Alabama A&M University News October 15, 2010 AAMU to Launch Google Apps for Education Huntsville, Ala. ---- By month's end, Alabama A&M University students will join the millions of others nationwide who receive their important university e-mail correspondence via Google Mail, according to AAMU's new chief information officer. CIO Greg Marrow says Google Mail "will become the University's official form of communication" to students. Marrow added that when the changeover is complete, the University will only transmit information through students' 'g-mail' accounts. No further attempts will be made, he says, to reach students through their numerous preferred e-mail addresses, and the old e-mail system will be deactivated. An AAMU student's new Google e-mail address will take on the following format: 1stInitialLastName@bulldogs.aamu.edu<mailto:1stInitialLastName@bulldogs.aamu.edu>. "Google Apps for Education has a number of collaborative tools and features that A&M's current e-mail system does not provide," says Marrow. Following the conversion, students will be able to generate documents, prepare spreadsheets, access personal calendars, use online collaboration tools--to include chatting in real time--and use Google Phone. Marrow further notes that approximately 10 million students, staff, faculty and alumni now use Google Apps for Education. The switch will not only mean that AAMU's information technology (IT) crew will no longer have to manage servers and supporting technology, but also that they can channel more attention to students' other technology concerns, Marrow says. "Many AAMU students are already familiar with Google Mail and are excited about the move," notes Marrow. The transition would mean each individual student would be allotted up to 7 gigabytes of storage capacity, several times their current rate. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.