By Kiara Catanzaro
News Assignment Editor
With the launch of the new St. Bonaventure website, Emily Sinsabaugh, vice president of university relations, made the choice to discontinue the St. Bonaventure University mobile app Tuesday.
“Ultimately, it was my decision, but I consulted with our marketing and communications team as well as with Technology Services and Sports Information,” Sinsabaugh said.
Because of the updates to the website, students could access the information easily through the website instead of the mobile app, so it was beneficial for the university to discontinue it, according to Sinsabaugh.
“It offered students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of St. Bonaventure easy mobile access to information about the university, most of which was housed on the university’s website,” Sinsabaugh said.
With the current updates to the St. Bonaventure website, there was no purpose for the mobile app anymore. When managing a budget and other resources, including staff, it’s important to be concerned about return on investment and find alternative ways to accomplish goals. In this case, the investment for the app was no longer necessary, according to Sinsabaugh.
Some students who have downloaded the app in the past have deleted it because they didn’t find specific benefits to having it on their phones.
“I didn’t find a use for the app,” said Josh Carniewski, a graduate student in the Integrated Marketing Communications program. “It didn’t include my.sbu, and if I needed any additional information, I went on the website. I forgot I had the app most of the time, so I deleted it.”
Other students, however, say they are disappointed because the app was more user-friendly than the site..
“I’m not happy about the app being discontinued because it had the list of the campus directory and a map of campus, which I think is useful for first-year students so they know where everything is located,” Carl Siegel, a freshman political science major, said. “I had trouble connecting to the website through my phone, so it was easier for me to use the app to find information.”
There are no new plans to create a new St. Bonaventure app for students to download, according to Sinsabaugh.
We’re always in the process of considering new ideas and approaches,” Sinsabaugh said. “The athletics web package includes access to an app for athletics-related information. That is the only app the university is offering at this time.”
Students who used the app for athletic information can download the new mobile application for athletics at GoBonnies and click “Mobile App.”
