With a few taps on their phones, students can register for classes, browse Ball State Twitters and check their schedules — all on one free, new app.
Student Government Association is working with several groups to further develop the myBallState app, a free student mobile app.
The app, already available for Android and iOS, brings together features of bConnected, DegreeWorks, Ball State social media and the banner system.
“It’s going to be one central app for Ball State instead of all the different Ball State apps we have,” said Alyssa France, vice president of SGA.
A version compatible with Windows is still in the works.
One of the main apps currently used is bConnected, which allows students to access features such as their grades, schedules and institutional holds.
“The feedback that they’ve received on the bConnected app has been very positive,” France said. “The students have really enjoyed using the bConnected app.”
Loren Malm, assistant vice president of information technology and assurance enterprise management, is one of the people who first began work on the app this year.
He said its main purpose is to improve access to Ball State’s systems.
“We’re just trying to make that more accessible and easier to use for students,” Malm said. “One of the things we thought was that mobile applications are another way to do that.”
Another feature of the new app is one SGA requested the university to work on, France said, notifying students when they have a hold on their account that will prevent them from registering for classes.
She said students often try to register for classes, but hit a roadblock when they find holds on their account. The new notification system should help lessen the problem.
France said SGA was brought in to look at the app as elected leaders to see what potential it had. They are now working with Malm and others as well as CampusEAI, a consulting service provider that has developed similar apps at many other universities.
Malm said more features are being developed for the app. These will be automatically downloaded and added by the app when they become available.
