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Emory Wheel University is the latest addition to the list of educational institutions to adopt Office 365 for e-mail. Office 365 now replaces LearnLink for student e-mail and calendars, while conferences continue to use Learnlink. Since August 10, students, faculty and staff can now access all their messages using Microsoft (News - Alert) Office 365 which includes linking their e-mail accounts to their smartphones.

Alan Cattier, director of Academic Technologies at the school said that the transition process was smooth and since then there has been great progress in the Office of Information Technology at the university. Students are also responding positively to the new e-mail system; however some students are still having problems checking both Office 365 and Learnlink simultaneously.

Caroline Capponi, a college sophomore and one of the students who is finding it to be a hassle checking both her Office 365 and Learnlink added that it was still too early to tell which of the two systems she prefers. She said that she “feels there are a lot of places I have to check now. I have to log in to so many different things.” Another sophomore, Evan Rhea, expressed similar sentiments by saying that he finds it a hassle to use both Learnlink and Office 365.

The transition has been a three-year effort between the College Council (CC) and the Student Government Association (SGA). Both had been working together to find a new e-mail and calendar system that would allow easier collaboration between the students and the faculty. According to Cattier, the CC, SGA and the IT department will team up again this fall to look into a new community tool to replace Learnlink. He said that Learnlink is “no longer current and doesn’t appear to be viable for the future.”

With most people looking for a better mobile experience on their smartphones, Office 365 offers the right environment and platform for students and faculty. At Emory, students can even go that extra mile and check in with the Cox (News - Alert) Computing Center for dedicated training sessions throughout the month of September.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2012, taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX.  Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter.