To ensure students have a smooth transition to Google Apps @ NC State, the OIT is delaying the student e-mail beta launch to Thursday, April 1. OIT staff will use this time to address server installation, load and testing issues. OIT is still on schedule to deliver the production version by the end of this fiscal year. The beta launch was originally scheduled for this week.

NC State announced in January that it would deploy Google Apps Education Edition as its official university e-mail service for students. The switch was recommended by the Student E-mail Task Force in its March 2009 report, which stated the move would help the university improve technology services for students while reducing costs. Students were asked to participate in the beta service by requesting an invitation on the Google Apps @ NC State Web site.

Early adopters will receive Gmail accounts with more than 7 gigabytes of storage space and access to the suite of popular Google Apps collaboration tools, all from their official @ncsu.edu e-mail address.

In addition to Gmail, students will receive Google Sites, Google Docs, Google Calendar and Google Talk and will be able to access these online services from their computers or many mobile devices.

Students are encouraged to opt in to the beta service by visiting the Google Apps @ NC State Web site and requesting an invitation. They can continue to opt in to the beta service until production services go live. Afterwards, the OIT will provision Google Apps @ NC State accounts for those students who did not opt in during the beta period. More information about NC State’s implementation of Google Apps Education Edition is available on the Google Apps @ NC State Web site.