St. Olaf + Google Apps for Education
A new email and calendar system for the college is being implemented this academic year. After an extensive evaluation of several options, Google Apps for Education (GAE) was chosen to be the new system for St. Olaf. Google provides nearly unlimited email storage, larger attachment sizes, reliable access from all over the world, integrated calendaring and chat, and an improved webmail interface. GAE includes Gmail, Calendar, Documents (docs, spreadsheets, presentations) and Sites. For the initial roll-out, we'll be focused on Gmail and the Calendar, but feel free to explore all of the different programs as time permits.
Timeline
The implementation and migration to GAE is being phased in slowly over the academic year. We know that each person, department, and office has a different schedule so the migration can happen at your convenience.
Additionally, your migration to Gmail and the Google Calendar can occur separately. You can start with Gmail and then add the Calendar when you are ready.
All migrations must occur by May 31, 2009, and IIT Helpdesk and staff are happy to help you find a time that best works for you.
Demonstrations and Training Workshops
We realize that GAE (Gmail, in particular) may be a significant change for many of you. In order to ease the transition, several demonstrations and hands-on workshops will be held through the school year. To view the schedule of the sessions and to sign up to attend, visit the LEARN system.
Departments and offices can also contact their IIT staff representative to schedule a small-group workshop tailored for your group.
SquirrelMail and RoundCube
Over the last few months, spammers have been targeting SquirrelMail and using it to send out hundreds of thousands of spam messages. As a result, several systems, including Comcast, are blocking all email from all St. Olaf addresses. To alleviate this, we deactivated SquirrelMail on August 18, 2008.
The timing of our transition to GAE is a fortunate coincidence as Gmail offers a reliable alternative to SquirrelMail. Rather than replacing SquirrelMail with a new system, we are encouraging anyone who uses SquirrelMail on a fairly regular basis to switch to GAE as soon as possible.
Roundcube will remain available until all migrations are complete.
Thunderbird, Eudora, Mac Mail, Outlook, etc.
Once you migrate to GAE, Thunderbird and other email clients won't work as currently configured. You will get the most out of GAE if you use the web-based interface of Gmail and the other applications. The integration is very tight between the applications on the web. Using the web interface means your interactions with your email is the same no matter where you are -- your office, a classroom or lab, a coffee shop, or on a friend's computer -- anywhere in the world.
However, this solution may not work for everyone and it's possible to use Thunderbird or other email clients instead. We highly recommend you give the web interface a serious try. If you find it doesn't meet your needs or expectations, you can return to using Thunderbird after making some configuration changes to it. See the FAQ for more details.
Meeting Maker
The transition from Meeting Maker to Google Calendar, as mentioned above, can happen separately from Gmail. However, if your department or office uses Meeting Maker, it's best to transition all in the department/office to the Calendar simultaneously so you don't need to maintain two different calendars and can schedule meetings with everyone quickly and easily. Your IIT staff representative can help you find the best time and assist you with moving your events and meetings from Meeting Maker to Google Calendar.
Questions?
Check out the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page and the other help links listed above (right). If your question isn't answered there, please contact the IIT Helpdesk at x3830 or helpdesk@stolaf.edu.
