Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


West Texas A&M Upgrades Portal To Deliver Mobile Framework

  • By Jim Barthold
  • 05/14/12

West Texas A&M University has upgraded its open source enterprise portal framework and implemented a next-generation mobile framework in an effort to more efficiently communicate with students.

To accomplish the dual move, the university is upgrading to uPortal 4.0, supplied by Unicon, an IT consulting services provider that specializes in the education market. The new version upgrades the university’s existing framework to present customized material such as announcements and calendars to the school’s 8,000 students. Unicon is also supplying its uMobile product for a mobile framework that the school will use to deliver personalized, role-based communications so students can stay connected to campus course information and emergency notifications when they are mobile.

The Canyon, TX-based school used an earlier iteration of uPortal to create an online student success center for its campus as part of a “strategic initiative to improve overall student persistence rates,” said James Webb, West Texas A&M CIO in a news release. “The updated platform will provide a highly anticipated mobile application framework that will allow us to keep pace with today’s generation of students and increase their overall chances of success,” he added.

The uPortal enterprise portal framework is designed to integrate and aggregate information from multiple applications and includes technologies designed to let users such as West Texas A&M build flexible layouts and customize interfaces, user experiences, authentication and security, portal administration, groups and permissions and, with the upgraded version, mobile access. uMobile adds a native iPhone and Android app along with browser-based media for other smartphones, according to Unicon. By enabling a single code base for both browser-based and native app functionality, uMobile allows institutions to produce mobile applications “in a familiar environment,” the company said.

West Texas A&M serves approximately 6,500 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students with 61 undergraduate programs, 45 masters’ degree programs, and one doctoral program.

More information about West Texas A&M is available at wtamu.edu.

About the Author

Jim Barthold is a freelance technology reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • abstract colored blocks

    OpenAI Drops Sora Short-Form AI Video Platform

    OpenAI is reportedly dropping Sora, its generative AI model that creates short video clips from text prompts, images, or existing video inputs. The move upends the company's December partnership with The Walt Disney Company.

  • digital lock on a virtual background

    Encryptionless Extortion on the Rise as Ransomware Groups Shift Tactics

    Ransomware attacks continued to climb in 2025 as attackers increasingly timed operations around year-end staffing gaps and shifted away from traditional file encryption, according to new research from NordStellar.

  • glowing brain above stacked coins

    The Higher Ed Playbook for AI Affordability

    Fulfilling the promise of AI in higher education does not require massive budgets or radical reinvention. By leveraging existing infrastructure, embracing edge and localized AI, collaborating across institutions, and embedding AI thoughtfully across the enterprise, universities can move from experimentation to impact.

  • A man stands at the threshold of a wide open door, looking outward into a glowing, abstract digital landscape filled with light and network‑like patterns

    Shadow AI Isn't a Threat: It's a Signal

    Unofficial AI use on campus reveals more about institutional gaps than misbehavior.