“Hillsdale Experience” will soon be up and running in replacement of HillsdaleGo. | Courtesy Pixelro

After the HillsdaleGo mobile app shut down in the spring, ITS is nearly ready to release “Hillsdale Experience,” the new app to replace it.

The app shut down after a miscommunication about the date of the service’s termination from the Virginia-based vendor Ellucian, Kevin Mauer, senior director of applications and software said. The ITS team has hurried with plans to launch the new app by the same vendor.

The new app will be under a Hillsdale-configured version of the broader service called Ellucian Experience. 

“Ellucian Experience was available prior to them shutting down HillsdaleGo,” Mauer said. “We purposely delayed turning off HillsdaleGo because we knew the students liked it and it worked. We thought we had till 2025. But they turned it off in 2024 — there was a misunderstanding or miscommunication.”

The new app will have all the same capabilities as the old one, barring one student favorite feature, Mauer said. 

“I’m aware that there was a feature where you could click on a class and you could see the student roster at the basic level,” Mauer said. “That is not available by default in the Ellucian Experience app. We are going to customize that solution down the road. So in the near future, you guys will have that back.”

Douglas McArthur, the college registrar, said that he has high hopes for the new app.

“It should streamline the process of registration,” McArthur said. “I know that Self Service can be kind of overwhelming, so I hope this can help students register and look at classes more efficiently.”

Junior Hannah Tully beta tested the new application. 

“It’s a little bit easier to navigate,” Tully said. “It’s almost like Canvas — it has different blocks you can go to for different things. I like how you can get to Self Service easier, and it has a spot to sign up for the shuttle easier, which I really like because I travel a lot.”

Tully has enjoyed her experience on the app, she said.

“I prefer it to the HillsdaleGo app,” Tully said. “This one seems faster.”

Mauer said they plan to have the new app up and running soon, but the unexpected change has caused the delay.

“We’re on a tight timeline, we’re just trying to get it available to the students as soon as we can,” Mauer said. “You know, my take on it is, ‘let’s just get something out there, and then we can adjust it later.’”