In order to distinguish student emails from faculty, future Mississippi State University students will receive a different email domain instead of @msstate.edu.
MSU’s Information Technology Services said the change will take place through a phase-in system, meaning the current domain will still function for some time.
ITS is working with the Student Association to come up with the new domain. Last week, the SA created a poll on myState where students could vote on their option.
“(ITS) thought that students should have a say in their email domain,” SA President Mayah Emerson said.
The options on the poll included @student.msstate.edu, @1878.msstate.edu, @dawgs.msstate.edu and @maroon.msstate.edu. These ideas came from SA members, Emerson said.
Chief Information Officer Steve Parrott said the change comes at a time when faculty email hardware is due for an upgrade, so ITS decided it was also time for a differentiation between professors and students.
Parrott said the email will still begin with students’ netID, and they will still use Gmail as their platform.
Parrott said he does not know when the change will take effect, but it will not happen overnight.
“It’s not going to be one day where one stops and one starts, it’s going to be a lapping over time,” he said.
Gerhard Lehnerer, director of Information Technology Infrastructure, said the phase-in should not negatively impact students with the @msstate.edu domain who are applying for jobs or graduating.
“You’ve got it on resumes, especially the ones that are graduating soon, and we certainly don’t want to do anything that’s going to negatively impact their ability to graduate or to get information,” Lehnerer said. “So, your email will work for a year or more probably.”
Editor’s Note: Staff writer Dylan Bufkin contributed to this article.