Wednesday, September 19, 2007 | 1:00AM–1:00AM
Exploring Student Communications Services for the 21st Century
Today’s IT leaders face multiple challenges united by a common thread: determining when to provide custom IT services for students, when to facilitate their use of external IT services, and when to simply get out of students’ way.
A decade ago students accessed the Internet through the school’s modem pool. Today, they make their own selection from an array of broadband services. What's the future for e-mail and services like IM and personal Web pages? Students are increasingly arriving on campus with extensive experience with existing products, and many are choosing to forward their school e-mail to outside providers. Should we attempt to stem or embrace this trend?
Two of the largest undergraduate schools at Penn decided to work with Microsoft to offer students hosted e-mail and communications services in the upcoming school year. The presenters will discuss how the schools are approaching this issue, the advantages it offers students and others, and elements critical to the initiative’s success.
