USD technology programs get major facelifts

USD staff members spent their summer adopting new technology in aim to make life easier for students. 

In addition to switching to a new online bookstore, USD introduced an app USDgo, to replace the previous YoteLife app, and a new Self-Service system to replace Webadvisor. 

Self-Service, a product of Banner, is a nationwide program students use to register for classes and access financial aid information. Right now, Beth Freeberg, Associate Provost, said students are still adapting to the change.

Webadvisor is still accessible but is only used for students to see their degree audits. Freeburg said by spring semester the degree audit will be taken off Webadvisor, which the university has used since 1997. 

“We are doing it in steps and phases,” Freeberg said. “We used this system in other entities on campus since 2017, like human resources and finances.”

The South Dakota Board of Regents decided to make the switch to Banner products in 2017, so, like USD, all other South Dakota schools have slowly transitioned from older systems to Banner. Freeberg said combining these tools into one product is more efficient for student use.

“Whenever there is something new there is a learning curve, but for students, they are able to adapt new technologies really easily,” Freeberg said. “Everyone is working to learn the new system and responding to any challenges that we’ve had.”

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Taylor Modlin, a junior medical biology major, said the transition wasn’t as difficult as she initially expected. 

“It wasn’t really hard. It just took some time to get used to how it looks, but it’s basically the same, just updated,” Modlin said. 

YoteLife was an app designed to give students access to all USD activity schedules. The app was produced by an outside company that struggled to keep updated. 

Much like Webadvisor, it received an upgrade and was replaced by the USDgo app this summer. USDgo still has activity schedules, but also offers students access to their D2l, billing information, Akademos and course schedules. 

“It will be interesting to see if students actually use it,” Scott Pohlson, Vice President of Enrollment, said. “The hope is, that it is like taking the portal and moving it to an app to make it more user-friendly.”

Additionally, the Coyote One Stop website will be launching in the next few weeks. This site is intended to work as a Google-type engine for students. 

“It is literally taking what we do in an office or an institution and putting it online and saying don’t leave your residence halls just go to Coyote One stop and go about your day,” Pohlson said. “This is designed to be a year-long program where you can go online and search for anything.”