February 1, 1999

NJIT Alumni Receive
Free Email
For Life!

NEWARK - February 1, 1999 -

     New Jersey Institute of Technology announced today it is extending to all alumni free and lifetime use of the university's computer network and e-mail server - a service previously available only to students, faculty and staff.

     Now, NJIT's 35,000 graduates can stay up to date on campus events, participate in the university's on-line campus forum, and keep in touch with their former classmates all over the world with the use of a password. They can also access the university's extensive library and research database.

     The service demonstrates that being a member of the NJIT family does not end at graduation, said NJIT President Saul K. Fenster.

     "Our alumni are an enormous asset - to the university as well as to the state as a whole," said Fenster. "By extending this free service, we can further erode the traditional divisions between current and graduated students - thereby fostering contacts among faculty, students and graduates that could increase collaboration with industry."

     "This is wonderful. It's an important step toward maintaining the sense of campus community after graduation," said John W. Gregorits PE ('51, '62), president of the NJIT Alumni Association. "At the same time if affords those who graduated many years ago to become a closer, integral part of the current community."

     Students already use the Internet to submit assignments, access course notes, research library journals, register for classes and converse with their advisor. Alumni too, will now be able to tap into proprietary information and services - e-mail, library journals and collaborative research projects.

     The university is able to extend the free service to alumni because it recently acquired a powerful new mail server as part of its five-year plan for computing. NJIT, currently ranked as the nation's second "most-wired" campus by Yahoo! Internet Life Magazine, is implementing a robust $50 million plan to keep the university ahead of the curve in information technologies.

     "Technology is what sets NJIT apart among institutions of higher education, and we will be making a significant investment to be sure we continue to hold that lead," said Thomas Terry, Executive Director of Computing Services at NJIT. "We're striving to continue to deserve high ranking. We plan to make NJIT the most technologically advanced computing intensive university in the country."

     NJIT has a significant history of national leadership in information technologies. In 1976, university researchers created EIES (the Electronic Information Exchange System), the first computerized conferencing system and a forerunner of many of today's modern e-mail and communication systems. In 1983, NJIT became the first public university to provide incoming freshmen with personal computers. In 1985, NJIT became the first public university to provide incoming freshmen with personal computers. Our School of Architecture was the first in the nation to require computerized design in its curriculum. In 1986, NJIT pioneered its trademark Virtual Classroom® for computer conferencing and distance learning. By the early 1990s, the Guttenburg Information Technologies Center had opened and NJIT faculty were breaking ground in university-level programs for distance learning.