Logan Reusser

The ShenandoahGo app was created during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure campus health by having students fill out a symptom check every day. 

Once students fill out the app, they get a pass to go to campus places such as classrooms and dining halls. The app has a questionnaire that takes a couple of seconds to fill out and it states that within 15 minutes a student should have their pass. The passes are green for good for all campus activities, a red pass for if a student is having symptoms related to Covid-19, an orange pass if students got selected to be randomly tested and never showed up, and a blue pass if a student is in isolation.

The passes are supposed to be checked when you arrive to class or other campus buildings, but are they? 

One Shenandoah student says his pass may get checked once or twice a week, if that. The app states that it is supposed to deliver a pass within 15 minutes, but many Shenandoah students reported that their pass took much longer than that and has taken as long as three hours to show up. 

“There are a lot of bugs in it, sometimes it takes me two to three times to finally get a pass,” said Wyatt Schannauer, a junior environmental studies major.

The app itself has had mixed reviews. On the app store on Apple, the 64 ratings range anywhere from one star to five stars. Some of the poorer reviews on the app state that it is “one of the most useless things,” “the most pointless app ever created” and “if I could give zero stars I would.” 

Justin Tricklett, a senior exercise science and public health double major, said in his opinion the app is doing a good job and “everything seems to be okay.”

Whitney Wright, a senior religion major, said: “Shenandoah has been making great efforts, but there is always room for improvement. Personally, in my opinion, the green pass system is a flawed system along with many of the other safety precautions they take, but I am grateful because we still had a full fall semester and we are halfway to spring and it is looking like we can get to the finish line one more time.”