Haskayne app hopes to engage business students

By Babur Ilchi, June 18 2015 —

The Haskayne Students’ Association (HSA) is developing a mobile application for business students at the University of Calgary.

HSA president Ryan Wallace thinks the app will help Haskayne students get more involved in the faculty.

“The first page that would open on the app is the #Haskayne news feed. [It] would integrate all social media platforms,” Wallace said. “The main goal is to improve engagement within the Haskayne School of Business.”

Other features of the app include an event calendar, a clubs list and a tracker for the competition known as the Haskayne House Cup. This tab keeps tracks of the points earned by attending events and shows a leaderboard of who has earned the most for their house. The app also has an e-commerce page where students can order Haskayne-branded attire.

“There are so many reports that are being released today talking about how the university experience is not just going to class and getting good grades,” Wallace said. “I think the app will increase awareness for Haskayne events. We think that student engagement should be priority.”

The HSA is entering their second year as an organization. They’ve wanted an app since their founding but only recently began development. The app will be available to students in September and will cost the HSA $3,000–8,000 to develop.

Wallace also hopes to integrate the app with business classes through a program called The Pencil Kit that allows students to develop mobile apps themselves. A management information systems class already intends to do a final project related to updating the application.

“We really strongly believe this app will give students the opportunity to improve their chances of getting a job when they graduate,” Wallace said. “We think this could benefit any faculty and we’d be happy to help any faculty that is developing an app.”