Single-Purpose Student Affairs Mobile Apps

Campus Recreation & Intramurals (CRI) at Georgia Southern University has gone mobile. Created by Chris Butler and his student staff, CRI Mobile represents a shift from multi-faceted campus apps to single-purpose mobile apps. It's a move that is similar to how Facebook spun off their popular Messenger application. LinkedIn is another company that has implemented a similar single-serve mentality.

Mobile users thrive on easy access applications. While a lot of schools may have enterprise-driven apps that compromise a myriad of functions, simple apps that have a more singular focus may be the future for student affairs functional areas.

According to Butler, the Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications at CRI, "the goal [with CRI Mobile] is to deliver another communication medium between the department and our students." Butler also noted that the project "was a great experience for my student staff to be so hands on through the development lifecycle." Available in both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, CRI Mobile has already been installed on more than 600 smartphones and will officially launch in January of 2015.

For users of CRI Mobile, the app represents an easy way to obtain targeted information. If you're interested in campus recreation and intramurals at GSU, this is the app for you. It eliminates some of the inherent barriers that exist within multi-unit campus apps that take on the appearance of kitchen "junk drawers."

For student affairs divisions, this type of single-purpose app development could work for a variety of functional areas. Focused apps for career services, campus housing, financial aid and academic advising (just to name a few areas) could be an effective way to reach students in a mobile space that's always looking for "the next big thing."

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