Best of the Best Campus Apps Named by Modo in the 2021 Appademy Awards

Appademy Awards from Modo recognizes universities and colleges for app development, design and UX, and this year, new categories like virtual commencement to reflect how campuses have adjusted to the pandemic

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#college—Modo Labs is the top no-code app building platform for higher education and enterprise, and today it published the winning college apps in the annual Modo Appademy Awards. This juried award recognizes colleges and universities that have built exemplary digital experiences in apps built on the Modo platform. Click to tweet this news.

“The Appademy Awards not only recognizes the dedicated and creative efforts of colleges using the Modo platform but it also is a glimpse into the priorities and needs of institutions of higher education,” said Matt Willmore, senior director of product marketing at Modo. “In this year’s entries, we saw excellent examples of the ways that college apps made tasks easier, such as registering for classes and paying fees, and also substituted for many in-person college experiences like orientation and graduation.”

One trend that was noted by judges is that while some app capabilities were created out of urgency due to the pandemic, these ended up being features colleges kept when it became clear that students and staff were comfortable using them. Features such as ticket requests for games, registration, and add/drop appointments are now permanent and available even as restrictions lift.

“It’s impressive to see the variation and creativity of the app development teams. We saw again and again in this year’s applicant pool that colleges did more than get tasks done, they created digital experiences and options for students to engage with their college in ways we’ve never seen before and in ways that kept college an engaging, immersive experience,” added Willmore.

The 2021 Appademy Awards include one overall Best Unified App and two categories for student engagement and app design, and winners came from every region including the Cayman Islands and Australia.

Best Overall

Best Unified App – Winner: University of California, Merced
- Second Place: Vassar College

Best Apps for Student Engagement

Best Health and Wellness App – Winner: Vassar College
- Second Place (TIE): University of California, Berkeley and University of Redlands
Best Recruiting and Admissions – Winner: St Francis College
- Second Place: University of Rhode Island
Best Commencement – Winner (TIE): University of Central Florida and University of Connecticut
- Second Place: Santa Monica College
Best New Student Orientation – Winner: The George Washington University
- Second Place: Northern Arizona University
Most Innovative App for Communication – Winner (TIE): California State University, San Bernardino and University of Houston
- Second Place (TIE) University of Texas Arlington and Assumption University

Best Apps for Design and Experience:

Best Overall Design – Winner: Santa Monica College
- Second Place: California State University, Channel Islands
Best Student-Driven App – Winner: Northern Arizona University
- Second Place: California State University, East Bay
Best Marketplace – Winner: University of California, Berkeley
Best App Personalization (XModule) – Winner: University of Houston
- Second Place: Carson-Newman University
Best Desktop Experience – Winner: Humboldt State University
- Second Place: Penn State University

David Osburn, assistant director for communications and mobile strategy at Vassar College which won for Best Health and Wellness app said that the college redesigned the app this year giving special attention to helping their communities manage through the health crisis. “We’re thrilled that Vassar Mobile has been recognized with the 2021 Health and Wellness Appademy Award! This year has been a challenge for everyone’s mental and physical health and wellness. We’re proud of the work we’ve done to provide our audiences with quick and easy access to tools and resources that can help during such a trying time.”

Appademy Award winning designs and “plays” serve as leading practice examples and models for other institutions around the world including the more than 300 using the Modo no-code platform.

See a webinar announcing the winners here.

About Modo

Trusted by hundreds of the world’s most recognized universities and brands from around the world, the Modo no-code app platform offers enterprise-scale mobile engagement and communication capabilities that allow users to quickly and easily create unified mobile campus and workplace experiences that increase connectivity for employees, students, faculty, and guests. Using Modo, customers quickly unlock innovation and digitally transform their organizations by empowering the domain expertise of any person within their organization, regardless of technical skill set. For more information, visit modolabs.com, @ModoLabs

For the media: Find images of the winning apps here: http://prez.ly/lnGb