On Sept. 9, UTRGV announced the launch of its free app on Android and iOS with the goal of having the university’s latest information on the go for the community.
Kumar Raman, IT director for Enterprise Development, said several departments worked together to implement features on the app that have high demand among students, faculty, staff and the outside community.
“We put together a selection committee that was the SGA, Student Success, Enrollment and different groups on campus that could evaluate different solutions to provide the types of things that the students were asking for,” he said.
Management freshman Samantha Quezada said she didn’t know about the app, but would consider downloading it.
“I actually prefer using the apps a lot better than logging in all the way through the website. I think it’s a lot faster, especially to check notifications,” Quezada said.
Raman explained the committee started work on the development of the app toward the end of last year.
The app has several features, including campus maps, the myUTRGV portal, Blackboard, the staff and faculty directory, and a calendar of events.
“For example, someone from the community downloads it,” Raman said. “There is an event section in the app that would tell you all the ongoing events on campus. And if they come to campus, they can use the maps to navigate around.”
English sophomore Eladio Guajardo said the app is an easy resource that can help students.
“Let’s say I’m like, ‘Oh, what is my next class?’ I would have to go to Safari, then log in and a lot of stuff. And well here, [the app] is already there,” Guajardo said.
Raman said the app costs $30,000 yearly and the funding comes from an information technology maintenance budget that is used for systems that benefit the campus community.
On Sept. 25, there were 1,890 downloads from Android. The number of downloads for iOS was not available at the time due to an issue with Apple.
Raman said IT is still working on adding more features to the app.
“We are also working with the transportation services to see if we can bring in bus routes and shuttles so the students are able to see the buses and shuttles in real time on their phones,” he said.
UTRGV departments will continue to work together for future improvements.
The app is available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
