Saint Francis recently transitioned from the Novell GroupWise email domain to Gmail for students, faculty and staff. The University had used GroupWise for the last 16 years.

The primary reason for the change is the ability to access email with the Gmail application. Users will also have full access to the Google Suite of tools. This is something students and faculty wanted.

According to Michael Blaisdell, director of network services in the University’s IT Department, other reasons for the switch include greater email capacity, more communication tools, more collaboration features and the ability to access Gmail from any device with an internet connection.

“The transition for students is going well,” said Blaisdell. “There have only been a few minor password issues.

“Faculty transition has been more challenging, but not troubling.”

The official first day of Gmail at Saint Francis was March 1. The campus had used the GroupWise email domain since 2001.