Union’s website describes Ellucian GO as a mobile-device application (app) that provides free and convenient access to university information and services. Anyone interested in Union – prospective students, current students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents or friends – can access public information regarding the university. In addition, current students, faculty and staff can sign in with their Union login information to view course information, class schedules and rosters, grades, account holds and emergency text alerts.
John David Barham, director of information technology (IT) services and e-business administration, said the app is designed to be a collaboration of information from existing sources such as Moodlerooms, WebAdvisor, Union’s website and Union’s social media accounts.
“Our first major vision was to make access to existing resources and services more convenient through a mobile device,” Barham said.
Barham and the IT staff began testing the app in November 2013, then released it to a select group for final testing in May 2014. In August, Barham announced via a mass e-mail that the app was ready for anyone to download.
Will Walker, senior economics major, downloaded the app in August after his roommate told him about it. At the beginning of the academic year he used it to remember his class schedule, but now he uses it daily.
“I think it’ll be handy to have, since WebAdvisor is a little cumbersome to go through,” Walker said. “My favorite thing is the ease of use, the schedules for athletics and academics. I really like having those on hand when I need them.”
Union’s website says the university chose to use the Ellucian GO app for three reasons: it can be used on common mobile platforms, 234 universities already use the app and it is integrated with two current databases Union uses, the Ellucian Colleague student database and Moodlerooms course system.
Another benefit of using Ellucian GO is it will be updated bi-annually with new features.
“[Ellucian] is saying that their release schedule is in November and April of each year,” Barham said. “There will be major upgrades with the app at those times from Ellucian. So roughly every six months you will see some additional features added.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 3, Google Analytics reported 1446 users of the app and approximately 16,000 logins. Barham said the feature that has received the most visits is the class roster, where students can view an updated list of who else is enrolled in a particular class.
Chandler Bell, freshman pre-medicine major, heard about the app during focus weekend and now uses it daily.
“The thing that I use it for the most is to tell me where I’m supposed to be,” Bell said. “I think that’s the most helpful part of the app. Pretty much everyone I know uses [the app] that has a smart phone.”
To learn more about the app, click here.
App features requiring sign-in:
– Courses
– Grades (midterm, final)
– Holds (Financial, academic, etc)
– Emergency text alerts
– Password management
– Class roster
– Personalized calendar
Features not requiring sign-in:
– Calendar of all university events
– University news
– Trending updates
– Athletic news and information
– Maps of all three Union campuses, as well as maps of each building on campus
– Directory of all faculty and staff
– Directory of important numbers
– Library information
– Recent Union media
– Access to all Union social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, etc.
– Weather updates for all three campuses
– Links to the Cardinal & Cream and Unionite
