By Mandi Enger
With a focus on innovation and current technology, the Nevada State College (NSC) Office of Information and Technology Services has launched a free mobile app. Targeting the needs of students, faculty, and staff, the app titled NSC Mobile was designed for ease of information and on-demand connection to the college’s online services.
Since 2012, the mobile traffic to the NSC website has increased by over 40 percent, said Brian Chongtai, director of OIT. The NSC Mobile app is a new tool for this audience as they continue to seek out NSC resources.
NSC Mobile can be downloaded via Google Play (Android devices) and iTunes (iOS devices). The Windows Phone and Blackberry version of the app are currently in development.
App users have access to important campus information such as: announcements, news stories, phone directories, maps, course schedules, the events calendar, and the NSC Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube accounts.
Additionally, students, faculty, and staff will have the option to login to the app using their NSC ID number and password in order to access authenticated information. Features include: messages, enrollment features, final grades, account holds, financial aid summaries, account summaries, and unofficial transcripts.
We’re excited to see how quickly students will adopt the app and begin exploring its functionality, added Kathryn Mulvey, systems analyst at the college. Enrollment is one of our favorite features and we believe it will be one of the most popular. Current students can quickly search for open classes, see how many seats are available, and add/drop classes as needed.
The app will be displayed on campus Aug. 26 and 27 at Welcome Week booths located within the lobby of each campus building (Basic and Water I, Dawson, and the Liberal Arts and Sciences building). The campus will have the opportunity to preview the app features during iPad demonstrations held between 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
NSC partnered with software company Campus EAI Consortium for the app development. OIT plans to continue adding features to the app in order to serve the needs of the campus. Future plans include: the application for admission, payments, and push notifications for final grades and account holds.