A new phone application, which will allow Ventura County Community College Students to pay for classes online, among other things, is set to release before the end of the year. Ventura County Community College District invested in a new phone app, that allows students to make school payments, order parking passes and find school buildings, which will be available for free download before December.
Associate Vice Chancellor, Dave Fuhrmann, and Senior Programmer Analyst, Mike Rose, started this venture of developing a smart phone app because of the student need. “We know that students are mobile,” said Fuhrmann, “and as for mobile devices, most students have at least one, probably even two or three.”
A student’s life line has become the smartphone, especially as the ever-encompassing capabilities have grown far beyond social media. Staying connected and up-to-date on what needs to be done is now flowing into educational institutions. My Vcccd Mobile, which will be the searchable name of the application in phone app stores for IOS and Android users, has promising features. Students will be able to search for classes online, and although class registration won’t be installed in the initial version of the app, students will be able to pay for their classes, said Fuhrmann. Users will also be able to set up payment plans, as well as pay for installments.
Students know that those who fail to pay the class the day they register are dropped, but this app will push through a notification, said Rose. The notification would pop-up to the initial screen and warn that fees must be paid, otherwise your schedule will be dropped.
“It’s a great feature, because I have friends who were dropped from classes due to that and they weren’t able to re-add,” said Moorpark College Student, 19, Kyler Carlisle. More innovative features that will be easily accessed by users are the capability to pay for a campus parking passes, as well as utilize an interactive school map with 3D interface. New and returning students to one or all three of the Ventura County Community College campuses will be able to locate their classrooms.
“This is based off of a personalized school schedule,” said Rose. “The map feature will also show user’s location as well as the building their classes are in, with an image view of the building.” Personalization of the app is key, as users can customize it to fit their class schedules. “A notification area will also be a main feature of the application, as many offices on campus will be able to utilize it,” said Rose. Notifications include class cancellations, classroom changes, school events and emergency notifications from on and around campus. The much anticipated application will have a limited release which is set for early October.
Those selected to be part of the test group will have the first go at the application, said Fuhrmann. “The application was not started from scratch but rather developed through a company called Dub Labs which is used by over 700 other colleges and universities,” said Fuhrmann. “If any bugs or problems arise, users will be able to report problems, which will help with the app’s evolution at the Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura campuses.”
 In future versions of the application, Fuhrmann and Rose strive to have functions to support class registration. In the meantime, students will be encouraged to experiment with the application upon release.