Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University has gone mobile. The university’s new mobile application features essential information for visitors to campus as well as residents and includes guides for hallmark campus events such as Welcome to Ouachita’s World new student orientation and Homecoming.

“The app is simply a way to connect with our students,” said Tim Harrell, director of campus activities. “They are all connected to their phones and tablets. Now, they get to carry an interactive schedule for our event with them.

“We’ve also loaded a freshman to-do list for all the students,” Harrell added. “When the guide is updated, it notifies everyone that they have something new waiting on them. It has been one the best ways to communicate with the entire class – even better than email.”

According to Trennis Henderson, vice president for communications, “The new Ouachita app is a quick and easy way for prospective students, current students, alumni and others to get up-to-date information about a variety of campus events. It also provides a helpful overview of campus life, ranging from a handy faculty/staff directory and campus maps to Ouachita traditions and current news.”

The app was developed in partnership with Guidebook, an app development firm based in California, and it is available for Apple, Android, Blackberry and Windows mobile devices such as the iPhone, Kindle Fire, iPad, Blackberry Playbook and Windows Phone.

Ouachita is one of the first universities to partner with Guidebook on this level. The company primarily offers organizations the ability to publish event guides through the umbrella Guidebook app, and Ouachita’s custom, stand-alone app is one of the first of its kind.

Ouachita’s Office of Campus Activities used Guidebook’s app for last year’s orientation process, with nearly all of the incoming class downloading the event guide. In Ouachita’s new custom app, additional entities on campus will be able to feature content that is useful to visitors and current students. Contributing areas include admissions counseling, alumni, athletics, campus activities, campus ministries, communications, fine arts, IT services and student services.

“We’re excited our alumni, former students and friends will be able to plan their visits to campus events prior to arriving in Arkadelphia and be able to have guides, maps and more in their hands,” said Alumni Director Jon Merryman. “It will save the expense of printing maps and programs and allow information to be much more accessible for those visiting campus. We look forward to the benefits of enhanced communication with our alumni.”

Download the app today in the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Kindle App Store and more. Find it in the Apple App Store at www.tinyurl.com/OuachitaApp and the Google Play Store at www.tinyurl.com/OBUAndroid. For more information, contact Trennis Henderson at [email protected] or (870) 245-5206.