Fordham University recently launched the new app, RamCentral, on its website, giving students a centralized hub for campus resources. Through RamCentral, students are able to conveniently make appointments with their career and academic advisors, get support questions answered and view several important resources, including professional development materials, inquiries on financial aid, student schedules, Campus Ministry and the enrollment group.
“94% of first-years and sophomores used the hub for academic advising and other services,” said Katherine Morris, FCRH ’22. Morris is the IT communications manager and a member of RamCentral’s development team, a partnership between the IT department and the Office of the Provost. “RamCentral was designed with Fordham’s mission in mind, particularly our commitment to ‘cura personalis,’ or care for the whole person,” said Morris.
RamCentral expands on Fordham’s previous campus resource center, FordhamHub, which launched in 2022. Through FordhamHub, students could schedule meetings with their academic advisors and view career resources. RamCentral has improved upon the previous system, now including more guidance options and campus resources. “It is a new name to give the platform a stronger, more memorable identity,” said Morris. Upon launching the application’s home screen, students can view their weekly schedule and navigate through four tab options: Academics, Career Center, Rams Involved Community and University Support.
The Academics tab provides students with additional resources to enhance “academic success” at Fordham, including academic advisement meetings, major and minor alterations and scheduling with athletic, prestigious fellowship or STEM advisors for students in integrated learning environments. A drop-down menu also gives students details about their “success team,” a term RamCentral coined for student deans and academic advisors. Students can also view past and future meetings through the academic advising menu on the left hand side.
The Career Center tab is headlined by an external link to Handshake, an application that allows Rams to search for jobs and internships, in addition to registering for important career events hosted by the Career Center and Personal & Professional Development. Below the Handshake tab, students can connect with the Career Center on questions or concerns they may have, including alumni relations, career inquiries, internships and student inquiries. Students can also provide attachments to the Career Center directly through this messaging platform. To the right of this platform, students can view inquiries which they have sent to the Career Center, and can determine if a response has been provided.
The Rams Involved Community tab opens an external application and gives students the ability to browse various clubs and activities they can participate in, as well as a master schedule of all past, present and canceled student programs at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center, including building and room numbers. “One of the great features of this platform is the ability to tailor it based on the specific details and data points that define a Fordham student, whether undergraduate or graduate,” said Morris.
Club forms are also available on the app, including activity waivers and forms to request guest speakers at clubs on campus. Resources are available for club moderators and activity captains, including club leader handbooks and presentations for club leadership training. Below, quick links to Student Government, Student Involvement and the McShane Campus Center are available. Finally, a direct contact button for inquiries can be found at the bottom of the page, where students can contact Rams Involved.
Finally, the University Support tab allows students to submit questions regarding tuition, financial aid, billing and other inquiries for review by the support team. Students can view the My Cases menu, which indicates cases they have opened, and those which have been closed, directly below the page description. A list of commonly asked questions about academic records and financial aid can be found to the right of the My Cases menu, including “Outside aid. Will it affect my financial aid package?” and “How do I request a transcript?”
If the aforementioned four tabs do not provide sufficient information to students, or if they are in a time crunch, there is also a search bar option, which will bring students directly to what they are looking for. In the same location, students can also view pertinent notifications from the application, including responses from the Career Center and replies on support cases. RamCentral is under continual enhancement.
“In the next few weeks, we will be launching a fully native RamCentral app for iOS and Android.” said Morris.
