For students not wanting to take the time to check their Z-ID mail, there is another option.

Students are able to forward their student e-mail to their personal e-mail accounts.

Although this feature has been available for some time, many students are not taking advantage of it.

Tom Kraszewski, a junior financing major, has utilized this option, and has said he finds it convenient.

“It is easier to just look in one place for my e-mail,” Kraszewski said. “Sometimes you forget to check your student e-mail and you can miss a lot of information.”

Though the feature can be convenient, there are also drawbacks. It is possible for information to be lost in the transfer from the student e-mail to the personal account, such as Yahoo.

This is one of NIU’s concerns with the e-mail forwarding system, said Elizabeth Leake of Information Technology Services.

“All universities, not just NIU, are faced with the same challenges when it comes to providing community e-mail services,” Leake said.

“One challenge is the need for administrators to be able to conclusively tell whether or not critical information is actually received.”

Due to this drawback, NIU personnel have been debating whether or not to disable the feature.

“Until a determination is made, it has been decided to continue to allow students to forward their mail to third-party resources.” Leake said. “This could change in the future, however.”