UCLA’s improved WebMail service will go into effect in near future

UCLA Webmail Version 1.0

By Dexter Gauntlett
Daily Bruin Reporter

After more than a year of advertising that an enhanced UCLA
WebMail service would be on its way, College Information Services
officials say it should go into effect soon.

“We hope to have it up in a matter of days or a couple of
weeks,” said CIS director Eric Splaver. “If we have any
problems we might have to (push the dates) back.”

The delay of the revised WebMail service was due to the high
volume of projects for other UCLA facilities, including maintaining
500 faculty computers, Splaver said.

He said it was a mistake to advertise for the new version
without it being ready.

The new version will go into effect without advertisement.

Some students say they felt mislead by the notices of a new
version of WebMail coming.

“They’ve been saying the address book and WebMail
2.0 would be up since my sophomore year and it’s still not
up,” said fourth-year theater student Rebecca Simons.

Currently, students can access the address book only through
My.UCLA but not through WebMail.

The new version will enable students to access html files and
download attachments sent through e-mail. This was once a service
only offered through the UCLA-sponsored Web site Bruinwalk.com.

Students will be able to open links to Web pages listed in an
e-mail directly, and pictures will be viewable without opening
additional programs.

According to Splaver, students in the next few weeks can expect
to see a less “burdening” notices display.

Currently a pop-up note alerts students to a notice each time
they go onto My.UCLA. But on the new version, the pop-up would be
eliminated after it has been read.

“This puts more control back in the user without burdening
them with constant pop-ups,” Splaver said.

An addition to the “gradebook” feature will allow
easier communication among faculty and students, Splaver said.

The updated version of the electronic gradebook can be used by
faculty to record grades throughout the academic quarter, inform
students of test scores, distribute comments, assign projects and
transmit final grades to the campus registrar from a secure Web
site.

Students will also be able to view grades immediately, and
grades will be added to official university records within 48 hours
of submission.

Personalizing WebMail is one of the major motives for revising
the service, Splaver said.

“A student should have the right to have access to
valuable tools, and now it reinforces the issue of ownership to
“˜My.UCLA,'” he said.

Future enhancements will depend on the popularity of the new
features, according to CIS.

“If we could get 60 to 75 percent of people using the
gradebook, then we’d try to put up a to-do list,”
Splaver said.

To further personalize the WebMail service, Splaver said there
are plans to add new features to the course planner in the
future.

“We want to extend the course planner to include personal
aspects of student life in a seven-day planner,” he said.

Linking the revised course planner to enrollment, adding class
chatrooms and message boards are other long-term goals, Splaver
said.