UA campuses working to fix Google migration problems

June 22, 2017

University Relations

UAA, UAF, UAS and UA system have been working together since March 2017 to resolve issues UAA users reported after the migration to Google. At a systemwide meeting on Jan. 27, 2017, four urgent technical tasks were identified to alleviate issues reported by UAA users.

The four urgent technical issues consist of:

• Creating a global address list in Google. This is now complete. Additional information about GALs, in general, can be found at https://support.google.com/a/users/topic/2465374?hl=en&ref_topic=2465313.
  


• Wrapping up migration of historic email and calendar content for UAA users. This is scheduled to be complete by the end of June 2017, with some users requesting migration after the start of fall semester 2017.
  


• Develop the architecture required to support departmental distribution lists for communication and access, with implementation the end of summer 2017.
  


• Restoring the ability to receive and/or manage voicemail via email, with implementation the end of summer 2017.
  

The UA community can stay informed of progress at  http://www.alaska.edu/oit/restoring-email-calendar/ .

Bi-weekly project updates are posted to the site, but other helpful information is located on the project website, including:  

• Key project documents
  


• Suggested technical changes the cross-campus teams are working on. An example of this is syncing Google with Active Directory to restore functionality associated with UAA distribution lists.
  


• Documentation of issues UAA users have reported since the migration to Google and suggestions for accomplishing these tasks in Google.
  


• Links to Google training documentation.
  

Help is available on the project website and on the Google login page:

• Project website — As with any change, much like the change to establish a single email and calendaring solution through Google Apps, you will have to occasionally accomplish tasks in a different way than you  did prior to the change. Suggested workflow adjustments are located on the project website.


• Google login page — The Google login page contains "how-to" articles and answers to frequently asked questions. A news and alerts section has project updates.
  

Please reach out with questions.  If you are  unable to accomplish a task you were able to accomplish prior to the Google migration, please reach out to the UAA or Office of Information Technology support centers so they can help you get your needs met. There may be alternative ways to complete daily business operations.

In addition, OIT Training and Engagement is available to help walk you through questions, should you continue to have them.  OIT-TE staff members offer personal consultations to support you. They enjoy showing you how technology can facilitate, accelerate or automate tasks. They can be reached by contacting the OIT Support Center.