By The Cal State Long Beach campus has shrunk – so much that it now fits in the palm of one’s hand.
Inspired by apps at other universities, the team at Instructional Technology Support Services (ITSS) teamed up with Desire2Learn to create an app to benefit the CSULB community, according to Director of ITSS Leslie Kennedy.
The goal was to create an app that would provide quick access to essential information on the services, programs and events provided on campus, according to Liem Nguyen, assistant administrator at ITSS.
“The CSULB mobile app will help students become more acquainted with the services and programs that the university offers,” Associated Students Inc. President John Haberstroh said via email.
The app includes features such as news, athletics, transit, BeachBoard and information about essential university services, including the library, ASI, BeachSync and campus events. It also includes a map of the CSULB campus.
“The idea of this app is to collaborate all the critical information about CSULB into one to make it just a few clicks away,” Nguyen said.
Some students are already taking advantage of the new service. Junior Spanish major Catherine Rodriguez said she likes the app because it is convenient and simple.
“I like that you don’t have to go to a whole bunch of different websites to access useful school services,” Rodriguez said. “Everything is all linked up, and it’s easy to navigate.”
According to Kennedy, the ITSS team wants to reach out not only to students with the app but also to the entire CSULB community, and is currently working on an alumni feature.
“It’s an information pool for lots of different people,” Kennedy said.
She also said that this is still “phase one” of the app, and the ITSS team will update and add features to the app every quarter.
ITSS aims to add Student Health Services, Residence Hall and Dining Services features to the app in January, according to Kennedy. The weather button on the app is just the placeholder for a feature that they are currently working on related to myCSULB, so that students can access their class schedules.
The app is currently available for Android and Blackberry phones, and is scheduled to be in the Apple store for iPhones on Nov. 12.
