NYIT adds Just in Case app in Mandarin

As part of the ongoing program evaluation at the New York Institute of Technology, Senior Director of Counseling and Wellness Alice Herron-Burke decided to hire a consulting therapist who speaks Mandarin. "We have many students who come to NYIT from China," says Herron-Burke, and once the new therapist began meeting with students. "I realized that we had to do a better job of outreaching to international students."

The result? Herron-Burke had the Just in Case app translated and published for students in Mandarin.

"I hired a Chinese student to assist with programs and outreach tables and from there the idea grew to translate the app," recalls Herron-Burke. "My student worker suggested we add a section on homesickness and also explained the differences in translation." To develop the content for the app, the student assistant "chose the appropriate Mandarin words that would clearly get our points across to students."

In addition to the new section on "Homesickness," the NYIT Just in Case app in Mandarin includes such practical information as a section on the international health insurance that covers the Chinese students.

Adding the Mandarin app to NYIT's outreach effort took only a couple of weeks from the time that the translation was completed by Herron-Burke's student assistant. A decision to publish the Mandarin app on a white background made sense for the readability of the Chinese characters. The NYIT student app in English employs white text on an "NYIT blue" background. The Mandarin app uses all the same live phone links and web links as the English app.

Similarly, when Herron-Burke wanted to add emergency numbers to Just in Case for NYIT's Vancouver, BC campus, the edits were completed in just a few days. "That's one advantage of the mobile publishing platform behind Just in Case," says eReadia Founder and President Will DeLamater. "Changes can be made almost immediately, and campuses are beginning to make time-sensitive changes on their own."

The Just in Case app was developed by eReadia. NASPA institutions get preferred rates to develop the Just in Case app on their campuses. For more information, visit the Just in Case site or contact Will DeLamater for details.