myUNT is Getting a Facelift

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The EIS Tools, Applications, Reporting, and Portal (EISTARP) team is currently working to upgrade the EIS Portal System (my.unt.edu) to Oracle PeopleSoft Portal, version 9.0. The upgrade provides new and exciting functionality, such as community calendars, improved content management, collaborative workspaces and discussion forums.

With this upgrade, the EISTARP team is making major improvements to the look and feel of the portal. The upgrade goal is to make myUNT a student-centered portal that makes doing business with UNT an intuitive experience. The improved myUNT includes a softer look with simple navigation and Web 2.0 style graphics. The new design also allows the Portal to be more accessible on hand-held mobile devices.

A new feature in the improved portal is a Message Center. This portal element is being created by the EISTARP team since it is not delivered with 9.0. The new Message Center allows custom messages to be created and targeted to individual students or a groups of students. These messages may be created by campus offices or by faculty members. Advantages of the Message Center (versus sending emails) include:

  • Elimination of email bounce backs
  • Reduction in student complaints that they never received documents, letters, or deadline information
  • Tracking to know if the recipients have “read” the message
  • Being notified of a waiting message via text messaging, if desired

The first phase of the redesign is scheduled to “go live” the weekend of April 18-19, 2009.