The Elm Student Newspaper
Campus Cruiser to replace Blitzmail next year
Tom Robbins
Billie Dodge is Director of Computing and Telecommunications
Christina Vouros, Elm photographer
There has been talk circulating campus this semester that a change is coming to our e-mail system. That change will take place over the summer, when our current blitzmail server will be replaced with a new portal called Campus Cruiser, creating what Billie Dodge, Director of Computing and Telecommunications, calls "a cultural change."
As early as July and October, sales associates visited the college, presenting interactive demonstrations of the system to the administration and the faculty.
It is made by Datatel, the same company that created the college's administrative software.Campus Cruiser is more than just an e-mail system. Unlike Blitzmail, it will allow students to access their course registration status and create personal calendars. Campus clubs and organizations will be given the ability to publish bulletin boards, which students can access to see upcoming events that different clubs are offering. There will also be public access bulletin boards, as well as a running news feed which will feature campus information that students can post notices on.
Professors will be able to post syllabi and other important course information on their own bulletin boards as well. Alumni will be able to have e-mail addresses through the school, and greater access to what is happening on campus.
In addition, to this program change, there will also be improvements to the campus internet connection. Currently, the college has two relay T1 lines. A request has been submitted for seven more T1 lines installed and ready to use by Fall 2001.
While Campus Cruiser will be hosted by an off-campus server, according to Dodge, "We believe that off-campus hosting will not be a problem."
There are a few changes that the Campus Cruiser will be unable to offer that students have had at their disposal in the past. There will be no mass e-mail option. All e-mail lists will have to be compiled in individual address books. All account names will be formatted as the first initial of your first name, followed by the first initial of your middle name, followed by your last name and a number assigned to your name. For example, a student named John Ryan Doe could be reached by e-mailing jrdoe1@mail.washcoll.edu.
Mass information will be displayed on bulletin boards that students may choose to access. As Dodge put it, "Students are going to have to be a lot more proactive in looking for activities on campus."The Administration has a very positive outlook of the change. Assistant Dean Mark Hoesly commented, "I am enthusiastic about the possibilities that this new technology can bring to campus. Campus Cruiser is much more than a new e-mail system. It is portal system that will allow every member of the college community (students, faculty, staff, alumni, board members, friends of the College, etc.) access to a variety of features and programs in one package. This is an opportunity for us to re-think the way we do business at Washington College and will allow us to more effectively use the technological resources available to us in an integrated fashion."
Campus Cruiser is a system that is very much similar to the systems used in today's business world. "Part of what I really want to accomplish as an educational system is to raise campus awareness of net etiquette," said Dodge.
The administration understands that the transition may take some time to get used to. As Hoesly said, "There may be somewhat of a learning curve involved in making the transition, but Billie Dodge and Ken Sutton [Assistant Director of Office and Administrative Computing] are working very hard to smooth out any challenges by planning training sessions, as well as providing instructional materials and support services."
Many students do not see the change as a positive or necessary one. "I don't understand why there needs to be a change from the current blitzmail system which is working quite efficiently as it is," said Jonathan Ratican, a junior. "Campus Cruiser may not end up being all that bad, but why change a system that works? That doesn't make that much sense to me."
"I like the mass blitz option," said freshman Andrew Cowles.
"There are a few people who sent out random stupid blitzes, but those are easily deleted. The mass blitz helps when you lose something because you can send an e-mail out in case someone has found it. A bulletin board system makes this a lot more time consuming."These concerns may be helped by the flexibility that the college has with this system. Campus Cruiser is not a system that is set in stone. Washington College will be one of many schools around the country that will be testing this new system. Because of this, the college will be able to make adjustments to Campus Cruiser. "If the campus community doesn't like something that is technically possible to change, we're willing to listen and modify the system," said Dodge.
The actual change from Blitzmail to Campus Cruiser will take place over the summer. Blitzmail will still forward messages to your Campus Cruiser account for a little while after the start of next semester, but students will be unable to access their Blitzmail accounts. According to Dodge, all information students may be saving on their Blitzmail accounts should be transferred before graduation.
"We all need to realize that this will bring significant changes to the way we conduct our daily business. The implementation needs to be carefully planned and training needs to be easily available. No doubt, this will be a challenge. But I believe we can and should meet it," said Scholz.
As Sutton put it, "You move one step at a time. This is a good step."
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