With the new Vanderbilt Gmail development, all undergraduate students have a decision to make based on their current e-mail circumstances. Find out the facts here to make the most of your e-mail experience.
Through an initiative called VU Gmail, Google’s free e-mail service, Gmail, officially became available to students on June 18. The new e-mail option is designed to be an alternative to Webmail, the e-mail service for students, faculty and staff.
Though VU Gmail is a service aimed at incoming students, it is still an option for all undergraduates, as described by Matthew Hall, assistant vice chancellor for Information Technology Services and associate chief information architect. So what does this development mean for your e-mail use?
As an incoming student without a personal Gmail:
a) Use Webmail only. Webmail provides 100 MB of storage and is designed to meet basic e-mail needs.
b) Use VU Gmail. This offers 6.5 GB of storage, 65 times more space than Webmail, along with other tools such as a calendar, Google Docs and Google Talk. But when choosing to use VU Gmail, the account will strictly be for the Vanderbilt address, since “other Gmail accounts cannot be sent through VU Gmail,” as stated on the ITS website. Using VU Gmail, e-mails will be sent with an @vanderbilt.edu address, while being hosted by Google.
c) Set up an independent Gmail account at gmail.com and forward your Webmail. Forwarding your Webmail will allow you to receive and compose messages from the @vanderbilt.edu address along with your @gmail.com address, as well as any other addresses you choose to add. Webmail can be forwarded by consulting the ITS website and adding your @vanderbilt.edu address to your listed accounts in Gmail’s “Settings” section.
As an incoming student already using Gmail:
a) Forward Webmail to your personal Gmail account. If you wish to continue using your personal Gmail account, you can begin forwarding Webmail to this Gmail account to view all mail in the same place. Consult the ITS website and Gmail’s “Settings” section to add your Webmail account to your personal Gmail.
b) Use your personal Gmail and VU Gmail. If you prefer to keep your school mail and personal mail separate, you can take advantage of VU Gmail by registering at the VU Gmail page using your VUnet ID and password.
As a current Webmail user:
a) Continue using Webmail.
b) Forego your Webmail account for VU Gmail. If you forego Webmail for VU Gmail, you will have 30 days until your Webmail account expires. In order to save the mail in Webmail after making the switch, you should consult the ITS FAQs page for instructions on importing the old mail into the new account.
c) Begin forwarding Webmail to a personal Gmail account. After registering for an independent Gmail account on gmail.com, consult the ITS website and Gmail’s “Settings” section where you can add others accounts, including your Webmail @vanderbilt.edu address. This choice will allow you to compose personal and school mail from the same account.
As a current Gmail user receiving forwarded Webmail:
a) Continue receiving forwarded Webmail to a personal Gmail. If you have a pre-existing Gmail account that receives Webmail, you will still be able to sign-in and use that account via gmail.com.
b) Use you personal Gmail and set up a VU Gmail account. Should you choose to also set up a VU Gmail account, you will sign-in on the branded VU Gmail page using your VUnet ID and password for school related mail; resulting in two separate Gmail accounts and sign-ins.
A note to all: Unlike the independent Gmail accounts, VU Gmail is difficult to forward to another Gmail account. Hall stated that “it is possible but requires training and more advanced knowledge” and is not recommended. Also, since Webmail and VU Gmail are tied directly to your VUnet ID, the e-mail accounts expire four months after graduation and will require the acquisition of a new personal e-mail account.
Recognizing that many students had already made the switch to Gmail due to dissatisfaction with Webmail, Hall stated that Vanderbilt approached Google in May 2007 to discuss the partnership because it is “not a foreign idea” for students. Students making the switch to Gmail did so by forwarding their Webmail to a personal Gmail account.
Though created “at no cost to the University,” the transaction is viewed as mutually beneficial because Vanderbilt can utilize the tools that Google has designed while simultaneously allowing the company to “brand” students with their name and services. As Hall stated, “Google wants access to our fine undergraduate population” because students will now leave Vanderbilt with the Google brand imbedded in their online habits.
As of last week, nearly 1,800 undergraduates had registered for VU Gmail. Hall expects more to convert with the start of school in the fall.
When questioned about the partnership between Vanderbilt and Google, Hall described the “huge transition” taking place in IT departments across the country. Instead of offering “homogenized” technology, IT departments, like Vanderbilt’s, are embracing the “mass adoption of consumer tools” to meet the “needs, desires and expectations” of the users.
With e-mail problems now directed to the Google Help Desk, the school’s IT department is being freed from solving the technical needs of students for Webmail and can spend time on other projects. Hall described that talks have developed with Microsoft to offer students services similar to Google Docs. Once in place, the programming will enable collaboration, peer reviewing and shared storage. The new technology is expected to be available sometime next year.
