A campus forum is scheduled for Feb. 17 on options for enhancing the features and capabilities of e-mail service for faculty and staff. RSVPs for the forum are due by Feb. 11.

“One option is to move to a service offered by a commercial provider like Google’s Gmail and related Google Apps,” the Campus Council for Information Technology announced in a news release. “Plans to investigate the feasibility of such a move are being developed.”

The council chair, physics professor Joe Kiskis, is due to host the forum. Organizers said feedback from the forum will help inform plans for a pilot project.

The forum topics:

Why UC Davis is examining possible alternatives to the current central e-mail service (known as Cyrus) and conducting a parallel but related review of the central Microsoft Exchange (Xeda) services on campus.

• The objectives for the focused eight-week pilot program, including determining the extent to which Gmail can meet the communication needs of faculty and staff, and the extent to which they integrate properly in our campus environment.
• An overview of Gmail and other Google Apps (e.g., calendar, documents and spreadsheets, groups, sites, etc.).
• The mechanisms by which faculty and staff can join the pilot and stay informed (e.g., project Web site, comprehensive FAQ, orientation sessions; etc.).

Organizers said the forum also will include a question-and-answer session with the Gmail project team.

The forum is scheduled from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 17 in Ballroom B at the Activities and Recreation Center. RSVPS should be directed to gmail-pilot@ucdavis.edu.