Student Union is planning to transition from its current Unix-based e-mail system to Google Apps this semester in order to make logistics more intuitive for student groups.

Student Union (SU) groups will now each have a Gmail e-mail account, while at the same time retaining their @su.wustl.edu address.

The Google Apps suites offers Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites and will have slightly more than six gigabytes of storage. This switch to Google Apps will not cost the University any money.

“It is hard to construct a true collaborative tool from scratch in our Unix environment. We want groups to be able to share calendars and documents to enhance productivity and collaboration,” junior Jeff Nelson, SU vice president of administration, said. “Switching to Google allows us to do these types of things for free.”

SU announced the decision to switch to Google Apps on Dec. 15 after a survey conducted by the SU Technology Resources Committee found that 57 percent of students were in favor of outsourcing student e-mail and 79 percent of students were in favor of Gmail in the event that student e-mail was outsourced.

So far student reaction has been positive. Senior Kathleen O’Malley, president of Association of Latin American Students, likes how Google Apps is a familiar system.

“With the current e-mail system, I only really knew how to use the listserv and send out e-mails. With Google, I know how my Gmail works so I think this new system should be better,” O’Malley said.

So far, no plans have been made to switch the entire student body’s e-mail accounts over to Google. But at the same time, Student Union has called this program a “pilot and a proof-of-concept for a potential student-wide switch to a commercial e-mail service” in a press release.

“Right now, there are no plans to move all student e-mail accounts to Google or any other provider. There are some preliminary discussions going on, but nothing has been decided at this point,” Nelson said.

The University would not be the first school to consider this switch. Much larger schools such as University of Virginia, University of Florida and Arizona State University, with 20,258, 51,413 and 67,082 students respectively, have switched to Google Apps already. St. Louis University implemented Google Apps last year.

In order for the University to outsource all student e-mail accounts, many things would have to be considered, Nelson said. How students in different schools of the University use e-mail services, how Washington University will provide support for an outside program and how to ensure that student information is secure and not used inappropriately by Gmail or given to another company are just some of the questions.

Nelson hopes that this pilot program will help answer some of those questions.

“We hope that student groups’ use of Gmail will provide us with information that will be useful in making e-mail outsourcing decisions in the future,” Nelson said.