While schools such as Cornell University and Villanova University adopt Google’s Gmail as their official e-mail system, Ithaca College should seriously consider and begin implementing plans to do the same.

Not only is this a cost-effective e-mail solution for the college campus, but it is the most practical. Gmail is free for the college to use and comes with years of trusted business experience.

The transition to Gmail would relieve the college’s Information Technology Services from the complexities of student Webmail accounts. This can and will make other major changes within the department smoother because of the extra hands that would be available.  

At least 19 percent of the student population forwards the college’s Webmail content to Gmail accounts. By opting for Gmail, the college will only build on a current trend among students.    

With the college’s e-mail offering 75 megabytes of storage space and Gmail offering 7 gigabytes, Gmail users have more space and can keep track of more content. Additionally, an account with Gmail would be permanent for a student user, making it easier for peers to maintain contact with one another and for professors to find  students after they graduate.

Gmail is part of Google, and it is only fair to wonder about the transfer of an entire e-mail system to a media conglomerate. Regardless of whether the college chooses to outsource its e-mail server, private data and e-mail content will have to be stored somewhere, whether that be Webmail or Gmail.

By switching to Gmail, the college would be able to offer a more efficient and less expensive e-mail solution to the campus community.