By Rachel Aretakis

Students’ university e-mail host will change starting in January from the current Exchange host to Google Apps or Windows Live.

This means that UK will no longer use Microsoft Exchange as the e-mail service. Students will now access their e-mail through the “cloud-based” service that is Google Gmail or a Microsoft Live account.

UK is changing e-mail services in order to provide students with a larger storage base as well as additional tools for students. The cloud service also costs less than Exchange.

Though the server will change, the e-mail address “@uky.edu” will remain the same.

For current students, e-mail will migrate in phases from January to April 2011. The migration will take several months because the system and network limits the amount of data that can be migrated at a time, said Ahley Tabb, UK Information Technology Communications manager.

New students will automatically set up their Gmail or Microsoft Live account as they are admitted.

Students have been requesting additional features and larger e-mail mailboxes for several years, Tabb said.

With the migration, students will no longer have to change their e-mail passwords, Tabb said.

“UKIT has researched and found moving to the cloud satisfies these student requests while also saving the university money,” Tabb said. She also said that cloud e-mail is common in higher education.

Faculty and staff will not make the change and will keep their Exchange account, the UK website with frequently asked questions section about the new system said. Students in the medical and health related colleges also will not make the switch “due to health information privacy regulation.”

Tabb said that UK expects to save $160,000 by switching to the cloud. The savings come from the reduction in the networking capacity and data storage needed.

E-mail problems will now be directed at the vendor rather than UKIT Customer Service, Tabb said. She said this will allow the service desk to focus on other issues.

Economics freshman Katie Lucas said she knows Google Gmail has a larger database, however does not think it is necessary to switch.

Lucas said she does not like the change to the “cloud-based” service because of the time it takes to set up the e-mail account.

“It took me a while to get used to this e-mail and set it up on my computer, and having to do it all over again is just time consuming,” Lucas said. “I think it will be a difficult process for everyone to figure out what is going on.”

UKIT met with various focus groups last semester to discuss the change to the cloud, Tabb said.

“The transition to the cloud was positively received and recommended,” Tabb said.

Nursing senior Natalie Lokits said she wishes the medical colleges were able to make the switch as well because of the extra storage that Google Gmail or a Microsoft Live Account will provide.

Though Lokits said the process might be long, she said, “if it’s going to cost less, then I think that is the better option because we need to be more efficient with our money so that tuition doesn’t rise.”