SU on the Go, Suffolk University’s very first mobile app, is here.
To help students with their fast-moving and often hectic lifestyle of students, Suffolk’s Information Technology Services staff created this free app that rolled out in mid-November.
The Suffolk-focused app provides access to resources to help students keep track of their courses, grades and academic information. They can also view a campus map, staff directory, important numbers and other resources.
Suffolk University’s Associate Chief Information Officer, Fouad Yatim, said the app is centered around the day-to-day business of the school.
“Students today have access to the information that they need to have access to but it’s truly on the computer,” Yatim said. “So we wanted to give access to students through an app that is going to allow them to get access information from where they are, whenever they need to, with whatever device they have access to.”
Students are able to see their current schedule in a mobile-friendly format on their screen. With each course, users can see a description of the class, along with its location, date, time and faculty information.
Daniel Smith, a sophomore environmental science major at Suffolk, commented on how useful this app is to him in his everyday life as a student.
“It allows you to access almost all the information you would need about Suffolk,” Smith told the Journal. “It essentially houses all the information I’ve struggled to find on the Suffolk website in a well-organized set of tabs that makes keeping up with grades, events, and important info far less of a headache.”
The app will send the user directions to their classes from their current location. Along with their current courses, students can also see grades and information from their past courses.
Information is available for undergraduate and graduate programs, pathway programs, and law programs. Suffolk’s academic calendar is also in the app.
Lindsey Card, a biology major in the class of 2021 at Suffolk University, said she prefers the app to the website in mobile situations.
“It’s much quicker than it would be to go through the website,” said Card. “I know for me personally, that when I pull up the Suffolk website on my phone, I get annoyed with zooming in and out and sometimes certain pages won’t open, and the app gets rid of these issues.”
Users have access to information to find campus offices and services, including Academic Advising, the Financial Aid office and Residence Life.
Faculty members and their contact information are easily obtainable via the app’s employee directory. Phone numbers and addresses of the university’s Counseling, Health and Wellness Center and the Suffolk University Police Department, for both non-emergencies and emergencies, are also easy to access through the app.
Also nestled in the app are maps to help users see where all of Suffolk’s buildings and athletic fields are located, along with a list of campus events. By using the device’s map app, users get a bird’s eye view of Suffolk’s campus and the city’s building and businesses surrounding it.
An MBTA schedule is offered with real-time alerts, particularly designed for the large number of commuters that attend the university.
Lukas Phipps, commuter senator at-large for Suffolk’s Student Government Association, said he likes how the app puts most campus resources in one place.
“Logging online to check grades, for example, requires multiple portals and logins- this [app] just has one. As a commuter, its MBTA alerts are especially useful. I’d imagine the Res Hall Laundry feature that lets residents know available laundry machines is also a big plus,” said Phipps, a political science major.
The app allows mobile access to many other resources available on Suffolk University’s website, catered to the interests and needs of each student. However, students said the app is still missing a few desired aspects.
“It does not have an option to stay signed in, which is very frustrating,” Smith said. “You have to login every time you open the app or else its key features are useless. You also have to log in separately when following some links once already logged into the app.”
Yatim said the app’s developers are looking for feedback on the app, and wish to cater this app to the student’s wants and needs.
“We want people to give us feedback on the app. [It is] everybody’s right to [tell] us, ‘We like to see this. We like to see that.’ But some things we can do, some things cannot be done,” Yatim said. “So we’re trying to incorporate a lot of things that people have given us feedback on. If the app can do it, then we’ll do it.”
SU on the GO is available for download both from the Google Play and Apple App Store. Suffodwlk University students, faculty and staff can sign into the app with their Suffolk University credentials.
