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JACKSON, Tenn. — Oct. 19, 2012 — Android, Blackberry and Apple iOs device users can download 51����’s newest technology — an application to access information relevant on all three of the university’s campuses.

With a tap on a screen, users can see the university events calendar, read recent news articles, look up more than 100 important phone numbers, share their contact information easily with friends and navigate each campus with interactive maps.

The app, created through Ellucian Mobile Access software referred to as “MOX,” can be downloaded for free on any online application store.

“My favorite feature of the new MOX app is the events calendar,” said Nick Fleming, a sophomore engineer major. “I can go in and click on an event and set a reminder for it on my phone’s calendar.”

Fleming said he finds the app much more convenient than visiting the main Union website 10 or more times a day, as he has done in the past to find information.

“I use my phone for everything,” Fleming said.

With more than 80 percent of the university’s students using smart phones, enhancing Union’s mobile and wireless services is an important initiative, said Jim Avery, associate vice president for information technology.

Plans for the application began in 2010, as part of a larger strategy to improve mobile and wireless services on Union’s Jackson, Germantown and Hendersonville campuses.

Union’s information technology team is currently developing more features to add to the application. The features, which will be available exclusively to students, faculty and staff using their university login, will allow for swifter teacher-to-class and university-to-student notifications about assignments and student accounts, Avery said.

“We have always known that there has been a growing demand for more and more capabilities among students on their phone,” Avery said. “Not just in the entertainment world, or in the social networking world, but also on the side of higher education.

“Union is providing students with some wonderful administrative and academic capabilities on a device they don’t leave home without.”