Be in the know at your finger tips with the UNCG Mobile App. If you haven’t downloaded the UNC Greensboro Mobile App or have an older version of it, you’ll want to head over to the Apple App or Google Play store and install the new version right away. The new app has been revamped and is ready to rock.
UNCG rolled out the new mobile app during fall 2019 Spartan Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR). Students have easy access to all of the key campus resources they need on their phones, which has been helpful for them as they navigate their first days on campus.
The app has personalized home screens based on the user’s choice of a persona, which they choose when they first open the app. Presently there are seven personas: Faculty/Staff, Student, New Student, Graduate Student, Prospective Student, Alumni, and a community persona called Families, Friends, and Fans. All personas are available now, but the Student and New Student personas have been developed with targeted content. Look for the Faculty/Staff and Alumni personas to be further developed with targeted content in the coming months.
Both the Academic Calendar and the Human Resources Calendar are available from the Faculty/Staff persona. Additionally, users can view news feeds from Campus Weekly and UNCG Now, UNCG social media accounts, and Spartan Athletics.
With the UNCG Mobile App faculty and staff can link to Canvas, see a listing of workshops, and access the UNCG Spartan Talent job board.
UNCG Mobile App includes a combination of original content, web content, links to other resources, and connections to third-party apps such as Dining on Campus and LiveSafe. Third-party apps will initially need to be downloaded, but once the third-party app is loaded onto a device the UNCG Mobile App will connect to it directly. This will allow the UNCG Mobile App to consolidate all third-party applications that a student or staff member may need in one convenient location on their phone.
“While we don’t see the app replacing all traditional communication, we know that the incoming students are accustomed to managing their day with their phone in hand,” says Craig Biles, UNCG Mobile App Developer. “Putting key UNCG information into their phone is going to help us assist them to become successful with their classes and life here at UNCG.”
Some of the key features on the app include real-time tracking of Spartan Chariots, a comprehensive faculty/staff directory, and an interactive map which uses the device’s native navigation (Apple maps or Google maps). Other highlights include emergency numbers with click-to-call features and webcams to view the lines at both Chick-Fil-A and the Barnes & Noble Cafe in Elliott University Center.
“We’re just scratching the surface right now with the potential of this technology,” says Biles. “As we begin to work with faculty, staff, and students to tailor the app with even more information and functionality, I think you’ll see UNCG Mobile take off.”
Users can freely switch between any of the personas. For example, a staff member who is also an alum can switch between the two personas on their phone.
UNCG Mobile App users can report problems or suggest changes to the app directly from their phones via the Feedback tile, or email Craig Biles at mcbiles@uncg.edu.
Note: An impressive 1,223 UNCG Mobile App downloads have taken place during the seven days leading up to student move-in. (More Spartans downloaded the app in the previous months, of course.) UNCG will donate a can of food for each of those 1,223 downloads to Spartan Pantry.
By Matthew Bryant
Photograph by Jiyoung Park
