TWU email reviewed
Campus to test out new, user-friendly service
October 17, 2006
Rhoda Dyck
One year after the emergence of the Student Portal, Trinity Western University’s online communication network is struggling to maintain relevance with students.
Director of Housing and Conference Services Brad Wallbank has found it increasingly difficult to contact students using the Agape email system. “The Housing office is finding it tough to communicate,” he said. “It has become pretty normal for students to use other sites such as MySpace or Facebook.”
Wallbank’s statement rang true for third year student Gabby Labastida. “I check my email, but I check my Facebook more,” she said.
Many TWU students have their messages automatically forwarded from their Agape account to their more commonly used email accounts. This filters out most of the mass emails, which may mean that necessary information is not getting to students.
The increased amount of mail perceived as “TWU spam” could have a role in discouraging students from using the university’s mail system, Wallbank said.
However, Ryan Hanawalt Director of Information Technology, has observed a notably different trend. He said that Student Portal use has markedly increased since its induction in May 2005. In September 2005, the Student Portal received over 52 000 logins, while the numbers for September 2006 reflected a jump to nearly 92 000 logins. Hanawalt’s department is already at work on streamlining TWU’s communication process.
“We want to create a system where students could regularly get a single [general information] email,” he said. According to Hanawalt this would be an effort designed to counteract “the continual email barrage.”
“I would love to see one vehicle for students to find out the current information,” Wallbank added, suggesting that a student-led initiative would best tackle this problem.
Information Technology is also hoping to introduce a new email service, which will offer increased storage within a structure designed to be more user-friendly for students accustomed to using other email account servers such as Hotmail or Gmail.
“We’re hoping to test this new scenario this month,” Hanawalt said.
If the new server is successful in trials, students will see changes starting next semester.
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