Mobile app helps students stay on track from orientation to grad

Guide, a mobile app that launched May 1, is now being used by new Ducks to help keep them on a path to graduation by syncing with current campus software used by academic advisors. 

Guide screenshot Incoming students will download Guide during their summer IntroDUCKtion sessions. The tool provides information, resources and to-do lists to help them from orientation through to graduation. From the app students can explore undergraduate majors, schedule appointments with campus advisors, view course schedules and save important dates and reminders directly to their personal calendar.

“Our students are part of a mobile-first generation,” said Doneka Scott, associate vice provost for student success. “The new Guide app allows the university to meet students where there are, to effectively and efficiently communicate with students, and to connect students with the wide array of campus resources they might not otherwise access on their own.”

The first phase of the app’s rollout is designed specifically for incoming first-year students. Action items for students’ to-do lists over the summer include prompts for submitting final high school transcripts and registering for campus housing. 

During the academic year students will receive notifications from the app encouraging them to engage in activities shown to support graduation.

All first-year students will be encouraged to use the Guide app during the 2018-19 academic year. Content supporting students beyond the first year will be added progressively, to guide students through their entire undergraduate career. 

An online document provides more information for faculty and professional staff who advise undergraduate students.