By now, most students are aware that Webmail's days are numbered - and most students couldn't be happier. With Penn considering hiring an outside company to host e-mail, undergraduates can't help but be excited for the end of bounced messages, site downtime and clunky interfaces.
As has been said before, the University and its technology administrators deserve major praise for such a bold move. It's wonderful to see the University so ahead of the curve, but while negotiations between the University and potential e-mail providers - Google and MSN - are still ongoing, there are a few things administrators should keep in mind.
- Don't repeat past mistakes. One of the most troublesome aspects of the e-mail systems used by Penn is that most of them haven't been able to keep up with changes in technology.
Free services such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail and others have offered advanced features like enormous mailboxes, integrated instant messaging and high-quality spam filters for some time now - and Penn's e-mail systems became more and more dated.
Penn must make sure that whatever deal it makes includes the flexibility to adapt to changes in technology.
- Create a University-wide e-mail system. One of the biggest faults of Penn's current e-mail setup is the variance between each school's e-mail. Wharton students use Microsoft Exchange. Engineering students use Webmail.
The ability for a school to customize its e-mail software is great, but not to the point where each school is re-inventing the wheel. According to School of Arts and Sciences information technology chief Ira Winston, all undergraduates will part of the new system - and that's a great step forward.
Hopefully, it won't be long before faculty and grad students are on board as well.
- Keep alumni's needs in mind. When graduation comes, students will have to decide what to do with their e-mail address. Administrators should ensure that whichever company they choose provides for a smooth transition between student and alumni e-mail service.
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