by Cheyenne Schoen |
When students return to campus after Christmas break, they will notice a change in their UP email system. Beginning spring semester, all UP students, faculty and staff will switch from Gmail to the Microsoft Office 365 Suite as part of an ongoing effort to enhance communication between all members of the campus community. Director of Academic Technology Services Samuel Williams and Director of Technical Services Michelle Sunderland are spearheading the project.
“Technology should create efficiencies,” Williams said. “If we have to use multiple products to accomplish a simple goal, such as to write a paper—to me that seems a little counter intuitive.”
Office 365 utilizes cloud email and file sharing, meaning the process of creating and submitting homework assignments will get a whole lot easier. Instead of typing a document into Microsoft Word and uploading it to Moodle, for example, students’ documents created in OneDrive can be directly submitted to Moodle in a single click.
So…Why the Switch?
Aside from the many features Office 365 offers to enhance communication between students and faculty, Williams pointed out that student preparedness for the workforce is a major reason for the switch.
“When looking at the landscape of our students leaving campus, the likelihood of them to be using Office and Microsoft in the work environment is higher than with Google products,” Williams said.
Chief Information Officer Curt Pederson has also worked on the project, adding that he has seen Microsoft’s capabilities challenge Google’s in the past two years. He admits that he came into the project having a bias toward Google, but was pleasantly surprised with Microsoft’s product.
Pederson said that the switch was inspired in part by what has worked for other schools. Gonzaga recently made a successful switch to Office from Google and has served as a model for UP’s implementation program.
What Does This Mean for Students?
Senior business major Anna Teadtke recognizes the benefits of the new system.
“While it’s annoying to have to learn 365, it is what’s being used in larger companies, and I think it’ll be beneficial for us to know,” Teadtke said. “Future employers want to see that we can use it.”
She added that the inability to share Google Docs has been a hassle in the past and hopes that 365 will change that.
While students may worry that they will lose valuable emails and Google docs saved on their UP accounts, those behind the project look forward to a seamless transition. Sunderland is working on migrating students’ emails and drive documents to the new system.
“Starting spring semester, the students will log in and notice that all their emails and docs have been brought over,” Sunderland said.
Students are encouraged to pay close attention to all announcements regarding how to use the new portal. The project website, sites.up.edu/office365, provides information on Office 365, including Lynda.com video tutorials and a FAQ page. Additionally, students may have access to group training sessions in conjunction with the Clark Library, depending on demand.
Cheyenne is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at schoen17@up.edu.
