I was browsing various university websites for history courses that compare to my current course in western civilization, and found this interesting stipulation from Western Michigan University:
All email communication between yourself and your instructor is to be made on your “wmich.edu” account. The address is to take the format firstname.lastname@wmich.edu.
Say what? This isn't a company--does the university (or in this case, perhaps the particular department) really have the right to make such a demand?
If the intent were truly known, I bet it would reflect a desire to monitor a student's email communication, which seems to me to be a violation of privacy. (In all honesty, it could be a reflection of something more benign, but as the reason clearly isn't given, one can only speculate.)
Posted by stephend at November 16, 2005 10:34 AM