Get on board, online

IU e-mail is the official mode of University communication. It already is used for serious tasks such as class assignments, advising and other announcements. In addition, students generally use their IU e-mail address for personal purposes, quickly filling up e-mail quotas.\nStarting in July, everyone will have extra incentive to delete old mail. E-mail accounts will then be the Office of the Bursar's method to bill you for your account with them. \nGoing paperless with billing will save the University money, which is almost always a good thing for students. It could also increase convenience in paying bursar bills due to speedy access to one's bill. Fast access also helps resolve discrepancies quickly.\nMail gets lost, stolen or strayed, and integrating billing into the e-mail system that students use many times daily is a smart move. Of course, students will also be able to specify who, such as parents, can access and pay the bill. Parents and students can still print out a copy of the bill at home and send the print-out with a check by snail-mail.\nWhile some parents or others might be uncomfortable and unfamiliar with viewing online bills, we expect that the system will be straightforward and simple to navigate. Furthermore, many people already use online financial services to keep track of their bank accounts and stocks. In any case, what better time to learn how to use online billing than now?\nOf course on this campus, there is very good reason for skepticism on technology dependence to execute administrative tasks. Given the recent screw-ups of bursar bills, frequent e-mail crashes and OneStart problems, it's understandable that some students are leery of the coming switch. \nFor students and parents to realize the benefits of paperless billing, several aspects of the billing have to live up to expectations.\nStatements have to be accurate, timely and secure from the beginning. Of course, mistakes are bound to happen in any operation, but reasonable guidelines should be in place to accommodate people in case the technology fails.\nAs a campus consistently recognized for being tech-savvy, it makes sense that the bursar wants to make its operations more Internet based.\nWe as students will have to curb the impulse to wait until the last minute to use technology that's supposed to be instantaneous. It's Murphy's Law that at the moment we require the instantaneous service, it will be unavailable for some reason.\nBilling of any kind demands responsibility from parties on both ends of the transaction, and this instance is no different. It's very likely that when today's students are paying mortgage, credit card and electric bills as adults, it will be at least partly online. Some students probably already have experience with online bill viewing. \nDespite our best efforts, computers are not infallible, and neither will online billing. We hope that technical errors will be handled promptly and professionally with understanding. We look forward to immediate access to bursar bills and an easy way to share information with the people designated by students to view their bill.