The Vanderbilt App seeks to eliminate the unnecessary hassle of downloading multiple apps to keep up-to-date with campus events. In the app, created by Lanier Langdale, students can access features such as a single sign-on page for Brightspace, YES, and Anchorlink.
“Just about anything you could possibly want is on there, and if it’s not, it’s probably in the works and coming soon,” Langdale said. “Everything dining related is there, the library’s there, and the Center for Student Wellbeing is there. You can check sports updates and every event that’s happening on campus. There’s a centralized calendar so you can see how truly over programmed we are when you scroll through all the events in a day.”
The fall of her sophomore year, Langdale initiated the process of creating the app by emailing the original Vanderbilt app owners and asking for code. During this process, an app company informed her of their open contract with Vanderbilt, saying that the app was available for tweaking, as long as Langdale reached out to the administrator for approval of any proposed changes. Langdale received full authorization over the app and began conducting weekly phone calls with a company based outside of Nashville considering potential improvements.
“The number of meetings I have a week solely because of the app is absolutely insane, but it’s been the most wonderful experience,” Langdale said. “I touched quarters of campus I didn’t even know existed before.”
Currently, the Vanderbilt app is seeking to improve accessibility on campus by completely renovating the map function. Langdale hopes that the app will be able to guide users from one point of campus to another through both standard and wheelchair accessible maps. Other improvements she would like to add in the future are indoor maps and audible wayfinding.
“I thought it would make way more sense to have all the resources in one spot because that’s simpler for students,” Langdale said. “There’s also this huge benefit, since we’re all going to the same place, that we can showcase other resources Vanderbilt has that students might not already know about.”
Langdale plans for the app to be an innovative and constantly evolving resource, adding new features as needs pop up.
“If you have any ideas for the app, let me know,” Langdale said. “ I’d love to work on it, or I’d love to bring you into a meeting and let you talk about them. I’m always looking for more improvements.”