New program gives prospective students photos, directions
The free application allows students nationwide to access the University and provides them with an interactive look at the school.
Michael Huneycutt, who serves as a University Ambassador, was involved in the research and testing of the USC iPhone and iPad application.
“I have looked at a lot of apps, and USC’s app is great for knowing where things are located,” said Huneycutt, a third-year public health student. “Prospective students can really get a feel for everything on campus and take a tour similar to the tour I would take them on.”
The app was developed in collaboration with Slicker Interactive, a Charleston-based company, according to USC’s Office of Media Relations. The app can be downloaded from the USC Visitor Center website, iTunes.com or Apple’s app store.
The Visitor Center coordinates thousands of student tours and appointments each year, which are now enhanced with help from the Campus Tour application.
Director of University Ambassadors Denise Wellman said that the new iPhone/iPad app gives future Gamecocks an additional way to tour and experience Carolina. The app provides different screenshots of the University and self-guided tours. It highlights certain buildings, like the Arnold Public Health Research Center, and gives, not only the location and vivid pictures, but a brief description of the history and usage of the buildings. The app will never replace the experience of an actual campus tour, but rather act as a complement, according to Wellman.
“There is an emotional reaction to a college the moment you step foot on the campus that technology can’t simulate,” said Wellman in an interview with the Office of Media Relations.
The GPS feature of this app provides all users with detailed directions to areas on and around the campus. The app is updated daily to ensure that new content is available for future and current Gamecocks. “Students and visitors will enjoy the ever changing landscape of photos, information, videos, which are in development, and campus news and events,” Wellman said.
Similar apps for additional smart phones like the Droid and Blackberry are predicted to be released during 2011.