In just a short time, Bucks’ student e-mail program has gone from convenient to confusing which has left students abandoning the program and going back to their usual G-mail or yahoo-mail accounts.

The change started last year when Bucks switched their student e-mail provider from G-mail to Microsoft Live. The switch occurred because the college figured the new provider would better support their already established program of “My Bucks.”

“My Bucks uses Microsoft Sharepoint technology and since they are both Microsoft products, they work well together, unlike Gmail and SharePoint,” said Bucks’ president of information and technology Bucks Andrew Lawler.

Though college officials might think the new e-mail is a better fit, students have disagreed. Of the 100 students surveyed in a poll by the Centurion staff, 72 of them said that they do not use the new e-mail.

Reasons such as it being confusing or forgetting the e-mail even exists were among the many answers the surveyed students gave for not using the e-mail service.

Lawler suggested that students who have trouble accessing the new email account contact Bucks’ help desk. “We are able to diagnose the specific difficulty for each individual,” he said.

However, Lawler said that the college has not received any reports of students not being able to use the new program.

One problem that the program could be facing is that the online homework system Canvas offers some of the same advantages. Canvas allows students to do homework, hand in assignments and communicate with their professors.

Still, Lawler insisted that Microsoft Live offers a more in depth advantage of communicating with advisors, faculty and staff members.

Ideas about allowing a student’s personal email account to become their student email account have been discussed, but worries over changes in email addresses have been a roadblock in the matter. This is because students may change their email addresses mid-semester, but not tell the college to make the appropriate change.

Real changes could be coming for the program though to make it more appealing for students at the semester, according to Lawler.

“I am pleased to report that Microsoft is updating Live to become Office 365 for education—an email, web and collaboration service. With Office 365, students can access the same great Office 365 tools that businesses around the world use every day to stay productive and on top of their work,” he said.

Is there a way to get students back to using their old Bucks’ e-mails? Or has Canvas and personal e-mail taken over? Only time will tell if the upcoming changes will bring life to this dying student e-mail program.