Students,
Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope you found time to relax, watch some Netflix and maybe study a bit as well (only joking on that last one).
As I’ve touched on several times in this weekly column, one of the biggest goals Jake and I had when we ran for office a year ago was to improve technology and mobility at K-State. Along with Theo Stavropoulos, SGA’s Technology Coordinator, we’ve made progress on our goal: we’ve worked to bring mobile charging stations to a few of the highest-trafficked buildings around campus, we’ve installed a wifi-error reporting link on KSOL, and this week, Student Senate will vote on over $50,000 worth of improvements in Student Union wireless internet coverage.
As our term ends in a couple of weeks, we’re happy to report progress on one of our most exciting goals — that of a comprehensive K-State mobile app on which students, faculty, and staff can access course content, receive K-State updates and alerts, access financial information, and more. We’ve been working all year with at least three major entities involved with the idea: K-State Online’s leadership; iSIS’s directors; and K-State Communications and Marketing, the producers of the already-existing K-State app. Hearing the ideas of all three groups and working to coordinate them has taken some time, but we’re excited to now be moving forward in a unified way toward the goal of greater mobility at K-State.
This week, one of the most important steps in the process will occur: a survey will be released to all students tomorrow morning via email so the individuals involved with the development of an app will know the exact path to take from now on. How important is access to textbook information, parking garage availability information, grades or course content? How about financial aid information, transcripts and push notifications? All of this and more will be asked of us this week via the survey. Your participation is not only important — it is vital to the future of mobility at K-State!
Once survey results are compiled, the technology-related entities on campus will know which potential app components are most important to students, and therefore, what they should prioritize highest as they build an improved app. Obviously, that path will continue after Jake and I leave office, and we’re happy that Reagan Kays and Cody Kennedy are on board with the initiative and will continue to represent students throughout the process.
Please fill out the survey tomorrow, and encourage everyone you know to do the same!
Eli Schooley
Student Body President
