THE 50TH Students’ Union, Focus On Story, is always busy preparing better services for Yonseians. This semester, several digitalized benefits for Yonseians are ready to be taken on. As a new tool for planning course schedules, Y-planner will give much convenience to students. Yonsei Portfolio, the certification system of extracurricular activities inside campus seems very useful for making new possibilities of employment, while On App became much smarter for Yonseians’ convenient campus life.

Y-planner

Many students would feel stressed regarding their course schedules because the course registration process usually ends in a matter of seconds. However, that is not all. Students have to take into account other factors such as the competition rate, the professor teaching the course, and the syllabus. In the past, most Yonseians had used web-services such as ‘Timetabl’ or ‘Everytime’ for planning their course schedules. Although these programs were of much use, they were not perfect. The programs would sometimes give flawed information such as the wrong lecture time or location. Also, the competition rate for each lecture was incorrect because the maximum number of students acceptable for each grade in each lecture was not considered on web-services.

     Y-planner, which is also pronounced as ‘wapple’, is a new service developed to help Yonseians with difficulty planning their schedules. Y-planner is managed under Yonsei University’s cyber system, so it offers exact information about the lectures, while not being affected by systematical changes of Yonsei’s cyber system. Moreover, Y-planner offers a more exact competition rate for each lecture. It provides not only the maximum number of students for each class but also the maximum number of students for each grade. Starting this semester, students can use Y-planner when planning their schedules on the Yonsei Portal website. As for now, not so many students are using Y-planner, so it does not fully reflect the student body’s actual demand of courses that would appear on the real course registration process. Focus On Story claimed that if more and more students use Y-planner, it can provide a more exact information for planning the schedules.

Yonsei Portfolio

    Over the recent years, unemployment has become a serious social problem, especially for many college students. The situation has prompted college students to find ways to appeal themselves to employers. This is not an exception for Yonseians. Many of them are doing various activities inside and outside campus. In most cases, students’ academic results are critical on their resume, but various extracurricular activities can also help add some weight to the students’ resume. These extracurricular activities include club activities, which are sometimes taken into high regard since they develop students’ communication skills and social skills, which are very important for working years later on. However, it has been difficult for extracurricular activities inside campus to formally have credentials, compared to other activities outside campus.

Yonseians can minimize these worries by using ‘Yonsei Portfolio’. This program was created to certify various activities within campus. Students can now have their various activities and works, such as literary awards received from our university, formally recorded. Furthermore, Yonseians can certify their club or academic group activities by putting this information onto Yonsei Portfolio. By doing so, the activities would hold more credentials than when put on a normal resume. This would also help employers assess how the students’ experience inside campus can help them in work. Therefore, Yonseians can use Yonsei Portfolio to effectively appeal themselves to employers. Also, by providing credibility to various club activities in Yonsei, students will be prompted to actively participate in club activities. Although it is months until this service is expected to be activated, there are high expectations for the service.

On App

On App was created to help Yonseians enjoy a smart campus life. It provides essential services for Yonsei University students, such as shuttle bus schedules, the current seating of people in the library, Yonsei Cyber Education Community (YSCEC), and the school map. Also, students can easily access information from Focus On Story. One remarkable benefit by using On App is the lost and found service. This service was started by Focus On Story in last semester. Before the lost and found service was implemented on On App, students had to check all the buildings to find their lost objects. Students can now simply look at the pictures of lost objects, taken by Focus On Story staffs on On App, which is much more convenient to search for lost objects.

On App also provides the ‘On Card’ and ‘On Time’ service. Yonseians can identify themselves as Yonsei University student by showing ‘On Card’, which can be browsed through On App. If students use ‘On Card’ at certain cafes and restaurants designated by Focus On Story, they can enjoy various discount benefits. The ‘On Time’ service gives students bigger discounts and benefits when they visit designated restaurants and cafes on designated time. Last semester, students could enjoy such benefits from places such as Angel-in-us café, CGV theater, and Papa Johns.

On App also helps Students’ Union find ways to improve and develop their services. The feedback service allows students to freely convey their opinions and contact Students’ Union. Furthermore, starting on September, On App will start providing the push alarm service to help students easily access various news of new benefits and improvements from Focus On Story.

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Life in Yonsei University is getting more and more convenient with various digital services. Y-planner, Yonsei Portfolio, and On App are specialized services for Yonseians, effective and meaningful. However, it would be very disappointing if such services went to waste. So, Yonseians, be smart and take full advantage of these benefits!