The UGBC Senate voiced optimism Tuesday night about a plan to reorganize Boston College’s Agora Portal to address existing issues and make the platform more accessible for students.
“We all know Agora is kind of a mess,” said Senator Ashley Varacalli, MCAS ’28.
The dual-step initiative aims to transform Agora Portal into a centralized app, a proposal UGBC has been pushing for since January 2025.
Varacalli and Senators Cece Mase, MCAS ’26, and Jordan Doty, LSEHD ’28, recently met with IT Technology Director Michael Gallagher to discuss Agora’s reorganization.
“Michael did say that it was going to take a little bit of time, because each link or resource that is kind of altered has to go through that specific department,” said Varacalli. “So that’s going to be the first step.”
Varacalli believes, however, that replacing the online portal with an app is entirely possible, even if there are many administrative checkpoints to satisfy.
“But once that’s all done, then I think it should be pretty easily transferable to a mobile app, which will be the second step, definitely a bigger step to take, but I think they’re definitely willing and able to do so, and it’s just going to take some time,” said Varacalli.
At their meeting, Mase and Gallagher also discussed UGBC’s plan to digitize Eagle IDs. That initiative is set to be discussed and assessed at BC’s Yearly Budget and Prioritization Meeting in April, according to the senators.
“So [Gallagher] is planning on bringing digitalizing the ID to the meeting, just to see what our future looks like in regards to everyone that’s involved with it,” said Mase.
Despite progress toward some technology initiatives, the Senate had less luck with creating a University Health Services (UHS) online booking system. Emily Prucher, who led the proposal, said she hit roadblocks last semester.
“Last semester, during finals week, Addie [Weiss, MCAS ’27], Jordan, and I met with some members of UHS, and we talked about the feasibility of an online appointment booking system, and they politely shut us down just because they liked the more social aspect,” said Prucher, MCAS ’28.
UHS utilized an online booking system during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the system caused issues, according to Prucher.
Prucher explained that UHS views the social aspect of booking as critical to its operations. The provision enables UHS to assess incoming patients more effectively and determine whether they need urgent care.
“Like this can be really serious, or you have a cold, you can wait until tomorrow to come in,” said Doty. “So that’s why they opt for that personal experience, rather than just booking online, in case there’s a serious issue.”
Students can book a UHS appointment at any time, either in person or over the phone, but the booking process has led to some student confusion, which UHS hopes to address.
“They are looking to adjust the options they have when you go onto voicemail, to make it more clear that you can book an appointment this way,” said Doty.
UGBC is also aiming to improve student-admin communication within UHS through boosted social media engagement. Prucher even suggested a potential social media collaboration between the UGBC Communications team and UHS.
“There’s negative air around UHS sometimes,” said Prucher. “And so we talked about upping their social media presence, and they already got the ball rolling on that, which they seemed really excited about.”
The BC University Health Services Instagram account (@bc_uhs) has not posted since December 2022 and has a total of four posts.
Iman • Jan 28, 2026 at 11:27 am
Absolutely disgraceful by the UHS team to block an online booking system for the “social aspect” and because “they like” it. Decisions like these, by admin who refuse to evolve their systems, is why BC will always be behind in terms of technological advancement and student convenience.
I find it hard to believe that an online booking system would not be better for students and admin. For instance, a student with a non-urgent condition (e.g. a cold), could be shown non-priority appointment spots, and then be allowed to select a spot from the choices given. Whereas, a student who indicates an urgent condition, could select from a list of “urgent”- reserved appointment spots. UHS could then follow up with said students at their discretion. And this is just one way that an online system would improve the clinical experience!
Furthermore, should decisions like these be determined by the admin behind them or the students they serve? Because by UHS arguing that want to keep the old system because “they like” it, they are essentially confirming that this decision is for their benefit, rather than that of the students. Seem’s like $100k/year cost of attendance doesn’t get you a lot of voting power here.
Finally, please don’t start about this “social media” stuff. Respectfully, nobody cares about UHS’ social media presence nor how they portray themselves. BC admin accounts rarely get traction and have influence. I think I speak on behalf of all students in saying that the effort should go towards improving UHS facilities, staff, and systems—not some silly engagement benchmark.
A • Jan 29, 2026 at 10:30 am
Yes, everything should be accessible through the phone. That is not only the future but the CURRENT state of the art. Students are less likely to go to UHS if they have to face an in person assessment before they can even be seen. Can’t we trust adults to know whether or not they truly need a health visit?