The advantages of Google Apps for Education are numerous. Most straightforwardly, Google Apps for Education is free, so switching to it would enable the University to redirect the money currently spent on maintaining our own e-mail servers. Furthermore, switching to Gmail would make the e-mail program more convenient to use. The user interface of new webmail is often slow, confusing and counterintuitive, while the Gmail interface is more streamlined and easier to navigate — indeed, since so many students use Gmail for their personal e-mail accounts, the bulk of the student body is likely already familiar with using Gmail. Finally, switching to Gmail would enable Princeton students to take advantage of the various other applications linked with Gmail through Google Apps for Education. From Google Docs to Google Calendar, Google’s suite of applications is incredibly useful for streamlining and organizing students’ academic and personal lives. Integrating those applications with Princeton’s e-mail program would substantially increase the utility of both and would improve the student experience.
Concerns about the adequacy of Gmail’s protection of user privacy have been raised at other universities considering this switch, however. Google servers are located around the world, sometimes in jurisdictions with privacy laws less protective than those in the United States. These concerns about privacy and data security are fair, and we do not wish to dismiss them out of hand. Consequently, we encourage OIT to proceed prudently in investigating this possible change. When students and faculty at Yale raised privacy concerns in response to Yale’s considering a transition to Google Apps, for example, Yale’s Information Technology Services formed a committee composed of faculty members with expertise in related technical fields to investigate the issue and make a formal recommendation on the proposal. We think this is an admirable model that OIT could emulate. That said, because we do believe that Google Apps has the potential to effect concrete improvements in the lives of Princeton students, we urge OIT — as long as it moves cautiously — to begin considering making this change to Princeton’s e-mail system.
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Let’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award in Distinguished Teaching.
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The secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
