Students will have a chance to name the new Microsoft Live@edu e-mail client thanks to a contest sponsored by the Office of Information and Technology.

The familiar face of Zimbra on the Drake website will be changed to the Microsoft client for the fall 2011 semester.

Mike Perin, the project manager for e-mail migration, said the choice to go with Microsoft was decided by President David Maxwell’s cabinet at the end of last semester after an e-mail migration workgroup made the recommendation.

The contest is designed to help get students involved with the new change.

“Well, we want to get the students involved, make them aware of the new system,” Perin said.

The contest, which will be announced later today via Twitter, Facebook and blueView, will be conducted online through social media.

“Students are more active in social media,” Perin said. “We want to try and reach them with the media they are more used to using.”

The only requirement for the contest is that the person entering a name is a student. The winner will be awarded an Xbox 360 Kinect four gigabyte console. The prize was donated to the university by the Microsoft Corporation, according to Perin. The reason for choosing the Xbox as the prize was because it is a Microsoft product, just like the new e-mail client. The contest, which begins today, will go until March 7. Only one submission is allowed per student.

Perin said that students should be creative when they’re thinking of names to submit.

The website, which was not available at the time this issue went to press, will also have introductions to the features of Live@edu and how to use it.

Students should look for the official announcement coming later today through the Drake University Twitter and Facebook pages, as well as an announcement through blueView for the official website and where to submit naming ideas.