Fayetteville State University Requiring Cell Phones

College campuses are now requiring cell phones? Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, NC is among the first campuses to implement a required cell phone policy. During the 2007-2008 school year this new policy will be optional but by the fall of 2008 all students will be required to have a cell phone through the campus.

Fayetteville State University has partnered with Rave Mobile to create a program to increase communication among students and the rest of the school community, called Bronco Mobile. Students at FSU will soon be required to enroll in this mobile phone plan that will allow them to receive notifications of school happenings such as messages from student organizations, class schedule changes or cancellations, and even emergency school closings.

Apparently FSU is becoming even more high tech, insinuating that e-mail is not quick enough anymore. I believe it is a little forward on their part to require all students to have a cell phone, especially when they have to buy the phone and enroll in a monthly plan. You have the option of keeping a current phone and using this only for school notifications but who really wants to carry around two phones all the time? It isn't been announced whether the cost of enrolling in the Bronco Mobile program will be included in tuition or not after it becomes required but even if it is, it will still be an additional fee.

If you don't mind spending the additional money, Fayetteville State University is onto something that can be beneficial to their students. Not only does this phone allow you to receive messages about organizations, class changes, and emergency alerts, the Bronco Mobile plan has several additional features. You will be able to check your school e-mail account, view your grades, and participate in classroom discussions if your professor chooses to start a poll or forum.

What may be the most important aspect to this phone is the Guardian program. This program on the Bronco Mobile uses a GPS based system in which you can directly alert the security office if you ever feel unsafe and they will easily know where you are located.

In the long run, the features being offered by Fayetteville State University through the Bronco Mobile program outweigh the cost in my personal opinion. It may be somewhat ahead of technology and pushy for the school to require all students to have a cell phone, but it is easy to see the benefits of this program.