A seemingly sudden move to Microsoft 365 serves as a reminder that universities need to do a better job of understanding student opinions in a pandemic
C/O Tadas Sar on Unsplash
Change is hard. That is a fundamental lesson every McMaster University student has learned throughout this once-in-a-lifetime year. While we can all appreciate our ability in being able to personally overcome the transformative changes life throws at us, more often than not, our everyday lives yearn for little moments of stability.
Even though we all have our own individual definitions of what stability looks like for us, there are some facets of our life which we completely take for granted. We might only realize with great annoyance how detrimental their loss was to our day-to-day routine.
For example, when you lose your favourite metal straw, or your AirPods somewhere in your house, this seemingly small hindrance often does a remarkable job in souring your day. In a time where the fundamental truths of being a university student — such as enjoying an in-person year on campus — are under attack by our time of uncertainty, McMaster at the very least could soothe some of the unprecedented student anxiety by maintaining a small modicum of stability.
In a time where the fundamental truths of being a university student — such as enjoying an in-person year on campus — are under attack by our time of uncertainty, McMaster at the very least could soothe some of the unprecedented student anxiety by maintaining a small modicum of stability.
How can Mac do that you ask? By staying in touch with student opinions? By being aware of the actual, unfiltered realities of its students (especially new ones)?
Aside from the obvious cases of proctoring and online education, Mac in subtler ways has implemented some systems this year which greatly annoyed students, solely because they were so small, yet so infuriating. Mac plans on switching its primary student hub in Google over to Microsoft — as in students will no longer have a Google Drive, but an OneDrive, and instead of a Gmail, they will have an Outlook.
While the reason for this change was announced via Mac Daily News, it nonetheless faced controversy from the student body due to the impracticalities associated with accommodating the changes (like having to move several gigabytes of data from Google Drive to OneDrive), but also with the disastrous performance of Microsoft Teams this year.
In my experience, the Microsoft Teams application was so functionally inefficient with large class sizes, that instructors often took up class time in switching to alternative platforms such as Zoom. Some went as far as switching instruction to taking place only on Zoom.
This is discounting the fact that countless students heavily relied on Google services such as Gmail and Google Drive in middle school, throughout high school and university until these new IT changes were approved. For many Gen Zs, (who will soon inevitably comprise the majority of Mac’s student demographic), anything Microsoft-related is a draconian relic of the past and many of us strongly believe there are much sleeker, easier to use and more compatible options are already available to us, right at our fingertips.
For many Gen Zs, (who will soon inevitably comprise the majority of Mac’s student demographic), anything Microsoft-related is a draconian relic of the past and many of us strongly believe there are much sleeker, easier to use and more compatible options are already available to us, right at our fingertips.
This is particularly worrying as there is a very real possibility that fall 2021 might be online and if not, it may shift online in accordance with health guidelines. Online workspaces are our way of life now, and we have already made enough changes than we expected, for better or for worse.
Students have earned the right to retain one simple facet of online school, which allows them to retain some semblance of their previously normal life. A change that might seem little and from the outside appears to be nothing more than technical difficulties, could have drastic real-life implications for students in their online environment.
Mac, once again, please be mindful of the choices you make on behalf of the student body. Listening to students might surprisingly help with that.
Dina Fanara
Assistant News Editor
McMaster students and staff will finally be seeing a new and more reliable email system by the end of next month.
In October of 2010, over 3,500 McMaster students took part in a referendum vote to determine which email system provider, with a choice between Google, Microsoft, or the current MUSS system, students would like to see implemented.
With immense frustration mounting quickly with the current email system that is often unreliable and has an extremely limited capacity, the need for a new email system has been immenent for a long time. This issue began gaining momentum in the later half of 2010
The push for a new email system gained substantial headway in February of 2010 with efforts from current McMaster Student Union (MSU) president, Matthew Dillon-Leitch, and SRA (Student Representive Assembly) Commisioner of External Affairs, Huzaifa Saeed.
After months of legal negotiation between Google and the University to ensure that the appropraiate standards for privacy are implemented, a contract was signed and finalized at the end of December.
Large-scale implementation will take place for all McMaster students and faculty during reading week, from Feb. 19 to 25.
University Technology Services (UTS) in in the process of launching a pilot project, in which a small portion of students were asked to test the new system between December and January of the fall semester, in order to allow UTS to work out any issues with the system before all students and faculty are to migrate to the new email system.
According to Dillon-Leitch, one of the most significant changes is the great increase in space available on the email systems themselves. The MUSS (McMaster Undergraduate Student Services) system allowed users to store 15 MB of space, whereas the new Gmail system provides 25 GB of space available for each user.
McMaster is one of few institutions to have university administration gather student input and consider their needs and interests when making a decision of this nature.
According to Dillon-Leitch, the successful push for the Gmail product can be largely attributed to the student support behind the initiative, objectively demonstrated through the overwhelming vote in favour of Gmail as the email service of choice for students. It’s about “asking students the right questions at the right time,” he noted.
Gathering student input in this manner was also adopted by the University of Washington when deciding on a new email service provider. As was the case at McMaster, students at the University fo Washington were also given a choice between Google and Microsoft.
Students voted for Microsoft, which was implemented soon after the vote. The result was not quite as positive as expected, however. The students at the University of Washington largely regretted choosing the Microsoft product, due to inadequacy of the software, and in fact, many chose to forward their email to other accounts.
Although it serves as a source of frustration for many, the MUSS email service will still remain availbale for those who do not wish to switch to the new system.
An “opt out” system in place “for students who don’t feel comfortable with the new system,” said Dillon-Leitch.
Students had the option to remain with the traditional MUSS email system through the opt-out available between Dec. 19, 2011 and Jan. 8, 2012.
He would also like to emphasize that “there is no cost whatsoever” for students and faculty who choose to be transferred to the new system in February.
Students will use the same Mac ID login to access their new accounts as of Feb. 27, and no emails will be lost in the cross over process: all emails will be migrated to the new system.
Dillon-Leitch believes that the next step would be to look toward alumni and the possibility of offering all McMaster alumni an @mcmaster.ca email address to keep even after they have graduated.
Currently, McMaster University alumni can only access their McMaster University email account until six months following graduation. According to Dillon-Leitch, “when you graduate, you should have access to a McMaster account for the rest of your life.”
Dillon-Leitch would further hope to see a collaborative calendar feature through the new email system, where students can not only keep track of personal events, but also share their calendars or subscribe to calendar updates form other users or University services.
