Big things are in the works for Sacramento State’s primary mobile application.

The app, Sac State Mobile, currently features services students and visitors can use to better navigate the campus such as a detailed map, eatery information and quick access to both the library’s OneSearch program and Blackboard.

However, according to Vice President and Chief Information Officer at IRT Larry Gilbert, these features are only a small step towards a much more influential goal.

“Our main focus in developing this application was to provide students with mobile access to student center information,” Gilbert said. “We’re trying to pick the most critical issues that impact students the most.”

By implementing the programming portal Modo Labs, Sac State Mobile is easily navigated using a wide variety of devices from smartphones to tablets.

The decision to acquire usage of Modo Labs came after seeing how well the portal worked with CSU Northridge’s class enrollment services.

“The first thing that [Northridge] did was work on drop and add,” Gilbert said. “They discovered that when they introduced this mobile app that things were happening almost instantaneously. They saw an immediate improvement in the drop and add process and in students being able to get into bottleneck courses.”

Because of this noticeable improvement, there began a definite focus on bringing similar student center apps and registration services to Sac State Mobile.

Most Sac State students have felt the frustration that comes from trying to crash important courses. The plan to implement student center access into Sac State Mobile will ultimately serve to aid students through that process and positively impact future graduation rates.

“We hope to get [the enrollment features] out before spring registration starts,” Gilbert said.

So far, the application has only had a soft introduction to the public and will be presented to the Sac State Cabinet on Sept. 22. Despite this, students have already started to jump on board.

“We’ve had about two thousand downloads since Aug. 25,” said Associated Chief Information Officer Christine Miller.

While the enrollment functionality is the focus of the application’s coming developments, there are several other tools that may be explored afterwards like indoor floor plans and campus tours.

“This is the product of broad input,” Miller said. “There’s different players involved, and they all are participating in trying to make something that’s as valuable as possible to the campus.”

The development of these tools within Sac State Mobile will not only accomplish the main goal of supporting and improving student academic success and work, but will also serve to provide a welcoming campus which people will want to explore and visit.

“I’ve been using [Sac State Mobile] for checking out when food places close,” said junior mathematics major Brian Holt. “But I’m definitely looking forward to the enrollment services. That sounds incredibly helpful.”

The application is available for both Apple and Android devices, and some reviewers are already suggesting improvements.

“Overall great, please add campus squirrel track support,” wrote one recent Apple Store reviewer. “Four stars for now, will change to five when squirrel tracking is supported.”

Gilbert explained there will be no plans to implement such a feature, although he’d personally love to see it explored on a different platform.

If a student wants to share their ideas on what kind of functions they would like to see implemented into Sac State Mobile, they are encouraged to email IT Services at:

[email protected].