What’s app at Colgate? You can find the answer in the new Colgate Mobile App that is available for download from the App Store and from Google Play.
The app is part of a university initiative to provide on-the-go information and resources for on-campus communities and for anyone who wants to connect with Colgate.
A collaborative project involving Information Technology Services and the Office of University Communications, the Colgate Mobile App includes features such as:
- Moodle access
- Up-to-the-minute Cruiser schedules
- Access to portal content
- Searchable campus directory
- Dining locations, hours, and menus
- Latest campus news
- Operating hours for libraries, recreational facilities
- Raiders sports news, schedules, and scores
- Calendar of events
- Customizable home screen
“We believe this will be a terrific way to access information quickly and easily,” said Kevin Lynch, chief information officer. “This first iteration of the app is based on input from students, faculty, and staff and is an important milestone for the university’s mobile strategy. We are eager to continue to develop features and functionality to serve the Colgate community.”
The free app released today, as Lynch pointed out, is only the first phase of a long-term plan to evolve this increasingly important mobile platform and to add more features.
There is work underway to add ’Gate Card functionality; increase portal access for students and add access for staff and faculty; better filter calendar events; include GPS tracking for the Cruiser; add a library catalog component; and add live streaming from WRCU-FM.
A beta version of the app has been tested by students, staff, and faculty for the past four weeks, and an hour-long focus group with first-year students was held October 24.
Madeleine Tsao ’17 was one of the students testing the app.
“So many of its features offer information useful to my daily life at school,” she said. “The two features I’ve already been using the most are the Cruiser schedule and the menu listings for the various dining halls.”
The Colgate Mobile App is powered by Kurogo, an open-source middleware developed by Modo Labs.
The Kurogo platform allows Colgate to develop “apps within the app” for big events such as first-year orientation, commencement, family weekend, and reunion.
It also provides ways to build and present content for specific audiences, such as parents and current students, and it can link to existing apps that already are serving different Colgate audiences, acting as the place for one-stop app shopping.
If you have questions or suggestions for the app, please email mobile@colgate.edu