Advice

Baruch College students have many resources available to guide them during their attendance at this school. However, everything is very fragmented and spread out over many different platforms and accounts. In an attempt to remedy this situation, I recommend having two different apps and websites that focus on both the professional and social aspects at Baruch in order for Baruch College to utilize new media.

Currently, Baruch students have different accounts for receiving updates from professors and submitting homework assignments on Blackboard and selecting and paying for classes on CUNY First, finding internships and jobs on STARR, setting up an appointment at the center for academic advisement, and even for booking a study room in the library. This Baruch Professional app and associated website would at least bring these sites together as links to help students easily login using one username or email address and password. Once logged in, students will have access to any one of these resources on the page. Mobile friendly layouts for these services on the app will be prioritized since the desktop versions of these sites are already well organized. As for additions to the app that are not currently available at Baruch College, I would recommend a Baruch aid feature that would allow one to easily report something that needs attention or change at the college. Also, students should be able to ask questions to academic advisement that can be answered or emailed back to them in a timely fashion. Another instance would be a notification sent to a student when an appointment for a study room in the library is cancelled or when a class is dropped from someone’s schedule and subsequently a spot opens up in a class (similar to the Coursicle app) would help out students who need the specific study room or relevant class in a prompt manner without having them checking back frequently on the specific site.

Similarly, the social presence of Baruch students can be increased through the introduction of a Baruch social app and website as well in conjunction with more social media presence on sites such as Facebook and Instagram. Currently, one of the few ways to find club events, buy and sell textbooks, and ask for opinions about classes and professors is through either Baruch’s Facebook, Reddit, or Baruch blog pages. However, this divide across social media platforms without a large presence on any single one calls for needed change. The Baruch social app would bring together Baruch blogs, club event reminders, textbook selling, a general question center, and focused chatrooms to bring together like minded focused individuals for networking purposes. For example, focused chat spaces would be a place to showcase possible business ideas to others for prospective collaboration among students who are interested in them. Also, people in the same class section could discuss readings and get help from one another. Finally, students who share the same taste in activities such as music genres and sports teams would also have a place to freely talk about their interests.