Written by Alaina Wolf // Photo by Briley Kemper
One of the first things students receive upon being accepted into Harding University is their own student email account. This email is a key proponent of communication between students and faculty. Thus far, alumni have had the unlimited access features with their original student email as if they never left campus post-graduation. However, Google is changing their policies, and alumni will no longer be having such access as of this summer.
Vice President of Information Systems and Technology/CIO Mike Challenburg sent out an email to all alumni Feb. 15 alerting them of the approaching update.
“Harding has always valued community, and one way we have been able to stay connected is by offering free email accounts to all alumni,” Challenburg said. “However, Google has changed their policies regarding security and storage, and like many other institutions across the country, Harding’s accounts have been directly impacted. Beginning June 15, 2024, the University will no longer be able to maintain alumni email accounts. After that date, accounts will be deleted, and no data will be retrievable.”
This will be the first year of change to these accounts. Harding University made a statement on their Alumni page that although this change is happening in June, all alumni will have nine months to transition all Google material to a different account after graduation. This nine month transition period will be applicable to this year and years to come for recent graduates.
Seniors have utilized the unlimited Harding-provided Google account for numerous projects, research papers and resumes. While this may not affect alumni who have email accounts with their occupations, many senior students find this abrupt shift after graduation to be a daunting task.
Senior Matti Otto, who runs her own photography business while being a full-time college student, said she has been able to utilize the unlimited storage feature while capturing moments of her friends during her time on campus. Balancing her passion for photography and a full class schedule, all of her work both in and out of the classroom has been accessible through one virtual location, she said. Preparing for graduation, Otto said she is beginning to find alternate storage options for her hard work.
“I think ultimately it will be fine since there is the eventual need to switch from a college email to a professional email; however, it is a bit unfortunate,” Otto said. “I have used the unlimited storage through my Harding email for various projects, documents and photos to be used for my resume and portfolio. I now need to quickly find another means of storage for the work I have accumulated over the past four years in order to still have access to them.”
Another senior, Maverick Walker, expressed his concern for this task upon the regular schoolwork load and graduate preparation.
“During my undergrad I used my school email for many of my accounts because it was what I used everyday,” Walker said. “I was honestly overwhelmed when thinking about all of the accounts I am going to have to switch emails for when I heard about this. Guess I better get a head start.”
Senior Kara Johnston is one of many students ready to walk the stage in May with the large task of transitioning the past four years’ worth of material onto a separate account.
“This will affect me pretty greatly as I use my Harding email address like any other email,” Johnston said. “Since I am entering graduate school, my Harding email is the only one I used when applying to graduate schools or when communicating to other universities. While I understand Harding cannot keep up with the thousands upon thousands of people’s information and email addresses, it is definitely frustrating.”
