University contemplates e-mail switch to Gmail

University of Richmond Information Services staff are considering making the switch from SpiderMail to Gmail, but not without student input.

Information Services held an information session at 2 p.m. on Friday to hear what students had to say about the subject, but none of those in attendance were undergraduates.

Instead, students chose to have their voices heard via e-mail, said Troy Boroughs, director of system and networks at Richmond.

While Richmond could choose to source student e-mail with an outside provider such as Microsoft Live@edu, representatives at Information Services believe that Google's services are better integrated.

The trend is choosing Google, and by following that trend, Richmond would be joining the ranks of the 50 percent of higher education institutions that have already converted to outsourcing student e-mail, Boroughs said.

Of these institutions, twice as many choose Google over other providers, he said.

One reason UR is considering using Google's services is that many students are already familiar with Gmail's services, Boroughs said.

"I would rather have Gmail," said sophomore Jon Poole. "The amount of space and type of features are greatly overshadow the features of SpiderMail. Gmail allows you to create groups, call people, use G-chat -- SpiderMail is just very stone-age whereas Gmail is much more up-to-date."

Gmail would also provide students with unlimited storage capacity, collaboration tools and quality spam and anti-virus controls, Boroughs said.

But despite its numbered downfalls, SpiderMail retains certain advantages over Gmail. It guarantees that e-mail is stored in a U.S. server, providing users with a security blanket Gmail cannot supply, Boroughs said.

Since Gmail servers are located all throughout the world, that guarantee is eliminated, making some people question the security of their stored data, he said.

Some students have e-mailed Boroughs saying that they fear losing their Richmond.edu accounts, but Boroughs ensures that student e-mail addresses would remain unchanged.

E-mail would still be hosted by richmond.edu, it would simply be redirected and stored through Gmail allowing students to keep their current e-mail addresses, he said.

If UR does go through with the conversion, the process would occur in two phases; phase one would consist of migrating current students over to Gmail during Summer 2011 and phase two would be offering accounts to alumni, Boroughs said.

The fact that students would get to keep their email after graduation is an attractive attribute to those nearing the end of their time at UR.

"As a student, I think it's great because I don't have to keep two different e-mail accounts and I'll get to keep my email as an alumni," said Chip Greene, the senior network specialist and student in the School of Continuing Studies.

The migration would affect all students who are taking classes for credit toward a degree, including students in the law school who previously used accounts separate from SpiderMail, Boroughs said.

Despite the possible shortcomings of using an outside provider, Boroughs said he thought the benefits of Gmail would highly outweigh any limitations it might have.

"Outsourcing is happening faster and faster," Boroughs said. "The weaknesses are known and being addressed by the company. As long as protection and safeguards are in place, I don't think there's anything to worry about."

Contact reporter Liz Aquilino at liz.aquilino@richmond.edu