It's a long story and it all depends on what papers you are taking.

1. If you are enrolled in any SCMS paper and you can log in to a linux lab, you have a SCMS email address. The exact domain of this depends on the papers you are enrolled in. Your address will be username@[cs|math|stats].waikato.ac.nz, depending upon the department your paper is taught in.
2. You can either pop or imap off of the relevant server (pop.[cs|math|stats].waikato.ac.nz and imap.[cs|math|stats].waikato.ac.nz respectively). Alternatively you can use the SquirrelMail (webmail) interface.

NOTE: Information on imap and the configuring thereof can be found here.

3. You should check your email regularly as this is the preferred method for communication between the lecturers and yourself. You may be advised of tests, changes to deadlines etc. via your email address.

4. The SquirrelMail (webmail) interface can be used to set up forwarding and SPAM filtering for your account. If you have more than one SCMS email address (e.g. you are enrolled in high level maths and computer science papers) you can forward mail from one account to the other to save checking multiple accounts. See the Options menu in the SquirrelMail interface for more details.
5. You are welcome to use this address for personal correspondence provided the volume does not become excessive . Remember also that your email account will be deactivated along with your login account at the end of each semester, see Account Expiry for more details.
6. There is a 10MB attachment limit on the mailers. Any attachments larger than this will not be sent. The mailer also filters attachments that are commonly associated with virii. Please remember that email is not a file transfer mechanism, hence these restrictions.
7. If you do not fit into either of the above categories you should use the general University email system. You can read your mail via the exchange server here.

NOTE: Your Waikato mail password and School password are not synchronised. So, you will need to remember you Waikato password to read your Waikato mail!