New Media Journal

AT&T announced UpperClass from AT&T, a new mobile application for colleges and universities that extends the college experience to students' mobile devices.

Built with Application Studio, a mobile application platform from Pyxis Mobile, UpperClass from AT&T is a customizable application delivering a wide range of campus-related information to students, administrators, faculty, parents and alumni. The application provides a college community with real-time access to the information they need, virtually wherever they happen to be, including class information, student and faculty directories, scheduling, administration and community information, social networking, ticket purchasing and fundraising options, along with campus wide alerts such as weather conditions or class cancellations.

"Where college students once had to wait in long lines at the Registrar's Office, or set up an appointment with the dean, AT&T now puts at their fingertips information when they want it over a device and service that is an integral part of their daily life," said Chris Hill, vice president, mobility product management, AT&T Business Solutions. "UpperClass from AT&T is another example of AT&T's commitment to deliver innovative wireless applications that drive value for students, faculty, staff and alumni."

The application is an effective time management tool for the entire university community. In addition to retrieving scheduling information, the service allows students to use smartphones to track their GPAs, get maps to building locations, monitor balances or add money to campus spending cards, see what's on the menu at the campus dining hall, and even request an escort from campus security. Parents can use the service to monitor students' schedules, grades, spending balances and get campus news. Faculty can see dynamic reports on their projects and their students' progress, while alumni can check team scores, buy tickets to events - and yes - respond to solicitations. The service also integrates with popular social media sites, search engines and more.

"Time and again, AT&T demonstrates it understands the needs of the higher education customer," said Todd Christy, president and Chief Technology Officer, Pyxis Mobile. "We are pleased to be working with AT&T to deliver mobile application management capabilities to colleges and universities. With our Build Once, Run Anywhere(TM) technology, customers can create any type of mobile application they want with Application Studio, and we are proud that AT&T has decided to showcase UpperClass as a solution that customers can customize to their specific needs. UpperClass is an application that sets the bar for how a university not only can keep its community informed, but also enhance its reputation as a technology leader."

UpperClass from AT&T integrates with the leading academic information systems deployed by colleges and universities today. It can be integrated and deployed quickly across a universities' enterprise and easily customized using Pyxis Mobile's application management program called Application Studio. With an intuitive drag and drop interface, administrators, rather than developers, can customize, maintain and edit UpperClass without writing a single line of code.

AT&T has a long history of supporting higher education as well as providing services and products to help colleges and universities improve productivity both in and out of the classroom and in administrative support. Among other components, AT&T offers the University Advantage Program, which provides tailored contracts and discounts for colleges and universities.