Brenau Proposes Moving Student Email to Google

[Chip Andrews]

Google Mail Value Proposition for Students

In order to provide students with a more rich and expansive Internet messaging experience, Brenau University is currently evaluating the possibility of using Google Apps for Education (http://www.google.com/a/edu/ ) as the email system for student email.

Current Status

First, we’d like to outline some of the complaints we have heard from students about the current email system which is based on Microsoft Exchange Server.
• Email mailbox limited to 200MB
• The mail system can only be accessed via a browser and a student wants to use Microsoft Outlook or other email client
• Email account removed 6 months after graduation
• Email system does not easily allow forwarding or mail collection (pulling email from other systems such as Hotmail)
• Email system very limited in functionality (no chat or collaborative features)
• Only Windows Mobile and Apple iPhone are supported for mobile users.

Proposed Solution

The proposed solution is to move all student email accounts to Google Apps for Education. This would mean that Google is hosting your email account and not Brenau. The advantages are as follows:
• Brenau branding still included ([e-mail]) – the “tiger” signifies the only change. The actual word here is up for debate.
• You can keep your Brenau email account (powered by Google) for life (except where abuse of our usage policy has occurred)
• Maximum mailbox size of around 8GB (40 times the current mailbox limit)
• Multiple collaborative new features included: Google Chat, Google Docs, Google Video, Google Sites, etc.
• Allows students to easily forward mail to other accounts or collect mail from other accounts into their Brenau Google Apps account.
• Support for multiple mobile devices including Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Palm, Apple iPhone, Google Android, and other mobile devices.

If student feedback is positive, we plan to migrate student email to Google Apps over the summer. You will receive email notifications as the project progresses that will advise you of any actions needed on your part.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are we considering Google Apps?
To bring together essential communication applications. To improve productivity and communication. We can focus on student needs and adding value to the experience while Google focuses on building excellent products, maintaining the feature set, and innovating our communication options for tomorrow.

Our goal is to offer you a reliable, practical, secure, feature-rich webmail environment. We think Google can help.

We can focus on the core values of our school, such as student relationships, and let Google leverage its extensive operational experience with security and privacy.

Will this increase tuition costs or technology fees?
Google Apps will not affect our current funding levels for IT. While I certainly cannot claim to know if tuition costs or technology fees will increase, I can say that they will not increase as a result of this migration alone.

How will this affect my password?
We will set your Google Apps account password to your Brenau network login default. You are welcome to change it to whatever you like. Just contact the Helpdesk if you lose it or require a reset.

What about my old emails?
Brenau will migrate all of your old email to your Google Apps account for you automatically. The date for this will be posted later.

What do I need to do?
Your only responsibility will be to inform your friends and colleagues of your new email address. After the conversion date, they will need to email you using your new email address (for example: [e-mail] would become [e-mail]). We apologize for this inconvenience but we are convinced the migration will be worth the effort.

How will this affect the privacy and security of my email?
Google has a very clear privacy located here. It should also be noted that as part of Google contract with Brenau - all email content property is the property of Brenau University (just as it is now). Google has no rights to your email content nor will they be allowed to show ads on Google Apps for the duration of our contract. In addition, Google has far more extensive security mechanisms in place than Brenau and we believe this will result in a much more secure environment for students. In addition, Google Mail's spam filter is among the best in the world. Although you may still receive the occasional spam we are confident you will be getting the best protection possible.

Where can I find more information?
Help Center: www.google.com/support/a/users

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[Brenau BANS]

OMG! That would be awesome! This 200mb is getting downright ridiculous!!