Bulletin News

09/11/2012 

Sometimes, it’s the little inconveniences that get SUNY Cortland students’ imaginations churning.

For example, wouldn’t it be great if – instead of waiting in the rain for a ride – students could use GPS to track the path of the nearest campus bus on their smart phones, staying dry inside a building until the very last moment?

Or, rather than suffer the frustration of a long wait for a cup of coffee before class, students could use their phones or iPads to check live web cams in campus dining halls to see how long the lines are?

In fact, Cortland students have imagined using their smart phones to check their class schedules, access campus event calendars, auto-dial anyone in the campus directory and check to see if the clothes dryers in their residence hall are in use.

The time has come to give those imaginations a rest. All of those things, and more, can be done right now through SUNY Cortland’s new “mobile presence.” The newly activated feature offers a single, convenient place to access all SUNY Cortland mobile applications, services and content, including the new myRedDragon Mobile.

It’s as simple as visiting http://m.cortland.edu. Although some of the links take you to pages on the College’s main website, many of the most frequently used pages have been modified to make them easier to view and use on a mobile device.

“We call it a mobile presence because it is so much more than a typical college mobile phone app,” said Amy Berg, associate provost for information services. “The Systems Administration and Web Services (SAWS) team custom-built the mobile presence framework after a year of surveying users, collaborating with campus departments and researching the best possible technologies to meet campus needs.”

More than 1,000 students responded to the survey, telling the team about the kinds of things they’d like to be able to do with their mobile phone on campus. SAWS listened.

Although many campuses have adopted uniform-looking, “cookie cutter” college apps that can be bought from third parties, SUNY Cortland decided to design and build its very own, one-of-a-kind mobile device presence. 

This unique mobile experience was rolled out for faculty and staff late last month, and will be announced to students this week.

“This really sets us apart from what other campuses are doing,” Berg said. “We’re providing a rich, user-friendly mobile interface for all audiences. That includes current students, faculty and staff, prospective students and their families, alumni and visitors. It essentially includes something for everyone.”