The Office of Technology Services has begun implementing a new, universitywide e-mail and calendaring system. From left, Casey Lee, Corliss Thornton, Glenn Giffin, Carrie Fisher, Clay McGovern and Sean Merlander are some of the members of the technology services team who have been working for months on the project. (Photo by Paula Burch)

Electronic mail services for Tulane University faculty, staff and students soon will be changing--for the better.

Technology Services is implementing Microsoft Exchange to provide a uniform e-mail and calendar platform. Beginning in January 2007, all university e-mail accounts will be on the Exchange platform. Among the advantages to this universitywide approach are continuous e-mail services during disaster recovery, shared calendaring and group scheduling.

"We are moving our campus users into a better e-mail and electronic calendar environment," says Paul Barron, vice president for information technology, chief information officer and interim provost. "And we are doing this first-class."

While there are several benefits, Barron cautions that Tulane can no longer offer unlimited mailbox space. Faculty and staff will have a 200-megabyte mailbox limit and students will be limited to 100 megabytes. In addition, individuals will be responsible for migrating stored mail from the old system to the new system.

"In the end, the limit helps us provide a better overall system to everyone at Tulane," he says. "Besides, it will foster each of us to do a better job of organizing our e-mail. That includes me."

To help users navigate the mailbox limit, a course titled "Managing Your E-life" will be offered by staff members in academic technology support services. They also are providing a variety of other end-user support services. Training will start in October to assist users in configuring Exchange e-mail clients, manually moving stored e-mails to the new Exchange server, creating distribution lists and utilizing the calendar.

Ann Kovalchick, deputy chief information officer and executive director of academic technology support services, says several implementation pilots have been under way and will continue through the fall. Among the groups that have already converted to the new system are technology services, the law school, the provost's office and the science and engineering school dean's office.

"These pilots have been tremendously valuable for the technical and support team. We've been able to thoughtfully analyze problems and craft creative solutions. We're also strengthening our collaborative approach to ensure technical functions and user needs are aligned," she says. "And we really appreciate that members of the community have been willing pilot participants because initially it can be frustrating to adopt a new e-mail system."

"I had no problems," says Kelly Grant, an academic affairs staff member, who converted the day after she got back from her vacation. "My conversion happened in one day."

Grant previously used Outlook for e-mail and Meeting Maker for her calendar system. After using Exchange for less than a month, she says it has great advantages. Grant says she enjoys new features such as the capability to share distribution lists and contacts. Additionally, she says everyone in the office finds it easier to arrange meetings.

The project was initiated in January 2005 and the hardware was purchased that spring. Hurricane Katrina suspended the project until it was reinitiated in January 2006. Since Katrina, the university has created a failover system for e-mail, a process that could not have happened as easily under the previous system, says Tim Deeves, director of networking services.

The surgery department at the School of Medicine and a few administrators will be part of pilots in the coming weeks, according to Deeves. He adds that they are seeking volunteer pilot participants who are willing to convert to the new e-mail system during the next few months.

• Volunteers. Tulane community members who are interested transferring to Exchange between October and December can submit an online pilot participant form.
  
  
• Mac users. Tulane faculty and staff members who use Macintosh computers, regardless of the implementation schedule, are encouraged to complete a Mac user survey.