University of Michigan unifies 19 schools under a culture of collaboration with Google Apps for Education

When Google Apps for Education was introduced, there was a huge sigh of relief. Previously, it was very difficult for students and professors to keep their information synchronized. I have yet to come across a toolset that is as feature-rich as Google Apps.

Jeff Ringenberg, a faculty member in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department

Challenge

Michigan’s schools and colleges operated as autonomous academic units with multiple disparate technology systems that were not just redundant but incompatible with one another. The IT team at Michigan saw an opportunity to streamline its technology services and introduce a mail, calendar, and documents solution that allowed for improved collaboration.

Solution

When Michigan initially looked into switching solutions, the IT team realized that 40 to 50 percent of email sent to the Michigan domain was forwarded to Gmail. After soliciting input from a large cross-section of faculty, students, and staff, Michigan decided in the fall of 2011 to adopt Google Apps for Education across all schools (except the medical campus) for mail, calendar, and documents.