University officials are considering a new program from Google that would take over GW’s e-mail system for free.

The program, called Google Apps for Education, allows universities to partner with the e-mail provider for free e-mail, calendar and even Blackboard integration. GW administrators said it was too soon to say if the University would decide to use the free program instead of the current Colonial Mail program. However, the costs and options of the service are being considered.

“We have preliminarily discussed the option because of the recent offerings,” said Alexa Kim, executive director of Information Systems and Services’ Technology Services. “I actually signed up for one of the info sessions.”

Kim said GW’s main concern with the switch would be security.

The first university to partner with Google was Arizona State University three weeks ago. San Jose City College, a California community college has also announced their participation in the program.

Officials at ASU said security was a source of apprehension, but they found Google’s offerings more comprehensive than what they could offer.

“The resources and dedication of Google to security is . more than anything we could provide,” said Kari Barlow, assistant vice president of ASU Technology Office.

She said ASU’s transition to Gmail was easy and has allowed her office to allocate funds that used to go to e-mail maintenance and security to enhancing other student services. She added that although students were already using calendar programs, Google’s integrated calendar allows the University to post calendars that students can import into their own.

“We provide an ASU football calendar that overlays and they can turn on and off of their calendar,” Barlow said.

Google said it is offering the service to unify students, professors and administrators.

“We find that, in most universities, a significant portion of the student body is forwarding to Gmail,” said Google Product Manager Rajen Sheth. “This will let the university offer these services . directly to students and also help bring together the student community.”

Sheth said the program is only in the Beta version, a preliminary model that is still being modified. He added that Google has recently partnered with Blackboard, GW’s internet classroom service, to integrate their services.

“(Students) can access all of their communications and documents from anywhere, anytime,” Sheth said. “From any Web browser, they can chat with friends and partners, e-mail their professor, work on a group report, and find their class or social schedules.”

Sheth said Google is aware of privacy concerns and deletes e-mail off their server 60 days after the user deletes them.

Graduate business student Paul Kendrick said GW’s exclusive use of Gmail would be a good decision.

“For quota reasons, it makes it a lot easier,” Kendrick said. “I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to use Gmail.”

Kendrick added that he never uses CMail because his Gmail account is more user-friendly.