VandalSync, a long-running program ran by the Department of Student Involvement at the University of Idaho, is set to be replaced by two new programs next fall.
Vandal Sync will be replaced by two new programs, Engage UIdaho and GivePulse. Both programs will attempt to increase student involvement from clubs to service opportunities. Other colleges have made the switch to GivePulse, with Washington State University switching from CougSync, according to an email sent to faculty, staff and students three weeks ago.
Amber Schneider, who is responsible for GivePulse, said GivePulse will deal with service opportunities.
Lynsie Clott | Courtesy
Schneider said GivePulse will allow students and community members to connect with service opportunities at the UI, surrounding community and any other campuses where the program is in use.
Schneider said GivePulse will be available through the Engage UIdaho website under ‘a service’ button.
Schneider said along with the GivePulse website, there will be a GivePulse app that students can download to sign up for events on their phone and be sent updates on organizations that they choose to join.
Schneider said although Engage UIdaho is not live yet, and most likely won’t be until next fall, GivePulse is up and available to students.
Schneider said the biggest difference between VandalSync and the GivePulse program is how easy it will be to use.
Schneider said many times VandalSync was not user-friendly and tended to be difficult to use, but said GivePulse will fix those issues.
“I think the biggest difference is that this is going to be so much easier to navigate. Vandal Sync was muddy, difficult to navigate and not necessarily user-friendly. Give Pulse is very intuitive,” she said. “There are lots of ways to access what you are looking for, the management side of it very simple and allows for a lot of customization to meet the needs of our ever-growing community partners, our student volunteers and our different groups in the community.”
Lynsie Clott, who works for the department of student involvement, said she believes Engage UIdaho will have some of the same benefits.
Clott said Engage UIdaho will specifically deal with student organizations and clubs. Clott said the program will also be easy for students to use as it will be more organized and allow for more communication than VandalSync did.
Amber Schneider | Courtesy
Although she hoped to have Engage UIdaho working by April 15, Clott said that she ran into issues and IT difficulties, causing her to have to push the deadline to next fall.
Clott said although the program won’t be running until the fall, she believes the program will offer important features for clubs.
“The club portals are easier to use. It is more user-friendly,” Clott said. “It is events focused and Engage UIdaho will allow all students on campus to figure out what events they want to go to and push them to you.”
Clott said students will be able to engage in events further through the Cork app, which will be event-specific app students can get on their phone once Engage UIdaho is live.
Clott said clubs should be able to keep all of their data, forms and rosters from VandalSync but if they are unable to transfer all of the data over, they will notify clubs ahead of time.
Schneider said she believes the biggest benefit of switching to these new programs is the ease of use it will provide to students.
“A consistent narrative that I heard from students that VandalSync was clunky, hard to use and ‘I don’t even know where to get started’,” Schneider said. “If someone doesn’t even know how to use the site, they are going to miss out on service opportunities that might connect them with some passions they had.”
Cody Allred can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CodyLAllred