OUR OPINION: A third-party service like Google would provide additional space and give students access to a variety of useful applications.
The Student e-mail Task Force is looking into ways to improve the webmail service the University provides to students.
The current system, Cyrus, is outdated and limited in function — according to Marc Hoit, vice chancellor for the Office of Information Technology. The biggest complaints are a lack of storage space and built-in calendar function. Hoit said the e-mail task force is part of a bigger plan to improve information technology services across campus.
E-mail isn’t a new technology, and the current system is built as if it is.
Students need to give the task force feedback regarding the functions and features they would like to see in the e-mail service, and the University needs to bring the Webmail system into the twenty-first century. Students should have access to online planners, document sharing tools and research programs that can easily tie into the e-mail system. The Google applications for education provide a reasonable means of giving students exactly that.
Stan North Martin, director of Outreach, communications and consulting for OIT, said the task force is still gathering data on the various options for University e-mail.
The task force is looking into expansion of the current e-mail system, outsourcing to a third-party service like Google, Microsoft or Yahoo or eliminating the University’s Webmail service entirely and requiring students to provide an e-mail address.
The task force is contacting vendors and looking to establish pages on Facebook and The Wolf Web for feedback, but its only online feedback site is at its Web site, which is buried in OIT’s Web site.
The task force needs to get these feedback mechanisms up as quickly as possible. While lack of storage space and a built-in calendar are students’ main complaints with the Webmail system, finding other functions students want to see with the University e-mail system is just as important.
Google looks like one of the most attractive options. It offers large amounts of storage space, provides a useful interface and gives students easy access to a variety of useful applications, like the Scholar, Reader, Books and Documents programs.
The service is also free of charge and advertisements for the basic Google Apps Education Edition package. This ties in perfectly with Hoit’s overall strategy for IT at N.C. State, providing more services at a reduced cost.
Still, what should be the final determinant of the University’s e-mail system is the will of the student body.
And we do have to watch out, lest we become part of Google’s plan to take over the world.