Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A note from Kevin Roberts, CIO at Abilene Christian University

The Google "App to School" bus tour stopped at my campus, Abilene Christian University, on Monday, September 15th. The bus rolled into place early in the morning and by the time most students were heading to class the Googlers were hard at work showing folks new ways to use Google Apps. As the day continued, the lines grew longer and the excitement grew along with them. People hung out, they learned, they laughed, and they played a little Rock Band. All in all it was a fantastic visit.

We are thrilled to be part of the Google Apps family. Here at ACU, the entire campus -- faculty, staff and students -- use Google Apps. It is our only email and calendar system. Every day more and more people are discovering that not only is it a really cool email, chat and calendar, but it is also a powerful collaboration tool. As students and faculty members stopped by the bus, many were surprised to learn just how rich the features are in Google Apps. While most people knew about Google Docs and Spreadsheets, quite a few had no idea about Forms or Sites. You could see the light bulbs flashing all over as researchers realized the power of forms and student leaders realized how much Sites could help them connect.

As CIO, it is very important to me and to my organization that we provide the best possible technology infrastructure to our university community. Google Apps is certainly a major part of that infrastructure. It is hard to imagine anymore what life was like without it.

The only problem with the visit is that it ended too soon. It was a great day. We are eager to see what new innovations Google introduces in the future. In the meantime, we will continue to use the Apps tool set to collaborate in meaningful ways. We will also remember fondly the day that we got on the bus, played a little Rock Band, and made some new friends. Thanks Googlers for including us on the tour.

Posted by Kevin Roberts, CIO at Abilene Christian University

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