A new smartphone app is available to access grades, class schedules, Scholar and Simpson College news and events.

The app, Ellucian GO, is a platform from the same company that Simpson utilizes for student registration, financial aid and bill payments.

This replaces the previous app, MOX. Kelley Bradder, vice president of information technology services said MOX was a good starting point, but had gotten too “clunky.”

Anna Sherry is one of many students excited about the new technology updates.

“I like how I can pull it up whenever I want, and I don’t have to go to multiple sites to open things,” she said. Sherry admits she was apathetic about the announcement, but now finds the app useful. She recommends it to other students.

The interface includes one-click access to grades, a daily schedule, up-to-date campus news and events, a map of campus and contact directory. Bradder hopes more functions will be added.

“I think it will be a framework for the future to be able to add different software and access to different packages that students might want, for instance the dining balances,” she said. “Hopefully within this school year we’ll be adding notifications from Scholar to the checklist.”

The app is geared for current students, but staff can use it to access Scholar and class rosters. This technology can also be marketed towards prospective students.

“We will work with admissions and also student development to look at content on the app targeted toward prospective students. It may not be the same version of the app that current students use,” Bradder said.

Bradder said about five students have experienced troubles with the new app, but these problems were easily resolved. She said students need to remember to login only using the “first name, last name” format instead of the full email. IPhones automatically capitalize the first letter of the first name. Students should remember to change it to lowercase.

Bradder hopes students will utilize the application more and explore all the functions.

“I hope the students really enjoy it, because that was what we hoped,” she said. “Certainly any feedback or ideas that students have would be great because we want to make it better, and we would like more people to use it.”