Most Columbia students scurry around campus with a cell phone or mobile device grasped tightly in hand or tucked securely in a pocket.  As college students, most would be lost without this vital connection line.

Colleges around the country are trying to capitalize on this trend and connect with students via their phones. One Columbia student is taking the college-student mobile connection to the next level, catapulting Columbia to the forefront of digital communication in colleges.

Maxwell Billings, a senior marketing communications major, was brainstorming with fellow classmates during an exercise in a marketing class when he had the idea to create an iPhone application for Columbia that would provide all important campus information directly to students’ iPhones.

“There was a lot of encouragement to pursue the idea, so my next step was to make a video to present my idea and get it out there on campus,” Billings said.

The iPhone and other smart phones on the market offer an array of applications for users that can be downloaded to the phone and serve a variety of purposes.  Applications allow people to access their favorite social networking sites, sports updates, news feeds, music and nearly anything else available on the Internet with one simple click.

Billings created a short video that depicted a mock-up of his application for the iPhone. He marketed it as a one-stop tool for Columbia students to find information. The proposed application includes a directory of phone numbers, a map of campus, connection to Oasis, live news feeds, event calendars and more.

“Columbia already offers a lot of these features on their website, but the application is about creating a focal point for all of that,” Billings said. “It’s about creating a place where students can find all the information in one place and conveniently on their phone while on the go.”

Billings sent the video to faculty and students and awaited a response before pursuing the project any further. Billings said he wanted to make sure there would be an interest in an application before continuing his work on it.

“The feedback has been completely positive, a little overwhelming,” Billings said. “I’ve had several people saying ‘Max, do it.'”

Billings said faculty members in the Marketing Communications Department have been especially supportive.

“I think it is an exciting, interesting use of our mobile capabilities,” said Mike Swidler, director of Marketing Studies.

Swidler also praised Billings for taking a conceptual idea from the classroom and working to make it a reality.

“He’s setting a good example for other students in the department,” he said. We’d like to see others following his lead,”

Swidler’s only criticism is the limitation to the iPhone.

“I’d like to see the idea expanded to include applications or programs that would work with all phones with 3G capabilities,” Swidler said. “But with that said, it is absolutely a step in the right direction.”

After the initial wave of positive responses from friends, classmates and his own department, Billings said the next step is to take the idea to Columbia administration for approval.

The first stop on Billing’s list is the Office of Student Communications.

Matthew Green, director of Online Student Communication, said the mobile industry is expecting a huge increase in users in the next couple of years.

Only a small number of colleges in the nation have made the leap to mobile communication via smart phones. Stanford University, Georgia Tech and Duke University have all created similar iPhone applications for their campuses. DukeMobile and iStanford are two of the first applications in what The Chronicle of Higher Education is calling a “mobile-applications arms race” among colleges.

“What we are seeing is this nexus where people are spending more time on their mobile devices than on computers, people are now using their smart phones to get needed information,” Green said.  “As a college, we have to find a way to communicate with students [on mobile phones] and effectively. Maxwell is ahead of the curve.”

Billings has no experience in software programming or developing and is looking for a developer to help him create the actual application. He said he has spoken with a few, but final decisions are still up in the air.

“The specifics are difficult,” Green said. “Maxwell has a great vision, but a lot of details still need to be worked out to get this up and running.”

Once the application is created, Billings said the process of submitting the program to Apple is fairly simple. Billings will have to register himself as an application developer and post the application for a review by Apple online.

“It will be the last pull of the trigger that needs to happen, before the application will be available at Columbia,” Billings said.

Although Green is excited about the prospect of a Columbia iPhone application, he said the college will need to continue pursuing other means of communicating with students on mobile devices.

“This fall we began to put plans on the table for ways to reach students.  We said, ‘What do we want to be able to do?'” Green said. “We want to communicate with students [on their mobile phones].”

Green said the college is shopping around for platforms that would host Columbia specific applications that students can access regardless of their mobile provider. Ideally, the Office of Student Engagement is hoping to have a mobile communication program up and running in the next two to three years.

In the meantime, Billings plans to continue working on the iPhone application and is hoping for a positive response from higher administration.

“The best thing that could happen for this would be for the administration to just say ‘Great, let’s find a developer,'” Billings said.

With graduation swiftly approaching, Billings is preparing to land an internship or entrylevel position at a local advertising agency.

“I always felt that advertising and marketing were an excellent mix of artistic ability and business savvy, two things that have always interested me,” Billings said. “This career path just became a great fit for me.”

Billings said he will continue to work on the application if it is not completed by the time he graduates. Green said the Office of Student Communications will also be working to capitalize on the mobile communication market for Columbia students and hopes to work on the project with students and alumni.

“We have so many students and alumni that are talented designers, I’ve always been an advocate for using student ideas and designs like Maxwell’s,” Green said.

To view the iPhone application video or for more information, visit Billings’ portfolio website at Web.Mac.com/MCBillings.