UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Undergraduate students looking to make crucial connections and discover more out-of-classroom opportunities can use the Engagement App from the Penn State Student Engagement Network.
Originally released in August 2022, new features are being implemented this fall to include scheduled posts, the ability to tag specific users and organizations in a post, and integration with Starfish.
More than 20,000 students have downloaded the app since its launch and more than 6,000 events, organizations and engagement experiences populate the platform.
The Engagement App is available to all Penn Staters and connects students to a wide range of engagement experiences. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to post engagement opportunities, such as study abroad, student organizations, undergraduate research, internships, community service and more. The app also allows students to chart their own personal growth during their Penn State journey.
The Penn State Engagement App is available for download in the App Store or Google Play. Users can also log in at engagementapp.psu.edu.
In addition to professional and academic development opportunities, out-of-classroom activities help students forge important connections with others and create a sense of belonging, said Michael Zeman, director of the Student Engagement Network.
“We are here to encourage students to embrace the productive struggle and be intentional when planning and completing engaged learning experiences," Zeman added. "This way, students can develop a sustainable engaged mindset, and lower their anxieties.
“While there has been a palpable cultural shift in students not seeking engagement experiences in recent years, there are many people across Penn State, students themselves included, who are rising to the challenge to re-engage students with fun, social, low-stress experiences and events.”
New features to be released
The Engagement App will see a number of new features during fall 2023:
- WorkDay integration will allow part-time student jobs to display in the app.
- A resources link will allow students to find resources such as wellness, inclusion, and leadership and mentorship opportunities with the click of a button.
- Scheduled posts will let users decide when their post will go live.
- User and organization tagging will allow for better connectivity and promotion.
- Organization administration improvements will allow administrators to edit posts to their organization page rather than just the creator of the post.
- Organizations can now customize an event audience to make it only visible to their members or followers.
- Starfish integration allows academic advisers to have a well-rounded view of students’ engagement experiences.
- Notification control and customization was expanded.
Monthly workshops scheduled for Engagement App use
Support sessions are scheduled the Tuesday of each month to help users better understand the Engagement App’s features. Faculty, administrators, staff and students can attend one of the monthly sessions by using this form.
The Student Engagement Network is also available for 30-minute scheduled sessions. Sessions can be booked through Outlook.