTE or sage function that easily directs users to those resources or a button to allow students to check their WhoCash, meals and points balances.

While we understand these resources exist on separate websites, working to consolidate them into one place would be beneficial to all students.

While the Guidebook app should be expanded to include resources for all students, the University should consider also transferring this information onto one comprehensive website.

As the app is only accessible to those with a smartphone, it is only beneficial to a select group of students.

Creating a comparable website in addition to expanding the information available on the app will best utilize this new campus resource.