Google Apps at SU
Syracuse University recently established an organizational account in Google Apps that will be managed by the Information Technology and Services (ITS) department. This organizational account provides SU’s students, faculty and staff with a wide array of Google cloud-based services and provides new tools for collaboration, teaching and learning. A list of Google services and products accessible through SU Google user accounts is provided below.
SU Google Apps Account
SU Google accounts are in the format of NetID@g.syr.edu.
SU Google user accounts are synced weekly from SU's AD directory meaning new student's, faculty, and staff should receive access to their SU Google account approximately one week after entering the AD system. Only a user's NetID, first, and last name are synced to the Google Apps system. Authentication is managed by the Identity Management Group's Ping-SSO system. All student's, faculty, staff, and alumni should already have access to their SU Google account if they meet the syncing criteria listed below.
Only AD accounts that meet the following criteria are synced to Google:
- Must have a userPrincipalName attribute
- sAMAccountName (NetID) does not contain a dash
- mail attribute contains only valid email characters
- has at a CN set to one of the main schools, departments, organizational units (e.g. CN="MAXWELL", "ITS", "ALUMNI")
Core Services:
Google Drive (Previously called Google Docs)
Google Calendar
Google Talk/Hangouts
Google Contacts
Google Groups
These core services are governed by a contract between Syracuse University and Google Inc. Information stored in any of these Core Services is not indexed by Google and therefore such data is not publicly searchable nor used to serve ads. Syracuse University also offers several Consumer Services from Google. By using these Consumer Services you are entering into an agreement directly with Google Inc. Data created with or stored in these Consumer Services is not owned or maintained in any way by Syracuse University and is governed by Google's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Faculty and Staff need to be particularly aware of the implications of using Google's Consumer Services as they may not offer the same degree of protections and precautions related to FERPA and HIPAA that are available with Google App's Core Services for Education. If you have any questions about the appropriate uses for a specific service please contact the ITS Support Staff at help@syr.edu or (315)-443-2677.
Consumer Services:
YouTube
Google+
Google News
Google Voice
Google Maps
Google Analytics
Google Books
Google Bookmarks
Google 3D Warehouse
Google Chrome Sync
Google Finance
Picassa Web Albums
For further information about these services please refer to Google's documentation on each.
Google+
Users may optionally setup a public Google+ account as part of their SU Google account. Users will have to provide a date of birth and common name in order to use Google+ features. User's who fail to provide a date of birth showing that they are at least 13 years of age will have their entire SU Google account suspended until they follow Google's age verification procedure to prove they meet the age requirements. SU Google users intending to use Google+ are urged to provide a valid date of birth showing they are at least 13 years of age as Syracuse University and ITS have no control over the state of accounts suspended due to age restrictions and such suspensions must be resolved through Google's age verification process. Age verification requires providing government issued identification or credit-card information to Google as part of it's age verification process.
Google Apps and Ping
All Google Apps accounts for SU students, faculty, and staff will be authenticated against the Identity Management (IDM) group's Ping Single Sign-On (SSO) system. When a user attempts to login to any Google service using their netID@g.syr.edu they will be redirected to the secure Ping SSO page requesting the user's NetID and associated password. After providing these credentials the user should be redirected back to the original service. Please refer to the IDM group's documentation about Ping and the SSO system for further information.
Google Apps Support and Policy
Since the University is liable for the content stored in its organizational Google Apps account, individual user accounts within the SU organizational account must comply with the University’s Information Technology policies: policies. Specific guidance for the use of any cloud based service may be found in the University’s “Cloud Based Storage and University Data Standard” which restricts the use of confidential (i.e. SS#, Credit Card Information, Privacy Information, Health Information, FERPA Data, research data) or Enterprise (financial, contract, legal, or other SU business information) data within any cloud based services.
The services provided through Syracuse University's Google Apps accounts are products and services that are developed and maintained by Google Inc. As such, application level support questions should be directed to Google. Syracuse University will offer account management related support including account creating, account suspension, password resets, and authentication related questions.
Further Questions
Please contact the ITS Service Center at help@syr.edu or (315)-443-2677 for further questions.