CarolinaGO app to release update

Five months after its release, the CarolinaGO mobile application will soon introduce its first update.

The app, available through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, was part of 2012-13 Student Body President Will Leimenstoll’s platform and was released in October. The app is advertised as a one-stop shop for University news, bus and activity schedules and more.

Junior Diana Dayal — a member of the app’s leadership team and recently confirmed director of state and external affairs in Student Body President-elect Houston Summers’ cabinet — said the update will be released by the end of March. It will add a ConnectCarolina module to the app, enhance the UNC library module and possibly add an academic advising module.

“We definitely want to have more people using it, so that’s why we’re doing the update,” Dayal said. “It has more features that are essential for all students to have on their phones.”

The leadership team tracks the app’s progress through Google Analytics with the help of Information Technology Services. As of Thursday, the app had been downloaded by 2,847 people, and there were between 100 and 200 users per day, according to senior Nikita Shamdasani, who is also on the leadership team.

In an effort to increase usage, the team will launch an advertising campaign next month, Dayal said. The team also held an informational meeting with some of the campus’ biggest student organizations Thursday.

Sophomore McKenzie Folan, a member of student government working with the app’s team, said the meeting promoted CarolinaGO and encouraged organizations to update their schedules on the UNC Student Life website, which syncs with the app.

“We hope this can spark some conversation about the application and that we can hold more meetings for more student groups in the future,” he said.

Folan said they want to incorporate the app into new student orientations.

“What we’re hoping is that almost every student at the University, if not every single one, has the app downloaded, and it becomes the hub for student engagement on campus,” he said.

Allie Polk, an incoming member of the app leadership team, said the update will better tailor the app to individuals.

“I think a lot of students use some of the components, like the buses, but there’s definitely a problem with adoption and getting more people to use it,” she said.

Polk said students will be able to adjust the main screen buttons to fit their interests. There will be more within the app so it will redirect students to websites less often, she said.

About 76 percent of the app’s traffic comes from mobile, Shamdasani said, but it’s also available online at m.unc.edu.

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