IT&S Investigating Campus Move to Google Apps for Email and Calendaring

Click here to fill out the Google Apps survey!

As part of an analysis of Guilford's current email and calendaring system, IT&S is reviewing the possibility of moving our email and calendar systems from Lotus Notes to Google Apps. Google Apps is an email and collaboration software suite hosted by Google and available at no cost to educational institutions.

We invite members of the Guilford community to attend a series of presentations on Google Apps during the month of April. Members of the Google Apps Initiative Committee will present sessions on the different parts of Google Apps to show the features and take questions. IT&S will also be using an online survey to gather community feedback about the proposal.

• April 16 @ 1:30pm-2:30pm at the Leak Room: Learn about Google Email
• April 16 @ 2:30pm-3:30pm at the Leak Room: Learn about Google Calendar
• April 17 @ 10am-11am at the Community Center: Learn about additional features of Google Apps like collaboration tools and customized portal pages.
• April 23 @ 1:30pm-2:30pm at the Leak Room: Learn about additional features of Google Apps like collaboration tools and customized portal pages.
• April 24 @ 10am-11am at the Community Center: Learn about Google Email
• April 24 @ 11am-12pm at the Community Center: Learn about Google Calendar

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is Google Apps for Education?
• Why should Guilford switch to Google Apps?
• What would happen to our Lotus Notes email/calendar if we moved to Google Apps?
• Will we have the same features in Google Apps as we do in Lotus Notes?
• What about shared email accounts for departments, committees, and student organizations?
• What about privacy? If Google hosts our Guilford accounts, will they read our email? Who owns Guilford data?
• If we decide to switch to Google Apps, when would the transition begin? How would we make the transition?
• I have more questions that aren't answered on this page. Where can I find more information?

What is Google Apps for Education?

Google Apps for Education is an email and collaboration software suite hosted by Google. If you have a Gmail account or seen a Gmail account used, you have seen one part of the Google Apps service. Google Apps offers an assortment of technology services, including email, calendaring, instant messaging, online document editing and sharing, an online portal, and basic webpage hosting. The service is available without charge to educational institutions.

Why should Guilford switch to Google Apps?

Google Apps offers several features that we believe would offer great value to the Guilford community. These include:

• Ample email storage space (6.5 gigabytes per user and rising,) with strong spam and virus filtering. Using Google Apps would allow us to offer substantially more disk space than we could provide on-site.
• An easy-to-use web interface. Google's web pages are very fast, and we believe that it will be easier for new community members to quickly learn how to use Guilford email and calendaring.
• Tools for online collaboration. You can use Google Apps to share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with others online. This is not a replacement for Microsoft Office, but another tool to allow for quick and speedy collaboration. Rather than trading emails with attachments back and forth, or storing multiple copies of a document in your share space, you can have one copy of the document that everyone can see and edit, even at the same time that another person is changing the document.
• Dynamic web tools. With Google Apps it is easy to create web pages for class projects and have all team members participate in page creation. We could also use Google to build a central college online portal.
• Strong support for mobile device integration. This includes specific functionality for Blackberry, but also general access for mobile devices.

What would happen to our Lotus Notes email/calendar if we moved to Google Apps?

IT&S would address this issue by developing an appropriate transition plan to move email and calendars currently in Lotus Notes to Google Apps. We have been in touch with one vendor that is investigating migration services for Lotus to Google, and are continuing to look at how migrating email and calendars would be done. The surveys, databases and discussion groups currently stored in Lotus Notes would continue to be hosted in Lotus Notes until an appropriate solution is found to replace them.

Will we have the same features in Google Apps as we do in Lotus Notes?

We expect that most community members who use the basic features of email and calendaring will be able to switch to Google Apps with minimal disruption. In other words, if all you want to do is send and receive email, you will still be able to do that quickly and easily. Some things have different names in Google Apps, but the functionality is still present.

If you use the more advanced features of Lotus Notes, we think you'll find much if not all of the same functionality in Google Apps, with more features to make your life easier. For example, in Google Calendar, you can schedule meetings and send invitations to colleagues to attend, just like in Lotus Notes. But you can also create private and public events, providing an easy way to advertise your events to others.

In Google Mail, you can still send and receive email, just like with Lotus. But you can also view your emails as one long conversation, so you don't have to go to your sent mail folder to read your original email. You can also take advantage of the increased account space to archive your email so you don't have to delete emails you might want to reference again in the future.

The additional features available in Google Apps are too numerous to list here. But IT&S believes they represent a tremendous opportunity for the campus, and committee members will be demonstrating many of the new features at the campus roadshows meeting in April.

What about shared email accounts for departments, committees, and student organizations?

Accounts for departments, committees, and student organizations would be transferred into Google Apps along with personal accounts.

What about privacy? If Google hosts our Guilford accounts, will they read our email? Who owns Guilford data?

IT&S is exploring with Google what kind of protections we would have in a hosting agreement. We know from Google's relationships with other schools, and their statements on their site, that Google does not own our data. On the Apps website, they state: "To put it simply, Google does not own your data. We do not take a position on whether the data belongs to the institution signing up for Apps, or the individual user (that's between the two of you), but we know it doesn't belong to us! The data which you put into our systems is yours, and we believe it should stay that way. We think that means three key things. We won't share your data with others except as noted in our Privacy Policy. We keep your data as long as you require us to keep it. Finally, you should be able to take your data with you if you choose to use external services in conjunction with Google Apps or stop using our services altogether. "

Note that current faculty, staff, and students will not see ads in Google Apps. If Guilford decides to allow alumni to keep their accounts, alumni will see ads after they become alumni.

 

If we decide to switch to Google Apps, when would the transition begin? How would we make the transition?

A migration plan is currently being discussed and is contigent on community feedback that this is the right choice for Guilford College. We expect that a decision on whether or not to progress will be made by late April or early May. If we decide to switch to Google Apps, the transition will likely begin this summer. One possible scenario would be to place incoming students for the fall in Google Apps, and transition the rest of the community during the 2008-2009 academic year. If we decide to transition, we will provide more information to community members as the migration plan takes shape.

I have more questions that aren't answered on this page. Where can I find more information?

IT&S encourages all interested community members to come to one of the road shows in April. We think that will offer you the best chance to see what Google Apps can offer and ask questions of IT&S staff members.

If you have further questions that aren't addressed in the road shows, or just want more information, you are welcome to contact Kyle Johnson, Chief Technology Officer, at 336-316-2360 or email at johnsonke@guilford.edu.