Ahead of the fall semester, Ohio University (OU) has unveiled a new app intended to help first-year students find their classes, share dining hall menus, and help commuter students navigate campus transportation.
The new app, Go OHIO, was built by OU students and allows students to view their class schedules, GPA, balances, advisors, school email, and other functionalities. OU noted in a press release the information in the app will be especially helpful to students on the Athens Campus, but all OU students will benefit from using the app.
“I encourage all of our students to use the Go OHIO app this year,” Executive Vice President and Provost Elizabeth Sayrs said. “It is designed to help them access the services and resources that are here to assist them.”
Before launching schoolwide, the school held a 10-week beta phase last spring. During beta testing, more than 100 used the app for up to 10 weeks and provided feedback along the way.
“At the end of beta, all the students who used the app last spring said they would recommend it to a friend, with 81 percent very likely to recommend it and 19 percent somewhat likely,” said Jen Van Nostran, Go OHIO product manager in the Office of Information Technology (OIT). “We’re hoping that excitement continues as students share with their friends how easy it is to find their class schedule, check their meal plan balance, or connect to student organizations and events on campus.”
OIT said it will continue to evaluate student feedback and improve the app over time. Additionally, the new app will complement existing modernization efforts at OU.
“We’re also very excited that our new learning management system, Canvas, will integrate very well with the new app but a timeline hasn’t been set on the integration,” Van Nostran said. The school noted that Canvas will eventually replace Blackboard, with a pilot rollout starting this fall.
The mobile app is available for download and there is a desktop version that is also available. The school said students will begin receiving communications about the app in early August.
