Released a little over a month ago, the MyVCCCD app has taken Ventura County college students by storm.
In early 2012, requests to revamp student services from the web to an app were made. Created by Dave Fuhrmann and Mike Rose, the drive for this app began with the students as the main motive.
The main design in 2012 led to a redesign for mobile devices and tablets, such as the iPad, but actual development of the app did not begin until midway through 2013. Now the app has been released to the public and it is already getting a strong response.
“I’d say the development took a little longer than we thought,” said Dave Fuhrmann, Associate Vice Chancellor of Information Technology.
With 10,600 downloads by Jan. 23 and very minimal advertisement, other than links and emails sent out to all students, the app is doing quite well.
Yet, there is always room for improvement. Other updates that will be seen in the near future will feature library requests, class schedule search with dates, and student communication between clubs and other organizations.
A reoccurring complaint of the app is the fact that students have to continually sign in to the app in order to check their email or Desire2Learn.
“It was a conscious decision to do that,” said Fuhrmann. “If your phone got stolen and you don’t have a code, someone could log on and start messing with your classes. It would be like stealing your identity.”
Unlike most apps, this one was created to receive very little maintenance. Although a majority of requests have come from faculty and staff, the creators prefer to keep their focus on the students. For the creators, requests are looked at as potential updates.
Jesse Alcala, Director of Academic Affairs in Associated Students “[wished the app] was more modern looking.”
According to Rose, the MyVCCCD app mirrors a lot of new apps, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The other apps developed by the same company, DUBLABS, LLC, consist of an older style layout and are developed for single universities rather than three separate community colleges.
“We encourage students to email us for requests, feedback, and to tell us what you think,” said Fuhrmann. “We like open dialogue with students.”
When asked if the app was everything they had hoped it would be, it resurfaced a memory of a survey conducted two years ago with Fuhrmann and Rose. At the time only two people in the office had mobile phones.
“We didn’t really have a vision when it came to the app, we just knew that young people lived on their phones,” explained Mike Rose, Sr. Programmer Analyst.
Fuhrmann and Rose were right, young people live on their phones, and this app is now a new cherished feature for Ventura County Community College students.
“I see this app as a great resource of information,” said Andrew Brown, President of Associated Students. “I don’t think I personally need this app, but many other people could and would benefit from it. However, I don’t think it is serving its purpose. It is not well distributed and the people who would like or could use the information don’t know of this app.”
To bring up the advertisement for the app, Fuhrmann and Rose are planning to distribute flyers around all three Venture County college campuses.
Currently available on Apple phones and tablets along with Android phones only, the app will soon be available on Android tablets in two weeks time.
Until then students with the android phones, iPhones, or an iPad can enjoy some of the favorite features of the app such as, notifications, campus announcements, and its sense of easy to access.
Have any requests to better this app? Then you can contact the creators, Dave Fuhrmann and Mike Rose, at their MyVCCCD emails, [email protected] and [email protected]. You can also simply leave a comment on the iTunes store or the Google Play store underneath the app, letting them know what you would like to see soon on the app.
