A task force to explore the next generation of email systems for NC State faculty and staff has made its recommendation: “Google Apps Education Edition sufficiently meets the needs of faculty and staff.” Currently, faculty and staff use multiple email and calendaring systems, such as WolfWise (GroupWise), Unity (Cyrus) and others supported by individual colleges or departments. These systems do not interoperate, which causes inefficiencies and unnecessary costs. Also, with the recent student e-mail migration to Google Apps, a number of faculty and staff have expressed the desire to use Google Apps to collaborate more effectively with their students.

The task force, formed in April 2010 by Dr. Marc Hoit, CIO and Vice Chancellor for Information Technology, evaluated Google Apps Education Edition using a combination of individual use, numerous campus focus groups, and an analysis of the strategies and decisions of other colleges and universities that have evaluated a similar move. Concerns raised were acknowledged and documented. A team to further investigate employee inclusion in the Google Apps @ NC State student service will be formed. For more information, please see the NexGen Email Task Force Final Report.