A partnership between the Penn State Alumni Association and the Center for Academic Computing will give the Class of 1998 a new tool for staying in touch: a free, permanent e-mail forwarding address. A class member now can give out a single e-mail address that will stay current for the graduate's lifetime.
"The advantage is that no matter how often our alumni move or change e-mail providers, they will have a way to stay in contact with one another," said Diane K. Ryan, executive director of the Alumni Association.
The e-mail address the student had at Penn State is the basis for the lifetime forwarding address. For example, a student whose Penn State address was xyz101@psu.edu will be assigned the lifetime forwarding address xyz101@alumni.psu.edu upon graduation. The forwarding address acts as a kind of permanent alias and mail can be forwarded to the grad's current account.
The lifetime forwarding address is not an e-mail account. Students still need to obtain their own e-mail accounts from outside providers within six months after graduation. But as long as the graduate keeps a current e-mail address on file with the Alumni Association, e-mail will be forwarded automatically to that address.
Members of the Class of 1998 don't have to do anything to start the forwarding -- the service begins automatically. The Alumni Association hopes to offer the service to all members of the association at a later time.
For more information about lifetime e-mail forwarding, contact the Alumni Association, at (814) 865-0328.
The 140,000-member Penn State Alumni Association, founded in 1870, is the largest dues-paying alumni association in the United States.