The University of Central Missouri is making its official transition from the student organization platform on MyCentral to Central Connect. The new platform for registered student organizations includes features for recruiting, managing attendance and informing students of upcoming events.

  “This has so many opportunities for the students to be more engaged with their members,” Beth Rutt, Director of Student Activities, said. “I think it’s going to be easier for people to look at the 180 student organizations we have.”

   According to Rutt, the main reason UCM is moving away from the platform used in MyCentral is that it would no longer have technical support. 

  The new system is through Modern Campus’s Presence software and includes several new features to increase usability.

  “It’s time for us to move forward with technology,” Rutt said. “It’s very intuitive and it’s user-friendly. The other system was not user-friendly.”

  According to Deeb Hammoud, graduate assistant for student organizations, changes include the ability for prospective students to browse opportunities, a calendar of events and the ability to measure student event attendance.

  “In brief, it’s basically everything involved with student activities on campus,” Hammoud said. “I’m hoping that this software will help students get more involved with events on campus.”

  Hammoud provided training for student organizations to transition from the old system.

  “Almost everyone has been really enjoying it. I’ve heard so much feedback that they’re excited for it,” Hammoud said. “The MyCentral system, it doesn’t give much value to student organizations. This software allows for much more value.”

  Student Government Association President Cade Tremain said SGA is in complete support of the new software. As president, Tremain is also working on transitioning SGA over to the platform.

  “There are so many organizations that are a part of SGA, and so much representation in SGA that people don’t always take perfect advantage of, so that’s why we love the idea,” Tremain said. “It’s like a virtual involvement fair constantly. You can see what kind of organizations are out there, you can see what kind of leadership they have, what they’re up to. They can put updates on there too. So, you’re always in the know.”