Outlook accounts may feature Gmail technology
Connect coalition announces Google mail system initiative
The application could provide a new format and more space, but KU Information Technology isn’t buying.
By Brenna Hawley (Contact)
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
A student group is trying to combine the University’s e-mail system with Google.
Connect, a student coalition running for seats in next year’s Student Senate, announced its second initiative Sunday. The initiative adds a free application offered by Google to the Outlook Web Access system used by the University.
“Everyone wants KU e-mail to be the best it can be.”
—Austin Kelly, Lawrence junior
The application would allow KU e-mail sign in to stay the same but change the e-mail to the format of Google’s mail system.
Google offers a free e-mail application, called Gmail, to accredited nonprofit kindergarten through 12th grade schools and universities. It gives each user technical support and 6.5 gigabytes of space, which is 65 times the amount of space currently available to students. The application is integrated with the school’s existing e-mail.
Mohsin Iman, account strategist for the Google applications education team, said Gmail and Google were started by two students from Stanford and now are on the cutting edge of technology. He said offering free e-mail to schools was a Google initiative.
“This is one way for Google to give back to education,” Iman said.
Iman said when a school decided to integrate Gmail into its school e-mail accounts, all student e-mails would be hosted on Google servers, which would save money for schools.
He also said no advertisements would appear on student, faculty or staff e-mail accounts. He said that if schools offered e-mail to alumni, advertisements would appear on their accounts.
Max Davis-Johnson is the associate vice president for technology development at Arizona State University, which has integrated its e-mail system with the Google application. He said Google approached the school in October 2006 and it switched to Gmail two weeks later.
He said the switch had saved the school a lot of money. It no longer has to maintain servers or support staff.
“From a support standpoint, we are out of the business of student e-mail,” Davis-Johnson said.
He said the Web service Arizona State used before Gmail was three or four years old and that Gmail provides a better service to students.
Austin Kelly, Lawrence junior and president of Connect, said his coalition introduced the new initiative because it thought e-mail at the University was a pressing issue and the coalition could make it better.
“Everyone wants KU e-mail to be the best it can be,” Kelly said.
Kelly said his coalition had spoken with administrators at KU Information Technology about the e-mail integration. He said they were willing to work to address student needs, and if that need was Google integration they would consider change. To show student needs, Connect plans to increase membership in the Facebook group about the project and also petition for student support.
Bill Myers, spokesperson for KU information services, said that Information Technology had considered Google applications before for integration. He said that when it looked, the Google contract didn’t offer everything the University needed. He said the KU Portal allowed e-mail access that at this point Gmail would not be able to handle.
“We need an integration that will capture all the needs we have,” Myers said.
Jarrod Morgenstern, Overland Park senior and Connect member, said that this idea is different from a platform. Morgenstern said that a platform is an idea that a coalition promises to fill during its time in office, whereas an initiative is an idea a coalition works on before it is elected to office.
Connect will announce another initiative on March 9. Its first initiative was WiKUpedia, a Web site similar to wikipedia.com that focuses on groups and activities at the University.
— Edited by Katherine Loeck
Discussion
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“We need an integration that will capture all the needs we have,” Myers said *forgetting to ask the end users what they wanted...OH, the students matter?*
The IT needs of KU that relate to the KU portal are much greater than just student e-mail. The Exchange Server used by faculty and staff would not be able to function with gmail. While the students might want gmail, the needs of the entire university require the KU portal with Outlook.
If you want the gmail interface so much, setup gmail to receive all your KU e-mail. Then you can google chat and get e-mail from KU all in one place. . .Problem solved!
So what you're saying, richie, is that KU's ineffective, out-of-date portal system is tied too much to its ineffective, out-of-date email system to upgrade to GMail? That doesn't sound like a solution that is responsive to student needs. I have faith someone in IT can find a way to incorporate the latest technologies into our system. That's what students deserve. GMail, GCalendar, GDocuments, GChat all the way.
“We need an integration that will capture all the needs we have,” Myers said.
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I'm glad he knows all the needs we have. How about unlimited email storage?
"The Exchange Server used by faculty and staff would not be able to function with gmail."
Unless you're using some crazy feature I've never heard about, I think you're wrong on this. Google can use POP e-mail functions and IMAP access... so you can use and intergrate Outlook functions with Gmail. And have more room. And easier organization. And... yea, it's Gmail. Which is amazing.
We are so excited to see the Gmail at KU movement growing by leaps and bounds. In two days, we've 300+ join our Facebook group and hundreds of people stop by our table to talk about what this means to them.
Imagine, Gchat with everyone on campus. Have a quick question for your professor? Shoot them an IM. Never want to delete an email? Fine. Search your email with the power of Google? No problem.
Gmail at KU is necessary for KU to stay ahead of the curve for all of our communications needs.
If you are interested in helping bring Gmail to KU, please join our Facebook group. The only way this gets done is if students tell the administration that they NEED gmail. Join, invite your friends, let your voice be heard.
http://ku.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9198321269
The best part of google, is the calendar. I use a mac. The current calendar system sucks. Nobody really uses it, and I would like to but I can't because microsoft doesn't even make outlook for mac. the really useful iCal program that I use syncs right up with google which would be amazing because then I could subscribe to all of my class' group calendar and instantly have all of the important deadlines and announcements synced both to my computer and my online version of my computer's calendar!
Come on, KU. Bad email that costs lots of money vs the best email for free...
KU will not go for Gmail because of it's poor integration on the desktop side. True it's easy to use and you can access it from anywhere through the web but that's not enough. The ability to manage both your e-mail and calendars in a desktop app that reflects all the features on the web interface is far from possible. I work on campus in IT and something like this might be something for students, but it's just not feasible for faculty and staff. Oh boy they can chat with people, I really doubt that any of them would want a hundred students messaging them on Google Talk. Something like this isn't for students to decide because it's not just for them, it's for the whole entire campus. How about we just get more storage space and everyone will quit complaining.
But how much more? I know the current Outlook system just upgraded how much space we've got, but for me, that has still barely been enough. If IT wants to seriously help students, it needs to give us more than nickel-and-dime improvements. This is an innovative idea.
From KU's e-mail policy: "KU provides email for use when engaging in activities relating to instruction, research, clinical and public service, and management and administrative support. KU also permits incidental personal use provided that such use does not interfere with KU operations, does not generate incremental identifiable costs to KU..."
If you seriously need/use the amount of storage that Gmail provides then it's more of a user error than with KU. I haven't deleted any mail in the year I've had Gmail and I'm still under 200mb. I would say that 200 - 400mb per student would be a happy medium.
I admit that KU IT hasn't been doing the best job they but they are really making some changes this year for the better of campus, e-mail included. I would like to see KU IT respond to the students and show them that dumping the e-mail system that a majority of the US is using is not the way to go.
Oh and Gmail is beta by the way. Meaning that it is pre-release and the problems are still being worked out.
I stand corrected on the Google and viewing calendars in Outlook, this was just released:
http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=89955
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