Living the Yote Life: New app connects students to campus events

A new app is helping students live the “Yote Life” this year.

Yote Life, released Aug. 1, sends notifications to students about campus events and activities.

The app was developed this summer by Guidebook, a company that develops apps for universities across the nation, including the University
of Oregon.

Yote Life has many features. Most notably, it allows students and staff to access information about the 256 events and activities planned for this semester. Over 2,000 people have downloaded the app across the country.

Kim Grieve, the dean of students at USD, attended a conference that used a Guidebook app rather than paper schedules.

“I found it to be sustainable… and easy to use,” she said.

She wanted students to be more involved in the community so she brought the idea to Doug Wagner, the director of activities and programs for USD. Wagner said he was enthusiastic about the idea.

“I really wanted the app to be something that students could use and could be a resource that was right at the fingertips of students,” Wagner said.

Students are able to add events to their personal in-app schedule. This helps students ensure they can make any events they want to. Wagner said more than 200 students added the first major event of the semester, Yotefest, to
their schedule.

Reception to the app has been positive; Wager said he hasn’t heard a bad thing about the app, yet.

“The administration is supportive of the app as they need to provide a way to reach students in a digital world,” Grieve said.

Events aren’t just limited to on-campus; other events around town are also available on the app. Wagner said he wants to ensure all events that students may be interested in are featured.

“We wanted to have events that students want to go to but may not know where to go or how to get there,” he said.

One feature Wagner hopes to add is a turn-by-turn GPS, which will help students on their way to events, classes and
other activities.

Yote Life includes most of the content on USD’s website. Students are able to access phone numbers for every department and news about the university. Links to some student organizations are also included and Volante readers can even access this article, among all the rest, in the app.

Users can access information about university athletics, as well as buy tickets to games. Access to the apparel store is also featured, allowing users to purchase Coyote  gear.

Blake Muldbakken, a senior at USD, said he likes the ability to access on-campus restaurants and menus.

“I don’t have to be surprised whenever I go to the MUC,” he said. “If they have a special food I don’t like, I’ll go to Qdoba or Chik-Fil-A.”

Sponsored events could one day be added to Yote Life, with banner ads or push notifications about events around campus being pushed through the app. Any organization or company that wants their events to be included in the app are encouraged to go to the USD website.