FirstClass is one of the banes of the University of Maine student experience. Particularly at the moments when access to the platform is most critical, the server always seems to be down. This year, the first day of classes hadn’t even expired before the university email had crashed.

The school’s contract with FirstClass runs out within a few years, leaving two choices: renew the contract with a system that is unreliable, outdated and generally causes unhappiness, or seek out a more promising system. Given the student body’s collective unhappiness with the performance of FirstClass, it makes sense that the university would chose the latter course of action.

There are a myriad of uses for FirstClass — email, academics, organizations — but mail and online classes are also currently provided by systems already utilized by the university. Student organization communication is currently being tested with OrgSync, a platform for organizations that mimics popular social media.

OrgSync is designed to mimic social media platforms, like Facebook and Linkedin. Users will be able to “like” events or organizations that appeal to them. These are familiar features for students and should help provide a seamless transition, as well as improve on FirstClass’ inconsistent, often clunky interface.

Ongoing problems that students must confront include passwords needing to be changed every few months and users needing to constantly refresh their login. And of course, the server is notorious for crashing.

But perhaps most inconvenient, under the current system, organizations must renew permission to use their folder through the IT department each year. It is simpler for groups to create a new folder each year. This means that, as membership changes, re-additions to folders must be made, frequently causing students to miss announcements and events for the organizations they choose to participate in.

OrgSync would have none of these disadvantages.

And as an email system, FirstClass is redundant. All students already have email through the university’s Google account. Maintaining two separate accounts just causes greater confusion.

As an online classroom, FirstClass is also superfluous. Aside from the challenge of adding students to instructional folders, which is at times difficult, the system has trouble reading certain types of file formats that students may need to upload to complete coursework.

Blackboard has far fewer of these issues.

OrgSync would primarily benefit campus organizations, which are most affected by FirstClass’ need to renew folders every year. From this perspective, it makes sense to transition the system.

At the moment, participation in OrgSync is purely voluntary. Students can choose to sign up with the company. University of Maine Student Government is interested in helping students create an account and then gauging the feedback. Before declaring OrgSync the platform of the future for students, they want to ensure students are more satisfied with it than with FirstClass. Until the university’s contract with FirstClass expires, no one will be forced into the system.

But even if OrgSync turns out to be nothing it promises and has glitches, it can hardly be more of an inconvenience than the undependable service meted out by the erratic whims of the FirstClass system.