Campus Connection

UW-L's switch to Google should begin later this year Campus e-mail users will soon have a larger mailbox — and the ability to send larger messages. And, they’ll have some new options with e-mail, including a user-friendly, real-time document sharing. UW-L is expected to migrate to a new e-mail and personal calendar system later this year, says Chief Information Officer John Tillman. The change is needed, notes Tillman, because the current e-mail and calendar systems are obsolete. “We are running Microsoft Exchange 2003 on five-year-old hardware,” explains Tillman. “We need to replace hardware and upgrade Microsoft Exchange, convert to a new mail and calendar system, or outsource e-mail and calendaring.” The IT Task Force formed last fall spent two months of researching a wide variety of options for campus e-mail systems. Following a campus survey, open forums, meetings with vendors and staff from campuses who recently switched systems, and extensive discussion, the task force recommended the campus switch to Google. The group selected Google because it provided the wants and needs identified in the campus wide survey, as well as solutions to UW-L’s most pressing e-mail issues. “We did our homework,” says Tillman, a member of the task force. “It soon became very apparent that outsourcing to Google will improve functionality, reduce cost and free up staff time.” Find out more at http://www.uwlax.edu/universityrelations/campusconnection/2010/feb/1/index.html#email