2008 Woodie Awards
Migration to new muConnect system continues to plague Mac users
Bobby Pierce
Issue date: 8/21/07 Section: Campus
Along with adjusting to college life back in Oxford, Miami University students have already adjusted to an overhaul of their e-mail system-with mixed reactions.
Information Technology (IT) Services at Miami has been busy this summer migrating more than 27,000 student accounts to the new system-muConnect.
The former system, SquirrelMail, was replaced due to being easily clogged with too much spam e-mail, according to Tim Pierson, senior director of computing and communication services.
As of Aug. 7, IT reported that all 27,463 student accounts had been transferred, along with 6,144 faculty and staff accounts.
The migration started the first week of June, with academic departments and summer students first migrating. According to Pierson, IT first transferred 800-1,000 accounts at this time. In the following weeks, Pierson said they later transferred a couple thousand accounts a night.
"A lot of what we do here (at IT) is about the student experience," Pierson said. "We thought it was important to have the technology out there that was more than just e-mail. This is a modern university."
Students now have access to an upgraded e-mail system, as well as a calendaring feature which can be shared with other students to streamline meeting times.
Moreover, students with mobile devices can now wirelessly synch their e-mail, calendar and contacts between their cell phone and computer. Blackberry, Palm OS, Windows Mobile and the iPhone are all compatible.
According to Pierson, the transition has been going well. He reported that more than 14.5 million messages have been sent, with only 45 not delivered due to file corruptions. These students were sent e-mails describing the nature of the corruption and why their messages couldn't be delivered.
However, there are still some kinks being worked out with system.
MuConnect is powered by Microsoft Exchange, which causes some problems for Macintosh users, Pierson said.
Information Technology (IT) Services at Miami has been busy this summer migrating more than 27,000 student accounts to the new system-muConnect.
The former system, SquirrelMail, was replaced due to being easily clogged with too much spam e-mail, according to Tim Pierson, senior director of computing and communication services.
As of Aug. 7, IT reported that all 27,463 student accounts had been transferred, along with 6,144 faculty and staff accounts.
The migration started the first week of June, with academic departments and summer students first migrating. According to Pierson, IT first transferred 800-1,000 accounts at this time. In the following weeks, Pierson said they later transferred a couple thousand accounts a night.
"A lot of what we do here (at IT) is about the student experience," Pierson said. "We thought it was important to have the technology out there that was more than just e-mail. This is a modern university."
Students now have access to an upgraded e-mail system, as well as a calendaring feature which can be shared with other students to streamline meeting times.
Moreover, students with mobile devices can now wirelessly synch their e-mail, calendar and contacts between their cell phone and computer. Blackberry, Palm OS, Windows Mobile and the iPhone are all compatible.
According to Pierson, the transition has been going well. He reported that more than 14.5 million messages have been sent, with only 45 not delivered due to file corruptions. These students were sent e-mails describing the nature of the corruption and why their messages couldn't be delivered.
However, there are still some kinks being worked out with system.
MuConnect is powered by Microsoft Exchange, which causes some problems for Macintosh users, Pierson said.
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