CLS

Using Email in the Department
Faculty, students, and staff at the Department of Criminology, Law and Society have two available email options - Gatorlink and CLAS. They both have advantages and disadvantages, so personal preference usually dictates which account people use. They are both described here.

Your Gatorlink Account

A Gatorlink account is available to all faculty, students, and staff at the University of Florida. It gives you an email address that ends with @ufl.edu. The primary advantage of using this account is that it allows you to use the University's webmail system.

To set up this account, go to http://www.gatorlink.ufl.edu and click "create a new account". You will need a Gatorlink account for many other things, such as accessing/submitting grades and using library resources, so you will need to create this account regardless of whether you use it for email.

Your CLAS Account

A CLAS account is available for faculty, students, and staff in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. It gives you an email address that ends with @crim.ufl.edu. The disadvantage of using your CLAS account is that they do not yet provide a webmail interface. However, you can have your CLAS email forwarded to your Gatorlink account by filling out this form. This will allow you to retain your @crim.ufl.edu address, while also being able to use Webmail.

So many choices... What do you recommend?

Gatorlink or CLAS?

I suggest using your CLAS email account. This way you can take advantage of the more descriptive @crim.ufl.edu address. If you wish to use Webmail, just have your CLAS email account forwarded to your Gatorlink account using this form.

Which Email client?

You can use whichever email client you like. Webmail is desirable because you can easily use it from any location. The primary disadvantages are that it does not provide any filtering tools, there is not a spell-checker, and it can be slow at times. If you decide to use a standalone email client, I agree with the recommendation of CLASnet that IMAP is the best protocol. Once configured, it can also be used to access your mail from any location, thus reducing the advantage of Webmail. CLASnet recommends using Netscape or Mozilla. They do not support, or recommend, using Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. They also no longer actively support Eudora.

How do I start using my account?

Webmail...

To start using your webmail account, go to http://webmail.ufl.edu. Remember, you can use Webmail with your Gatorlink account, or with your CLAS account as long as you forward the latter to your Gatorlink account.

Standalone Email Clients (e.g. Netscape, Mozilla, Eudora, etc)

If, instead of using Webmail, you prefer to use your favorite email client (e.g. Netscape, Eudora, Outlook, Mozilla, etc...), you can access your mail using either the IMAP or POP protocol. Unlike the older POP protocol, IMAP is ideal if you will be accessing your mail from multiple locations such as school and home. CLAS now supports IMAP only, while gatorlink supports both. The settings for your email client depend on whether you use your CLASnet or gatorlink account, and whether you use POP or IMAP.

Account	IMAP server	POP server	SMTP server*
CLASnet	imap.clas.ufl.edu	N/A	smtp.ufl.edu
Gatorlink	imap.ufl.edu	pop.ufl.edu	smtp.ufl.edu

* In order to reduce SPAM, most Internet Service Providers (ISP's) only allow their own users to use their SMTP servers. Therefore, if you are sending email from off-campus, you will need to either use UF's SMTP server and provide your username and password, or you will need to use the SMTP server of your own ISP. Two common ISP's are Cox Communications (smtp.east.cox.net), and Bellsouth (mail.bellsouth.net).