The University of Sydney’s Student Representative Council (SRC) has joined the Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) to launch a campaign aimed at reinstating institutional email accounts for alumni.
Launched on social media this week, the campaign put out a survey to current students and alumni to “understand the needs and expected usage of alumni emails.” The survey asks students if they would support having a dedicated alumni email for every graduate from the University, what they would use it for, and if they would be willing to pay a “small fee” to retain the email address.
Survey participants are also asked if they are interested in participating in a focus group or interview to follow up on the details they have provided.
This campaign comes after alumni emails had been suspended in March 2021, unless students opted to keep their accounts before then. SUPRA representatives also told Honi Soit that attempts to run this campaign in the past have faced challenges in finding the correct student organisations and University departments to facilitate further research.
When Honi spoke to SUPRA’s Education Officer Yinfeng (Benny) Shen, he stated that “alumni email has been known to be an integral element of the student experience and a lifelong connection to the University. This campaign arises from significant requests from the communities to bring back alumni email, whether for professional use or to stay connected with university updates.”
Shen, who has raised this issue in multiple University Senate meetings, went on to say that “student organisations are pleased to work with university stakeholders on this important matter and seek input and feedback from alumni and students to understand their expectations and needs.”
In particular, SUPRA will target the University’s ICT Department to reinstate alumni emails.
If the SRC and SUPRA achieve their demands, the University will join the University of New South Wales, the Australian National University and the University of Technology Sydney in providing this service.
At the time of writing, the aforementioned survey has over 200 student responses.
Honi will continue to report on this campaign as updates arrive.
