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Outsourcing Student E-mail and
Other Collaboration ServicesJohn Calkins
Assistant General CounselNorthwestern University Office of General Counsel (OGC)
Wendy Woodward Director, Technology Support Services
Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT)
Northwestern University
• Carnegie Classification RU/VH (R1)• Private• 17,000+ students• 7,000+ faculty and staff• 190,000+ alumni• Evanston and Chicago campuses• Highly decentralized• 10 schools • Professional schools have custom
student / alumni management programs
Drivers and the Environment
• Student Government request for Google Apps• Aging e-mail infrastructure• Increasing number of e-mail users forward
mail off campus • Calendar for faculty and staff only• Alumni forwarding service is declining• Official University e-mail sent to University
provided account• Multiple domains
Investigation Process
Examine Services• Free services offered to the education community• Basic offerings include large e-mail accounts,
calendaring, IM, and more
Understand Benefits to Providers • Companies want life-long customers• Advertising revenue
Determine “best fit” for Northwestern
Key Stakeholders
• Board of Trustees
• NUIT
• Office of General Counsel
• Student Affairs
• Office of Development and Alumni Relations
• Student Financial Services
• Office for Research
• School of Law
• The Graduate School
• Enrollment Services• Provost Office• Feinberg School of Medicine• Kellogg School of
Management• University Relations• School Technology Leaders• Associated Student
Government and other student leaders
• Graduate Student Association
Institutional Conversations
• Individual meetings with key stakeholders to gauge institutional level of interest and address concerns• Adjust strategy based on feedback
• Open meeting with all stakeholders to share findings and proposed direction
• Plan-development meetings with Alumni Relations and Board of Trustees members
• Progress meetings with IT committees• Open meeting to present deployment strategy
What We Heard
Outsourcing these services to Google would improve student and alumni services, and be a positive thing to do…
IFSecurity, privacy, and policy concerns are adequately addressed.
© 2002 Scott Adams, Inc/ Dist. by UFS, Inc.
DEC FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
Idea Surfaces
Investigation of Available Services
Students Demand Improved Services
Discussions with University Stakeholders
Preferred Vendor Identified
Contract Negotiations
2005 2006
Timeline
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
Contract Negotiations
Deployment Timeline
DevelopedImplementation
Deployed for Current Students as “Opt-In” Service
Service as “Default” Service for incoming Students
Service as “Default” Service for incoming Law students
Work to include other Students and Alumni
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
2007
Timeline
Key Elements of the Service
The Agreement • Security and privacy concerns addressed• Student data will not be shared or used for
marketing• Data is protected in a FERPA-appropriate manner• NU can exit the agreement at any time
User Interface• Student services are advertisement-free• Prominent NU branding (along with Google
branding) on the service pages
E-mail Inbox
Key Elements of the Service
System Management• Reliable pathway to Google system engineers for
problem resolution• NUIT access to the system to resolve issues• Opportunity to provide input into product
development
@u.northwestern.edu Services
• Self-Service Account Activation and Management• E-mail• Calendar• Documents and Spreadsheets• Chat/Instant Messaging• Google Talk (Basic VoIP)• Shared Address Book• Group Accounts• Custom Start Page/Web Portal• Help Center
Self-Service Account Activation
Eligible students can self-activate accounts:
• Undergraduates• School of Continuing Studies
• Degree and Certificate students
• Graduate students• Staff in degree programs• Northwestern Law
@nlaw.northwestern.edu domain
Self-Service Account Management
Manage @u.northwestern.edu account while NetID is active• Create and manage up to three nicknames• Reset password• Update for formal name change• Account name cannot be changed
Graduation/separation options• Keep account which will display advertisements• Delete account (20 day window before NetID expiration)• Keep account and manually delete account data
Post-graduation account management options• Office of Alumni Relations and Development
Group AccountsAccounts can be activated for groups
• Recognized student groups• Schools• Departments
Submit web form to applyhttp://vovici.com/wsb.dll/s/9260g2b019
Enables group collaboration• Calendar management and sharing• Group communication• Document sharing and archiving• Meeting resource management
Learning from Experience
• Involve the community: Many stakeholders!• Listen, adjust, listen, adjust, listen, adjust...• Compare against today’s reality• Look at the data• Talk to the vendors • Determine if the benefits outweigh the risks• Pick the best solution for your environment• Maintain flexibility
Questions and Answers
http://www.it.northwestern.edu/stucollab/index.html
Account Login – Single sign-on
Account Activation
Account Activation - Confirmation
Account Management: Add/Remove nicknames
Online Directory – Student and Staff display
Mail Account Settings – Reply to restricted listservs
Integrated Chat
Calendars
Documents and Spreadsheets – Main page
Law School – Start Page
@u.northwestern.edu Support Pages
