Google Apps @ NC State

OIT is pleased to report that contract negotiations with Google Inc. are moving forward. Implementation teams have begun the planning necessary to migrate student e-mail services to Google Apps Education Edition, as recommended in NC State Student E-mail Task Force report submitted to CIO Marc Hoit in March 2009. 

Dr. Hoit will make a public announcement when the negotiations with Google Inc. are completed and the contracts are signed. Visit these pages for current news and information about the overall Student E-mail Initiative project. Upon successful completion of the contract with Google Inc., a new Google Apps @ NC State site will provde information about the new services.

Project Purpose

The purpose of the Student E-mail Initiative is to meet NC State students' requirements for enhanced e-mail and online collaboration services while also meeting university requirements for secure, reliable e-mail addresses for official communications with students and cost-effective technology solutions.

Project Background

NC State's Vice Chancellor for Information Technology, Dr. Marc Hoit launched the Student E-mail Initiative in October 2008. While the current e-mail service provided to students is highly reliable and well-supported, without modifications it no longer meets their needs or expectations. As a first step, Dr. Hoit named a Student E-mail Task Force with representatives from various stakeholder groups "to review and evaluate student e-mail services offered by the Office of Information Technology and determine the best path forward to support current and future student needs." The role of this task force is spelled out in Dr. Hoit's initial Student E-mail Task Force memo and is further described in the OIT 2008 Strategic Operations Plan. After extensive research, product testing and campus forums, the task force completed its Evaluation of Student E-mail Services report in March, 2009. Following consultation with campus leadership and others, Dr. Hoit approved the recommendation to migrate student e-mail services to Google Apps Education Edition. The transition planning and contract negotiations with Google began in late spring.

Goals & Objectives

• Provide reliable e-mail addresses designated for official university e-mail communication with students. The university needs to ensure that campus departments, faculty and staff can send and receive e-mail to and from students with a high level of confidence that the information has been successfully delivered while easily identifying the student as being associated with the university.
• Increase the capacity of the e-mail environment provided to students. Find a way to meet the growing demand for additional e-mail storage space.
• Enhance the suite of collaboration tools available to support academic success. In addition to e-mail being used for conducting business with students, many opitons are available by service providers that provide an ever-expanding set of collaborative tools for use by students, faculty and staff for academics.
• Find economic efficiencies. This is not only a good business practice for the university, but a necessity in light of the current budget crisis.

Scope

The Student E-mail Initiative has three phases:

• Investigation and evaluation: This phase is now complete. For details about this process, see the Student E-mail Task Force information
• Implementation and transition planning: This phase is now in progress
• Service roll-out: The transition pilot is expected to begin in fall 2009 with the full roll-out to all students being completed in spring, 2010

For more detailed information about the scope of this project and major constraints and assumptions, see the OIT Strategic Operations Plan

Authority for Project

Project Manager, Stan North Martin

This project is authorized by Vice Chancellor Marc Hoit. The project manager has the authority and responsibility to designate the appropriate teams and committees to conduct each phase of the project. For more information, see Student E-mail Initiative Project Structure.