E-mail with 2 gigs under trial
This summer, 100 students will test the Microsoft-run program.
Published April 28, 2006
MU will test a new student e-mail program with two gigabytes of storage space this summer.
Roughly 100 students will be set up with the new accounts. Depending on the results, all MU students could be using the new program — Microsoft Windows Live — next fall.
Terry Robb, spokesman for Information and Access Technology Services, said the new program would offer much more storage space — several steps up from the 30 megabytes that are part of the school's Webmail program.
"The big benefit is tons more storage," Robb said.
Robb said the program would give students new e-mail addresses. Although the first part would still be students' PawPrint IDs, the addresses will now end with "@mail.missouri.edu."
Robb said Microsoft would operate the new system for students, but IATS would continue to operate faculty and staff e-mail.
"Assuming this succeeds, we still will have to run the faculty/staff e-mail," Robb said. "That in itself is a handful."
The program will be free for MU, but with a catch. Students would have the option to keep their accounts after they graduate, but would have to view advertisements.
Randy Wiemer, IATS director of information technology, said Microsoft would keep advertisements out of student e-mails while they were enrolled at MU. After a student graduated, he or she would have the option to keep their e-mail address by allowing advertisements to appear in his or her account. The advertisements would include pop-up ads.
"Microsoft readily admits their goal is to hook students for life." Wiemer said. "They want you to continue to use this service."
Robb said the Missouri Students Association is in charge of assigning the 100 test accounts this summer.
MSA President John Andersen said student government members would take roughly 25 of the accounts starting in June.
Andersen said he already had discovered several possible problems with the new service. He said it would no longer include the UM system's address search or calendar.
Wiemer said IATS is developing ways to add the address search function, which is available on Webmail, but that the changes would not be made in time for the pilot program.
"It is a feature of the Outlook e-mail client. I am not aware of any other e-mail client that has that feature," Wiemer said.
Andersen said that several groups of students would decide whether to continue the program after the summer.
"Once the pilot is over, I'm sure MSA will have a say in the process," Andersen said. "However, it hinges on student responses from the trial."
Andersen said the students participating would not lose their Webmail accounts.