At Boston College (BC), students will receive an e-mail address, in the format of name@bc.edu, which will forward mail to the students’ preexisting accounts under other domains, prompting speculation over whether this will spark a new trend.

While Washington University offers students an e-mail account with a server, changes may be underway. Student Union (SU) has been looking to switch the e-mail system to Google’s e-mail platform, Gmail, in response to students’ suggestions.

“I honestly don’t see the point of having a University e-mail address, especially since the e-mail browsers are difficult to use and there are much easier things such as Gmail and Yahoo! that are already set up,” freshman Corey Donahue said.

A survey conducted by SU indicated that more students preferred to use Gmail and would be more likely to use it if the University switched.

According to the survey responses, 39 percent of students forward their Wash. U. e-mail to a non-University provided account. Participants cited the “ability to back up,” “more reliable systems elsewhere,” “better interfaces” and “preferences to have e-mail in one place” as reasons for forwarding their e-mails. The survey also found that 76 percent of students use a University-provided e-mail address as their primary account.

The survey’s responses have prompted a series of dialogues between SU and the administration. Although the initiative is still in its early stages, a plan is taking form.

“Your Wash. U. e-mail will still be your name at [wustl.edu], but it would be through Gmail so it would look like Gmail,” junior Jeff Nelson, SU vice president of administration, said.

The new e-mail would also come with all the perks of Gmail, including Google Talk, Google Documents and Google Calendars.

A handful of other colleges, including Northwestern University, the University of Virginia and St. Louis University, have already made the switch over to major e-mail providers like Google.

For some students, e-mail is more about practicality and less about perks.

“I only use my Wash. U. e-mail, and have all my other e-mails forwarded to that account,” sophomore Kathleen Pettinato said. “On a Blackberry, that’s just easier.”

But it seems likely that the University will always provide a separate e-mail account.

“I don’t see [BC’s move] as a trend that’s going to start universities not providing service for their students. They’re going to look to services that provide e-mails for a living, like Google,” Nelson said.

To some, not providing a separate e-mail service also seems impractical.

“Most students probably do [have a preexisting account] and they probably change with the wind. It would be a nightmare trying to keep students updated,” Sue Hosack, director of the Office of Student Records, said. “It saves us a lot, having one e-mail.”

Switching over to Google, however, would have its advantages as well. The physical act of maintaining and creating e-mail accounts and servers can become costly.

“It’s important to make people divert to other resources, so it’s a substantial statement,” Nelson said.

Gmail offers a special college edition that is $50 per student.

While the University’s e-mail plans are still in the early stages, this year will be used as a pilot in which all student groups will switch over to using Google Apps, with tutorials provided by SU. The results will be closely monitored to gauge the practicality of switching the entire student body over to Google.

“I think over the next three to five years, a lot of schools are going to want to get out of the e-mail business to some capacity. Whether it’s what BC is doing and not providing an e-mail at all, saying get your own, or whether it’s doing what Northwestern is doing by partnering with Google to provide student e-mails, something’s going to change,” Nelson said.