Hotmail-style setup and "student-geared" features didn't convince Rocio Acosta to register with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's new e-mail system from Microsoft, Huskers.unl.edu.
The junior psychology and pre-medicine major registered for an account on the new system when she was unable to access her Big Red e-mail account last week. Big Red accounts are scheduled to shut down in early 2009.
Huskers.unl.edu registration instructions led Acosta to a confusing Web page, she said, and did not create a new address, leaving her with no university-based e-mail.
By Wednesday morning, 4,779 students had successfully registered for new accounts, including Irais Vargas, a senior sociology and pre-dental hygiene major who signed up at a Big Red Welcome booth.
Students registered en masse Aug. 26 when Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Juan Franco e-mailed instructions to students. More than 1,600 students enrolled that day, said Kelly Bartling, manager of news for university communications.
Izumi Kitazawa, a senior international studies major, said she followed Franco's instructions without complications.
The influx of students stressed a Microsoft-managed part of the system for a few hours, Bartling said, slowing some registrations.
She added that some registrations were not handled well but overall there have been relatively few problems.
Sophomore biological sciences major Matt Kelly tried to register during the rush and was led to a different Microsoft sign-in page, which he could not enter.
"It might have been my mistake," he said.
Kelly gave up after a few tries and an additional attempt the next day.
Senior marketing and finance major Justin Klish is waiting out a Huskers.unl.edu flaw at the advice of an information services employee. Klish won't register without a mechanism in place to forward Big Red e-mails to a new Huskers.unl.edu account, he said. Tim Myers of information services told Klish in an e-mail that the tool is being created.
Megan Collins, a junior business administration major and special topics chair for ASUN, said students can voice concerns to the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska.
The special topics committee will learn more about the system, Collins said, and might distribute guidelines for students encountering problems.
"We're going to sort of troubleshoot and make sure it's a smooth process for everyone," she said. "This is a transition that has to be made."
rachelalbin@dailynebraskan.com
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