'Universities may change the way they manage their e-mail systems in the near future, as companies like Google and Microsoft seek to tap the college market.

Google recently convinced Arizona State University's 65,000 students to switch to Google e-mail services. And a number of other universities, including Vanderbilt, might make the switch as well...'

'...Mailboxes often fill to quota with little effort and need to be cleared out several times a semester. Both the Web-based version and the recommended e-mail client Mulberry look like they may have been designed in the late ‘90s. And the program offers no additional services — such as a chat mechanism or a way to view which of your contacts are currently online. Even a task as simple as creating a mailing list seems insurmountable with Webmail. [UD would add that her university's system seems eager to time you out when you're writing a slightly longer than usual email.]


In essence, ITS spends an inordinate amount of time and resources maintaining a system that offers less than what students can get elsewhere for free. With more students switching to Gmail each year, it will eventually make very little sense for the university to sustain its own e-mail program.


Arizona State University has already made the switch for their 65,000 students; surely the transition would be even easier at a place with a significantly smaller student body....'