Freshman Alex Sessums was walking to a class one day when he wanted to check the time of another class. He thought he would simply check the Florida Southern College Portal app on his iPhone to find out that information.
Little did he know, no such app existed.
“I was in shock, especially considering how tech-friendly the FSC campus is,” Sessums said. “I looked on the App Store to see if such apps existed for other schools and found one for such top-ranked schools as Harvard, Mercer, FSU and USC.”
This inspired Sessums to create an app to benefit the FSC community.
The app, appropriately titled the Florida Southern App, would be free for everyone, available on the iTunes App Store and possibly the Android Marketplace.
“It would serve as a hub in our smartphone-saturated student body,” Sessums said. “The purpose of the application is to provide a much- needed app for FSC students.”
Some ideas that Sessums has brainstormed include a faculty directory, complete with a biography and contact information, a way for students to see how crowded many popular places on campus are at certain times, a link to the portal, an SGA link where students could post ideas, concerns and projects they would like to see accomplished, and a link for The Southern so students can read about the media and watch news from around campus.
As far as the design of the app, Sessums’ hope is for it to be fairly simple. Sessums also hopes for some student help.
“So far, I have been stuck on that phase of the app and am looking to publicize the app to gain momentum for it,” Sessums said. “I would hope it would be student-led, run and developed as it would be a tremendous selling point for the school and the computer science department, as well as being an excellent tool for students to utilize daily.”
The app is still in its early stages.
“I sampled other school’s apps and took what I would want to see in an FSC app,” Sessums said. “As no actual work has been done on the app and I have not collaborated with anyone yet, ideas for the app can only get better and better.”
Some students think this will be a useful app to use on campus. Junior Shannon Lefkof always wanted an efficient way to keep up with certain things on campus.
“It [the app] is going to help save time, such as if the caf is too crowded, it will help me decide to go somewhere else like the Moc Mart or Grill Master. I also always forget my syllabus, so it will help me get in contact with my teachers when I need them,” Lefkof said.
It is hoped that the app will help students navigate around campus better.
“At first, I’m sure there’s going to be glitches like all apps,” Lefkof said. “But once it’s perfected, hopefully it will be really efficient.”
Lefkof also said that she, as well as other students, would like to see things such as updates about events on campus, even notifications sent to your phone when a game or musical production is coming up.
As of right now, Sessums is still working on getting the app produced and is looking for student help, a faculty advisor and some funds.
He hopes to get all of this organized before this school year ends, and to start working on the app next semester with a projected release date of Fall 2014 or Spring 2015.
Photo by Leah Schwarting
