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We are pleased to announce that final preparations for the campuswide introduction of Google Apps for Education, known as bConnected on our campus, are underway. Every CalMail user with an "@berkeley.edu" email address will be provided with bMail (email), bCal (calendar), and Drive for online file sharing and storage. Your bConnected account comes with 25 GB of personal storage and is accessible from your computer, your mobile device, or anywhere you have Internet access.
When will I get it? Sometime between October 22 and November 2, you will get an email to let you know your bConnected account is active. At that time you may log in and begin using bCal and Drive. Beginning in November, we'll initiate the move from CalMail to bMail.
How will I move to bMail? Following bConnected account activation, we'll begin the process to move each user's CalMail email archive and reroute incoming messages to bMail. To ensure that email data is transferred efficiently and securely and to minimize disruption, the email migration will be conducted in stages across the campus. Learn more at http://bconnected-project.berkeley.edu/migration/.
What will be moved? Mail sitting in your CalMail inbox as well as folders with saved messages will move from CalMail to your new bMail account. Because there are lots of email accounts and lots of saved data, this process will take time. But don't worry — you'll never be without email access, and we'll let you know when everything has moved from CalMail to bMail.
What should I do to get ready? You don't need to do anything to prepare for your bConnected account. Once your account is active, however, there are several tasks to complete to ensure your CalMail data is transferred correctly to your bMail. We'll let you know more when it's time to move your mail.
More information on using the bConnected tools, training and user support, and details on the transition from CalMail to bMail can be found on the bConnected Project website. If, after visiting the site, you have questions about this project, please email bConnected@berkeley.edu.
Information about how to log in to the bConnected applications will be provided, via a CalMail message, to each user as accounts are created.
Google Apps for Education (bConnected) is provided at no additional cost to faculty, staff, and students by the Operational Excellence IT Productivity Suite project.
Following months of preparation, I am pleased to announce the successful migration of more than 5,000 CalAgenda users to bCal (the new Google-based calendar solution). bCal is the first product launched as part of the Google Apps for Education suite. bCal and bMail (Google email) will roll out to all UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and students starting in August. As part of the Operational Excellence Productivity Suite initiative, the rollout of Google Apps continues the effort to provide the campus community with a shared set of best-in-class IT tools that will improve our ability to collaborate and communicate across campus, with other universities, and beyond.
The Productivity Suite project team will work with campus and departmental leadership to select a migration timeline for bMail, and will share the information with the campus in the coming weeks. I understand that email is the primary communication method for many faculty, staff, and students, and access to your email and calendar is critical for you to work effectively. In partnership with campus and departmental IT staff, the project team will be available to support you throughout the migration to Google Apps for Education. The team and I are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for the entire campus community.
If you have questions about the move to bCal and bMail, or training for the new solutions, please visit http://bconnected.berkeley.edu.
UC Berkeley has decided to withdraw its participation in the open-source software Kuali Student, effective June 30, 2012. The University's five-year commitment is ending and our assessment of the Kuali software development timeline versus our students' needs, led us to this decision. We need to move more quickly and in a more focused way to provide students the services they consider a priority. This includes more efficient software systems for registering for classes, obtaining financial aid information, and checking on grades.
Kuali Student is an open-source product designed to provide institutions of higher education with a single platform through which students could manage a wide array of students' University-business needs including registration, access to course schedules, transcripts, etc. The system would also allow campus officials to schedule classes more efficiently, integrate information from other units (such as Summer Sessions and UC Extension), address emergency prepared needs, and other matters. A consortium of colleges and universities across the country has been involved in this effort. The goal was to complete this ambitious project by 2012. However, a completion date is still pending.
Participation in the consortium has brought our staff new cutting-edge technology skills and has allowed us to develop a few Kuali-based systems, including a paperless system that will allow faculty to submit new courses for approval or modify existing courses online.
Lyle Nevels, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor IT & CIO
Anne De Luca, PhD., Associate Vice Chancellor — Admissions & Enrollment
What is Kuali Student?
Kuali Student is an open-source system designed to provide
institutions of higher education with a single platform through which
students could manage a wide array of students' University-business
needs including registration, access to course schedules, transcripts,
etc. The system would also allow campus officials to schedule classes
more efficiently, integrate information from other units (such as Summer
Sessions and UC Extension), address emergency prepared needs, and other
matters.
What was the planned timeframe for completing the development of Kuali Student?
Beginning in 2007, a consortium of colleges and universities
across the country have been involved in this effort. The goal was to
complete this ambitious project by 2012, however, that date has passed
and a new completion date is still pending. When we signed up for the
program we were hopeful that the program would be completed by 2012.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case and we have to think of our
students' needs at this time. We simply need to move more quickly.
What will the campus do in lieu of Kuali Student and what is the time frame?
The campus just recently decided to withdraw from Kuali and will
now consider other options to get us where we need to be. We know that
we would like to have a new software program in place that addresses our
students' most pressing needs, within the next two years, if at all
possible.
Has the campus seen benefits from participating in the development of Kuali Student?
Being a part of the Kuali Student development team has brought our
campus some new cutting-edge skills; we've learned best practices from
other member institutions; and we move on with a couple of helpful
software programs for the UC Berkeley campus that were outcomes of the
Kuali Student work. We completed business process mapping and
requirements gathering for student systems, and laid the foundation for
future efforts in this area.
However at this point, we have to focus more narrowly on our students' priority issues rather than invest additional time toward a much larger and more ambitious shared project. Given that our five-year contract was ending, it made sense to take this action at this time.