Spring Break
Campus e-mail switch
Student e-mail to Gmail
Dan Stokarski
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: News
NCC's Computer Service Department anticipates the student e-mail switch to take place as early as next fall.
Although the current student e-mail at the college has been the same since 2002, the idea to switch over to a new e-mail provider was first proposed about a year ago said NCC's Chief Technology Officer Donna Posivak.
After much deliberation, the Computer Service Department decided that Google would be the perfect replacement for the student e-mail provider. Google mail or Gmail is provided to college campuses free of charge for educational purposes.
"We couldn't believe it was free," said Assistant Director of Computer Services Danay Gangewere. "We were looking for any possible downside to it, but couldn't come up with anything."
Google ad campaigns and positive reviews from notable universities such as Penn State helped in making the final decision to switch.
Gmail will do several things for students including making the e-mail experience more personalized. Gmail will block all ads, as well as having all the standard Google applications said Database Administrator Will Fulmer. The applications include: Calendar, chat, "docs," weather, quotes and facts.
"We were trying to figure out how to get more storage," said Fulmer. "With Google, we will be going from 10megabytes to 7 gigabytes."
This is a substantial increase which will better accommodate the over 42,000 current student accounts.
Students will be alerted prior to the final switch date. The Computer Service Department plans to utilize Student Services as well as the Marketing and Communications Department to get the word out.
"We want to make the transition as easy as possible for students," said Posivak. "We're just trying to do things one step at a time."
Once the new e-mail is up and running, the address will look very similar to the current one. It will be the initial of the student's first name, followed by their last name, and then @spartan.northampton.edu.
Although the current student e-mail at the college has been the same since 2002, the idea to switch over to a new e-mail provider was first proposed about a year ago said NCC's Chief Technology Officer Donna Posivak.
After much deliberation, the Computer Service Department decided that Google would be the perfect replacement for the student e-mail provider. Google mail or Gmail is provided to college campuses free of charge for educational purposes.
"We couldn't believe it was free," said Assistant Director of Computer Services Danay Gangewere. "We were looking for any possible downside to it, but couldn't come up with anything."
Google ad campaigns and positive reviews from notable universities such as Penn State helped in making the final decision to switch.
Gmail will do several things for students including making the e-mail experience more personalized. Gmail will block all ads, as well as having all the standard Google applications said Database Administrator Will Fulmer. The applications include: Calendar, chat, "docs," weather, quotes and facts.
"We were trying to figure out how to get more storage," said Fulmer. "With Google, we will be going from 10megabytes to 7 gigabytes."
This is a substantial increase which will better accommodate the over 42,000 current student accounts.
Students will be alerted prior to the final switch date. The Computer Service Department plans to utilize Student Services as well as the Marketing and Communications Department to get the word out.
"We want to make the transition as easy as possible for students," said Posivak. "We're just trying to do things one step at a time."
Once the new e-mail is up and running, the address will look very similar to the current one. It will be the initial of the student's first name, followed by their last name, and then @spartan.northampton.edu.
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resume services
posted 1/08/10 @ 4:18 PM EST
I agree that Google is the perfect replacement for the student e-mail provider.
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