Since it was first announced, the Google Apps for the University of Minnesota project has generated a great deal of interest across the University. The project team received many questions and comments—starting even before the planning process began—and continued as the campus community became informed about plans for using Google Apps at the University.
Because of the interest the project has generated, the Google initiative grew from an e-mail only project to include the entire suite of collaboration tools included with Google Apps, as well. A University Google account offers access to the University Google Apps suite, and will provide users the opportunity to share documents with others in the University Google space.
For more information about our service plans, see our Google Apps service statement (PDF).
The Google team will continue to evaluate how the Google Apps suite can best serve the mission and goals of the University. We invite you to send your suggestions, questions, and concerns to google@umn.edu.
UPDATE: UMCal to be decommissioned Sept. 30
Aug. 1, 2011—UMCal is scheduled to be decommissioned Friday, Sept. 30. Effective Oct. 1, UMCal no longer will be available, and Google Calendar will become the University's official calendar.
Users who have migrated to Google already and only use UMCal in order to collaborate with other UMCal users, may disregard the migration instructions.
Users will not have access to log into UMCal after Sept. 30, and are encouraged to transition to Google Apps for the University of Minnesota before the Sept. 30 decommission date. Once users have converted their account to Google, it becomes their official University calendar and email application.
Please note that Academic Health Center (AHC) and other Health Care Component (HCC)-related accounts still will NOT be eligible for Google email accounts at this time, and those users will receive additional information soon about transitioning to Google Calendar. Read the full story
UPDATE: The transition for users who opted in to Google Apps prior to Feb. 24, 2011 is being finalized, and those users who have mail messages that remain in central email have been notified that effective Friday, March 25, they no longer will have access to central email, and any remaining messages will be scheduled for deletion.
The affected users have been notified that they have until Thursday, March 24, to clean up mail left on central email servers, any centrally-stored email messages and/or folders that they wish to keep must be saved elsewhere, such as in a file or folder a computer or portable storage device. Users also will receive a reminder of the March 24 deadline on Monday, March 21.
NOTE: Health Care Components (HCCs), Academic Health Center (AHC) units, and AHC students currently are not permitted to transition to Google.
All student (undergraduate and graduate), faculty and staff accounts—except accounts affiliated with the Academic Health Center (AHC)—are eligible for University of Minnesota Google accounts.
Alumni and retirees that were eligible BEFORE they became an alumni or retiree, also are eligible. It is expected that the rest of the alumni and retirees will be eligible by mid-summer 2011.
Students, faculty and staff who have questions about their move into the University Google space, or with problems signing up, should contact their collegiate/unit IT leaders.