By Cathlyna Theriot
Staff Writer
IG: @th3riotnix
Not all students may know this, but there’s going to be a change in the system happening within the upcoming week.
This change will only affect Hutchinson Community College students, and it involves a direct switch from Google Email to Microsoft Outlook.
“ I think it’s stupid, we don’t need an email change in the middle of the year,” said Lidia Alfonso, a HutchCC freshman from Scott City.
So, why is HutchCC doing this now?
“When HutchCC changed to Microsoft Outlook for email for faculty and staff a couple of years ago, the plan was always to transition students to the same platform,” said Rex Cheever, the executive director of ITS.
The swap to Microsoft will be happening on Feb. 2. This should be done as soon as possible, so any issues that may occur can be dealt with without delay.
The changes will benefit students.Cheever states,
“Students will have access to the productivity tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.) directly from their Microsoft account and they can be downloaded on personal devices,” Cheever said.
Being able to have access to these apps is a win for the students at HutchCC.
Some students may have concerns for this upcoming change. Will the new system function the same as the old? Will there be any information lost?
“Outlook mail should function similarly to Gmail, with the same kinds of options … mail sent to either the old Dragons address or the new Dragons address will be delivered to the new Outlook mailbox,” Cheever said.
Overall, this change in systems seems to be in the best interest of the students, though it may appear to be inconvenient, taking place smack dab in the middle of the year. Though it may seem that way, it needs to be done now. These changes are the preparations students need for the new portal coming up in the next fall semester.
If there are any more questions/concerns, contact tech support at [email protected] , or (620) 665-3524.
