Yep. My college uses email for all correspondence with students. If a student doesn’t check their email daily, they could miss a major announcement that impacts them significantly. If I make a change to my syllabus or the next class assignment, I communicate the change through email. This is also the way I inform my advisees about any changes in upcoming course offerings or advising appointments. I also expect that students will use it if they need to communicate with me outside of class. Each year I have first years that don’t bother with email. It usually takes less than two weeks before they catch on, but only because they missed a crucial announcement. Better to get students accustomed to it now.
We didn’t set up a new/separate email account for D20’s college search and I regret it. The amount of random mail from schools is ridiculous. Lesson learned. S23 will have a dedicated account when he starts applying.