LEWISTON – Niagara University has launched a new app that will connect the world to the campus, giving users access to news, events and scores, as well as an employee directory, course listings, admissions information and more.
Users can even listen to campus radio station WNIA and play the Niagara fight song from their mobile devices.
The new mobile application is free for iPhone, iPod Touch and Android devices, and is currently available for download in the Apple iTunes Store and the Google Play Store (Android Market) or can be accessed by visiting www.niagara.edu/app.
Parents and prospective students will find information on counselors, applying to Niagara and an interactive map that includes a brief video overview and photo library of every academic building on campus.
“We want our growing number of prospective students and parents who have smartphones to have a tool in their hands to get to know Niagara better,” said Kevin Hearn, vice president for student affairs and interim dean of enrollment management. “This app will certainly not replace the personal nature of the counselor-to- student interaction, but it will make our information more accessible and enhance the experience of a college-searching family.”
Niagara graduates also will be able to use the app as a tool to stay in touch with their alma mater, learn more about alumni events, submit a class note and make a gift to the university via their mobile devices.
The mobile application was designed by Matt Villnave, a 2002 graduate, assistant director of information technology, and coordinated by Michael Freedman, associate director of public relations and manager of online content.
By developing the app in-house, Villnave estimates, the university saved tens of thousands of dollars in initiation costs and annual fees.
Matthew Nadler, president of Niagara’s Student Government Association, also assembled focus groups over the last few months to meet with Freedman and Villnave so that they could most effectively gauge student interest.
Some of the new ideas that arose from these meetings were: the inclusion of meal plan balances, polls and club information, and adding a feature called “Share Your NU,” which allows users to submit their own photos for possible use in university marketing materials and on social media sites.
