CMU Connect now available for iPhone

Central Michigan University has an app for that.

It unveiled “CMU Connect” on March 4 as a new application for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, intended to inform users of happenings on campus.

The application is available for free on the devices’ “App Store.” It includes access to CMU news, campus maps, weather and opinion polls among other features.

“It was a main goal for us to connect current students, prospective students, faculty, staff, alumni, and overall fans of CMU to the institution in a unique and dynamic environment,” said Steve Smith, director of public relations, in an e-mailed statement.

The app’s design was contracted to Straxis Technology by University Communications for $4,300 annually.

The Campus News section of the app features news from CMU’s Media Channel. It also links to Central Michigan Life’s sports stories, but not its news stories.

Smith said it CMU Connect is the school’s first iPod Touch or iPhone app, and he believed it is the first among the Mid-American Conference schools.

Paw Paw senior Jaimie Pineda tried the app on her iPod Touch and said she was impressed.

“I really like the setup,” she said. “It’s very Apple.”

Pineda said she enjoyed the news, videos, and polls. It allows people to stay more up to date with everything going on around campus, she said.

Pineda hopes future versions will include even more interaction between individual users of the program and the university, such as moderated blogs.

“It would give the university a better idea of what students want,” she said.

Expanding

University Communications is looking to release the application for Android-powered devices, Blackberry phones and Apple devices.

Though CMU Connect does not currently interface with CMU’s information technology systems, Roger Rehm, the vice president of Information Technology and chief information officer for CMU, said he anticipates building on it.

“We’re certainly planning to make more services available through mobile devices,” Rehm said. “The app’s a good first step.”

Though the features that may make their way into the app or similar spaces need to be evaluated, some possibilities include course schedules and bill pay, he said.

He said iPhone apps specific to universities are still fairly rare.

According to its press release, University of California, San Diego was the first public university to release a mobile app that gives access to course information. That school’s app emerged on the technology scene in June 2009.

In February, Grand Rapids Community College introduced an application which is integrated with Blackboard, the release stated.