IT DEMO: Student Information

• Students will have a 5 gigabyte (GB) storage limit in Google Workspace (Google Drive).
  • Storage limits start Jan. 16, 2024 for current students (enrolled before Sept. 25, 2023).
  • For students who first enrolled on or after Sept. 25, 2023, these storage limits are already in place.
  • If your Google account has over 5 GB storage after limits are applied, it will become read-only until you reduce storage below this limit.
• Students still have access to My Drive tools, including: Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Sites, as well as Google Groups.

• The Google Photos app will be turned off on Jan. 16, 2024. This means you will no longer be able to access this app through your Virginia Tech Google account.
• You MUST have zero data left in the Photos app by Jan. 16, 2024. After this date, you won't be able to access the app to remove photos, and any data left in Photos will count against your Google storage.
• Export/download photos you want to keep, or transfer them to a personal Google account. Then delete everything in the app so that you have zero data stored in the Photos app. Here's how to check your storage.

• Student email and calendar service will move from Gmail to Exchange Online (Outlook). 
• Current students: Virginia Tech will migrate your email to Exchange Online for you over winter break (Dec. 2023 - Jan. 2024).
• New students enrolling on Sept. 25, 2023 or after will start out with Exchange Online service (with no Gmail access). 
• After email is migrated, the Gmail and Calendar apps will be turned off (you will no longer see them in your VT Google Workspace).

• Students may no longer create new Shared Drives in Google Workspace.
• If you have the "Manager" role on a Shared Drive that a university department needs to maintain, please contact the department or your faculty sponsor.     
• Beginning in April 2024, student-managed Shared Drives that are not sponsored by a department will be deleted.

All students will receive Microsoft 365 Online services, which include: 

• 10 GB* of storage for use within the environment (including OneDrive and Exchange Online). 
• Microsoft Office tools including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Forms, etc.
• Storage resources include OneDrive (comparable to Google My Drive), SharePoint Online (comparable to Google Shared Drives), and Teams. 
• In the future, SharePoint and Teams sites will require departmental sponsorship.

*The 10 GB storage limit for students will begin in 2025.

Between now and the end of the fall 2023 semester, you need to:

• Check your Google storage (make sure you are logged into your VT Google account). If you have more than 5 GB, you'll need to get your storage total below that before Jan. 16, 2024.

• Empty your VT Google Photos app. Export photos you want to keep, then delete everything in the app so that you have zero data in Photos. Make sure your phone isn't automatically backing up photos to your VT Google Workspace account. Do this before Jan. 16, 2024.

• Delete unneeded files from My Drive. This will make room in your Google Workspace so you have more space to work with after storage limits are in place.

• Empty your Gmail trash. This will further reduce your storage and give you a better picture of how much you need to reduce in My Drive.

• Delete Google Shared Drives you don’t need anymore (and find a faculty/department to sponsor those you do need). See the "Shared Drives" tab above for details.

Starting May 1, 2024, student Google accounts that are still over the 5 GB storage limit will be subject to further action. This may include having files removed for deletion. In some cases, accounts may need to be deleted and reinstated with zero data.

One more thing...if you are planning to move files from Google to Microsoft OneDrive, keep in mind that you will have a 10 GB total storage limit in Microsoft starting in 2025 — so depending on your data needs, you might want to explore other options.