New software is being used to encourage student engagement at Northwestern State University of Louisiana. Suitable is a free mobile app that seeks to enhance campus life. Logging into the app shows a thorough list of events happening at NSU and a tally of how many events the student has attended.
According to an article on the Suitable company website, the app seeks to incentivize campus involvement by “gamifying” the process—breaking down the broad goal of “getting involved on campus” into smaller, less intimidating tasks.
There are many facets to Suitable, which may make it appear complicated at first glance, but a closer look reveals the potential for improvements to the student experience at NSU.
Suitable was introduced this year as a better alternative to Presence, another mobile app focused on campus engagement. Although only a few weeks into the semester, Suitable has been more utilized than Presence ever was. It was used to log attendance at mandatory housing meetings and at the first football game of the year against Alcorn State University.
According to Trevor O’Bannon, assistant director of student engagement, Suitable is “much more user-friendly than Presence,” and Suitable’s “mobile first platform” is more appropriate for a “technologically driven age.”
While Presence was primarily used by student organization leaders, Suitable is a must-have for every student. The software is more functional and efficient than its predecessor, while also offering new features.
One of the exciting features offered by Suitable is Digital Badging. The Suitable article explained, “Digital badges can be a helpful tool for assessment and accreditation. When they are used to track co-curricular student engagement, this data can be used as evidence to benefit university accreditation efforts.”
In other words, students can be rewarded for their participation on campus. “We’ll be able to do things like provide students with a virtual badge of recognition for completing certain aspects of college life, and that can potentially lead to us being able to give stoles and cords at graduation,” O’Bannon said.
O’Bannon hopes for eventual integration with Handshake, so that employers can see student achievements on Suitable.
Suitable is also home to a comprehensive list of every Registered Student Organization (RSO). Many students want to get involved with extracurricular organizations, but do not know where to start. Suitable simplifies this process.
RSO leaders can register events on the app, showing everyone on campus what their organization has to offer. Some events include incentives, such as free food or T-shirts, and these benefits are listed in the app to encourage participation.
Within organizations, leaders can also use Suitable to assign tasks. Organizations can send notifications to members, reminding them of important deadlines. This is “the biggest way that students will find it useful,” O’Bannon said.
Students and staff alike are still adjusting to the newly introduced app. O’Bannon encouraged every student to download the app so its features can be properly implemented on campus.
Although the app is mostly functional, some have faced software errors and general frustration with the transition. An anonymous student in the NSU Student Needs Facebook group commented, “The times for events on Suitable are consistently inaccurate.”
Faculty members such as classics professor Davina McClain are also skeptical. “Very little information seems to have been sent to advisors,” McClain said. “And I’m not keen on having it on my personal phone.”
O’Bannon acknowledged the problems as NSU works to remedy them. “We do understand there are some issues with the app. While it isn’t a whole lot, we are working with Suitable’s IT team as well as our own IT team to get it resolved,” O’Bannon said.
Regardless, the minor errors will not impede the integration of the software on campus. Student Engagement has big goals to improve the college experience using Suitable.
