During the summer NIC incorporated a fast, cost-effective way for students and faculty members to communicate with one another.
Maxine Gish, director of admissions, took over the NICmail responsibilities from Eric Murray, vice president of Student Services.
“NICmail should improve our communications with students, and we hope everyone, including faculty, will use it,” Gish said.
The new e-mail is easily accessible through the NIC homepage. Students registered for classes at any branch of NIC have their own NICmail account. Once students register for their account, it is there for life. The content on an e-mail account will stay active as long as it is logged into within 180 days. If an account is not used, the content will be erased, but the account will still be active.
NICmail is versatile. It’s purposes include: student-to-student communication, file sharing, setting up registration appointments, getting notices for grade updates on NIConline accounts, and it can be used as an everyday e-mail account.
Feedback from students indicates NICmail is being used mainly to turn in assignments and to communicate with faculty members.
Reactions to the new system are mixed. Jamie Hendrix, 21, freshman, psychology, said that she used this service to email assignments to her teachers, but admits that it worries her because it is not guaranteed that her assignments will get to their intended destination.
“I wish there was a better way to put your contacts in too, Hendrix said. “Other than that, I really like the way they have it set up.”
Alyssa Jarvey, 18, freshman, radiology technician, stated that she used her account for replying to other student blogs for class.
“It’s a good way to communicate with students,” Jarvey said.
When Jarvey was asked about the convenience of the new service she said, “It’s just another e-mail to add.”
Gish explained that at times it might be difficult to log on or send e-mails due to the high volume of students logging in to the system.
“We’re not the only one using this system,” Gish said. “There are three other schools using it too so there might be a high volume of users at times.”
NIC students have not been affected to date. Most students are very pleased with the new system.
