Campbellsville University has stopped usage of their CU app in favor of a new app – Modern Campus Involve. This decision came abruptly to CU students at the start of the fall 2024 semester. Everybody has been using the official CU app for more than three years now, so why did Campbellsville University make the change?
The transitioning of apps has been rough. In recent weeks, the Modern Campus Involve app, also known simply as Involve, has not worked as intended at Wednesday morning chapel services. When using the CU app, students scanned a qr code to earn a chapel credit. However, with Involve, students enter a four-digit code. For many students at the chapel, the message on their screens said that there was an error in the process. This has led some students to really question the change.
“I don’t get it,” said freshman Malachi Harpel. “I don’t know why they would mess with a system that works.”
Many students’ first experiences with the Involve app have ended up being an error when trying to earn their chapel credit, and this has led to bad first impressions.
Campus Minister Trent Creason said they are working on the issue.
“We are still working out the kinks of the new app,” he said.
At the chapel service on Sept. 11, when the Involve app didn’t work for some students, there was a back-up qr code provided that let students get a chapel credit through a Google form. At the Sept. 18 chapel, things were better.
“There have been a few bugs along the way,” said Creason.
Chapel credits are no longer giving errors, but Creason is still looking for a more streamlined way to give chapel credit through the Involve app.
The change to move to Involve was not just for chapel credit. The Involve app has many new features that improve upon the CU app. One feature Creason mentioned was an easier way to schedule events.
Before the Involve app, preparing events was complicated. People would have to fill out work tickets in the event planning process. For each event, the organizer of the event might have had to get trucks and vans to use from the physical plant, a set-up and clean-up crew, and a rented-out space for their event. To get these, they would need to work with many different departments.
“It is always an effort from multiple departments to create an event,” Creason said. “300 events a semester times four or five [work tickets]. And with each ticket you’re also working with a different department, so there’s a lot of collaborative work there and there’s a lot of need for good communication.”
The CU app did not have an optimized event-making process. The Involve app is connected to the Involve website. On the website, faculty and club members can streamline the event-making procedure, allowing for a more convenient process.
This change is not the only one being made this year. CU has also started using the Workday App, an app used by other businesses for managing a workforce, for faculty, staff and for other jobs on campus. On top of this, the university will soon be moving to a new website, which will work together with the Involve app. Creason has hope that the Involve app will be an upgrade for the university, despite the issues with chapel credit.
“It has the potential to be great or to be tough,” he said.
The Involve app brings new features and opportunities. In the app, events can be labeled with tags; these tags can include things involved in the activity, and you can filter your searches using them. You can search for tags relating to chapel credit, academics and even food.
According to Event Manager Laura Haydon, the Involve app has a useful new feature.
“A co-curricular transcript was not possible with the old CU app,” said Haydon. “The Modern Campus Involve app comes with a co-curricular transcript [for students].”
When you participate in events using the Involve app, they are saved on a co-curricular transcript, which can keep track of a student’s involvement on campus outside of their classes. With a documented transcript of everything a student does to engage with their campus, you can share it officially with businesses and graduate programs to help you apply to them.
The change from the CU app to Modern Campus Involve can seem confusing to some students. But, according to Creason, this app change has its benefits.
“My hope is that it will have an engaging system,” he said. “Something like Involve can become an opportunity for students to be able to [tell] a future employer, ‘This is how I was involved.’”
