I recently received electronic mail from a member of the CUNY faculty who first thanked us for the CUNYVM E-Mail Guide he is using with his class. He then went on to suggest that we encourage people to "word process" electronic mail on their personal computers, uploading the finished product to CUNYVM only when it is ready for transmittal.

There are benefits to using word-processing software on personal computers, including "user friendliness," and not having to learn XEDIT on CUNYVM. It is not clear that splitting the e-mail function between a personal computer and the mainframe is the best approach, however. That approach requires one to be familiar with both environments and could ultimately prove more cumbersome than helpful.

A better approach, and one that is being employed more and more, is placing the entire process, from the perspective of the user, at the personal computer level. That is, one composes mail, sends it, receives a reply, stores it, and replies to the reply, all from his or her personal computer.

How is this possible? The obvious requirements to make it work are a link from the personal computer to the larger network, and mail software on the personal computer that communicates with the larger network.

At CUNY, several colleges already offer mail service for the LAN-connected workstation or personal computer. The benefits of moving electronic mail to the personal computer include providing users with an easier, more intuitive way to handle electronic mail needs, and flexibility in the handling of electronic mail traffic on CUNYNet.

Of course, one's personal computer or workstation must be connected to a local area network at the college that, in turn, connects to the Internet. Not every personal computer on campus can currently take advantage of such a strategy, so CUNYVM continues to provide an E-mail alternative for faculty, staff and students who as yet do not have that capability.

From home, one currently must dialup to CUNYVM (or to a campus-based system that has dialup access) in order to have electronic mail service. Several CUNY colleges also offer direct dialup access to the Internet using a protocol called "SLIP" or "PPP". With this interface, and with appropriate software on the home personal computer, a user can have the identical level of Internet service from home that he or she has on campus when connected to a LAN (as described above).

CUNY/CIS is committed to a move in the direction of "electronic mail from the desktop" for our own staff. As a start, we are currently evaluating several mail packages, some commercial, some shareware, for use by Central Office staff. Our goal is to achieve LAN-based electronic mail service that equals or surpasses that which CUNYVM currently provides.

-- by Pat Reber