The Exchange Calendar Update Tool ("the Exchange Tool") was run on the campus Xeda Exchange servers over the weekend.  This tool updated mailbox calendar information, centrally, to adjust for the new extended DST period in 2007.  Outlook calendars should now show the correct time for meeting events scheduled during this extended period and beyond.  Most recurring calendar events covering the extended DST will require a re-acceptance, which will then update the event appropriately.

Any new calendar events entered from this point on (whether single instance or recurring), will display correctly within Outlook. 

The Exchange Tool did not entirely work as advertised. Most notably, recurring calendar events, when viewed from OWA, show events an hour off from their true scheduled time.  The same calendar event, when viewed from Outlook, will show the correct time.  The reason for this disparity is although Outlook and OWA point to the same mailbox and calendar, OWA uses its own internal Time Zone tables.

We would like to make the following recommendations and suggestions to minimize calendar issues during the extended DST period:

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Recommendations:

1. Print a copy of your calendar during the extended DST period for reference.
2. Accept any new meeting requests, sent automatically bythe meeting coordinator after the Exchange Tool ran.
3. Confirm that appointments appear correctly in their calendars.  If appointments do not appear correctly, reschedule the appointments and send updates to appointment attendees.
4. Manually move meetings that you organized to the correct time.
5. Manually move all single-instance appointments as needed.
6. If needed, manually move all recurring appointments within the extended DST period. If you are prompted, move only the occurrence(s) that fall in the extended DST period. The instances that occur before and after the DST period should already reflect the correct time.

Suggestions:
To minimize confusion for users during the extended DST period, suggest the user follow these steps:  

1. When a meeting is organized during the extended DST period, write the correct meeting time in the subject line or the body of the message. For example, include the following text in the subject line or the body of the message:    Project planning meeting - 8:30 A.M.
2. Consider any calendar items in the extended DST period to be suspect. If you are not sure, verify the correct time with the meeting organizer.

Ultimately, only end users will know if their calendars are correct or not. We recommend that you notify all of your end users, make them aware of this issue, and advise them to consider any affected appointments to be suspect. If necessary, end users can verify the times themselves and with any other invitees. Using methods such as writing out the meeting time in the subject line of the meeting request can also be beneficial.

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Additional information and updates on DST 2007 guidelines, as they are made available, will be distributed accordingly.  Please let us know if you have any questions or visit http://vpiet.ucdavis.edu/dst/.

Regards,

Paul Singh
IET - Data Center & Client Services
University of California, Davis
pasingh@ucdavis.edu
(530) 752-8809