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Schools and departments at Purdue University have a need to communicate with their students about a broad range of topics related to student's academic pursuits and financial status with the University. The cost and the logistical problems associated with preparing a surface mailing to the students are impediments to this communication. Electronic mail has become the preferred method of communicating with students because of its speed and ease of use. However, email has hidden costs that include hardware, software, and staff used to support email.
Each year, the volume of email sent to targeted audiences by academic schools, administrative units, and departments increase significantly each year. According to a survey conducted of Purdue University students in 2004, students have a desire that email they receive from the University are about important matters that he or she should be aware of or take action on, and not general announcements and news. The survey also showed that as a result of the significant number of email messages students receive each year from the University, students are filtering or deleting important e-mail messages that either require a response or contain important status information related to their accounts at the university. Out of this comes the need to provide a new communication system for students (and staff) to opt in or opt out of receiving announcements, news, and information generated by the university.
Loss of information results when receivers either overlook or delete the message without reading them. Messages that require a response are "lost" among messages that do not require a response. To underscore this point, the offices of the Division of Financial Aid, the Bursar, and the Registrar purchase Exponent ads asking students to read email sent from their offices, based on feedback indicating that students delete Purdue e-mail without reading it. In one month, 49 bulk messages that did not require a response were sent compared to 37 bulk messages that did require a response.
Email messages that do not require a response may not be read, or in the worst case, filtered to "trash". In a recent survey of students, 52% indicated that they filter their messages to folders, including "deleted messages" folders. Eighty-eight percent of these students delete mail sent by Purdue without reading the message based on what they see in the subject line. This finding strongly suggests that e-mail is not the most effective tool for communicating information, especially if messages that require a response are deleted along with those that do not.
Managed by the colleges, schools, or departments' organizational structure, the technical solution for offering dynamic notification of new information to students and staff is the Purdue-Board. This permits mail to be pushed out to students, or allows them to subscribe (opt-in) to an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. This application would not replace existing means for disseminating information, including DSE, but instead proposes a means for using DSE for messages that either require a response or include significant information from upper administration, such as the President, and moving general information messages that do not require a response from readers to Purdue-Board.
Student Services Data Steward
Office: SCHL 254
eMail: dan@purdue.edu
Phone: 494-7416
Fax: 496-1109
