MyBW makes way for Campus Groups as University seeks to increase student engagement

By KATHRYN RAUBOLT Staff Writer

On Dec. 31, MyBW, the main hub for all records, calendars and resources for students and staff, went offline, forcing the University to make a quick-change midyear to a new service called JacketConnect.

JacketConnect, a rebranded version of Campus Groups, was implemented to fill the gap that MyBW left, and to increase campus engagement while being more mobilefriendly to its users.

Tyler Whidden, BW’s internal communications coordinator, was hired to assist the University in finding and implementing the new service. To help create a smoother transition, Whidden is holding workshops for those that interact with the platform the most, before moving onto workshops for the general student body.

“I’ve invited all the group officers, those are the users who are in charge of their department or student group page, to come in and we’ll just do a workshop training where I’ll give them an overview,”

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Whidden said.

JacketConnect was chosen due to its ability to function as a working database for employees while also giving students a chance to connect.

Links to student records, emails, Canvas, and other resources can be found on the platform, along with club pages and campus wide announcements about various events and activities.

“There’s the social – what I’ve been calling social media adjacent aspects – students going on there [and] finding groups and events really helps increase the engagement for students on campus and within campus groups,” Whidden said. “I think that they found that that platform, and so far, this has been proven correct, is a way to sort of foster more engagement for students.”

Student officers can create pages for their respective groups where they can upload events and meetings, making it easier for students to find and engage in their areas on campus.

Some students, such as Sami Dickens, a first-year acting and directing major, have found the platform to be more mobile-friendly, with an official app that allows students to be more connected while on their mobile devices. However, some issues have occurred with logins and the general adjustment period to the new platform.

“I think the app is more user-friendly because I can actually get notifications about events and announcements from organizations and professors,” Dickens said. “However, I don’t really like how it messed up my login and how I have to approve the sign in every time.”

The overall goal for the new platform is to increase student-wide involvement on campus, to keep and heighten graduation rates over the next few years.

“It’s just utilizing it as a way of fostering more engagement on campus,” Whidden said. “I think a lot of studies show that students who are more engaged, their graduation track goes up. They’re more likely to graduate they’re more likely to look at college experience with a positive experience.”

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