Understanding Student's Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 Services


Introduction

Google Workspace (GW) and Microsoft 365 (M365) services are provided to students at Virginia Tech. The following article contains

  • Overview of services
  • How to access the services
  • How to find training on the services
  • Where to find information on the cost of services
  • Eligibility Requirements
  • What happens after eligibility is lost
  • What if they have multiple relationships with Virginia Tech
  • What to do if they cannot access their services

Explanation

 

Overview

Students receive the following in Microsoft 365.

Services

Storage

NOTICE!

In 2025, Microsoft 365
storage will be changing.

Student M365 storage will
be limited to 10 GB1.

Email and Calendar
(Exchange Online)

100 GB

OneDrive

5 TB

1Additional storage cannot be allocated by the department

Additional Microsoft 365 apps include:

  • Bookings
  • Delve
  • Excel
  • Forms
  • Insights
  • Learning
  • Lists
  • Loop
  • OneNote
  • People
  • Planner
  • Power Apps
  • Power Automate
  • Power BI
  • Power Pages
  • PowerPoint
  • Project
  • Stream
  • Sway
  • Teams
  • To Do
  • Whiteboard
  • Word

 

Students receive the following in Google Workspace.

Services

Storage

Google Drive

5 GB2

2Additional storage cannot be allocated

Additional Google Workspace apps include:

  • Classroom
  • Contacts
  • Docs
  • Forms
  • Groups
  • Keep
  • Meet
  • Sheets
  • Sites
  • Slides

Access

  • VT email and calendar can be accessed on the web at outlook.office.com or by downloading the Outlook desktop application.
  • The Microsoft 365 services listed above can be accessed or downloaded at my.office365.vt.edu.
  • The Google Workspace services listed above can be accessed at www.google.com.
  • Departmental Teams, Sites, or M365 Groups can be requested at Departmental Team, SharePoint Site, or M365 Group. Only faculty and staff can request, but students, retirees, alumni, and external guests can be invited to join.

Training

Cost

GW is provided at no cost to the student. M365 cost information can be found at Student Software Bundles.

Eligibility

When students are admitted to the university, they get access to these services. For most students, this period of eligibility spans from the time they are admitted, to approximately one year after they leave the university.  From a technical standpoint, they can keep using the student services as long as they have one of the following affiliations. More information about affiliations can be found in the article, Understanding Virginia Tech Affiliations. A student can view their affiliations within Virginia Tech’s IT Account Manager.

  • VT-STUDENT-NEW-ADMIT
  • VT-STUDENT-ENROLLED
  • VT-STUDENT-RECENT
  • VT-STUDENT-FUTURE
  • VT-STUDENT-WAGE

Loss of Eligibility

This section describes how services will be terminated, or deprovisioned, after an individual is no longer a student at Virginia Tech once we fully transition to this process. The steps below assume that the student has no other affiliation with the university such as alumni, employee, or retiree (GW or M365) (i.e., the student has never been employed at the university and left without graduating). In the case of multiple affiliations, they will obtain or retain services based on those affiliations (See Understanding Storage and Services for Google and Microsoft Based on Constituent Groups for more information). To understand the specific services for those affiliations, please visit the articles for alumni, employee, or retiree (GW or M365). A student can view their affiliations in MyCAT.

Students and departments must make sure that any business or research related files are provided to the appropriate departmental personnel along with management or ownership of collaborative spaces. In addition, they must export any personal emails or files they want to keep to another location before their services stop. Data and email migration services are not provided.

  1. Students will retain their student service level until they are no longer taking classes AND two consecutive major semesters have passed with a 60-day notification period.
  2. They will begin to receive notifications during a final 60-day notification period.
    • Notifications will happen on the 60-, 30-, 15-, and 1-day intervals.
    • This is the final opportunity to export data.
  3. Once this notification period has elapsed, their Google and Microsoft accounts will be suspended. The former student will lose
    • All GW and M365 services
    • Any emails or files stored within these services
    • Any file permissions associated with the account
    • Any Team or Group memberships
    • Any Google Play purchases and YouTube data associated with the account
    • Ability to use their Virginia Tech Google account for any third-party authentication.
  4. Their accounts will be deleted 15 days later. Once an account is deleted, it will not be re-enabled, and deleted data will be unrecoverable.

Students need to make sure that they export any emails or files they want to keep to another location before their services stop. These articles can help export data.

Eligibility with Multiple Affiliations

If a student has multiple relationships with the university in addition to student, such as employee, alum, or retiree (GW or M365), they may be entitled to additional services or retention of services after loss of student eligibility.  Visit our Knowledge Base article called Understanding Storage and Services for Google and Microsoft Based on Constituent Groups for more details.

Even if eligible for the Gmail service, students are required to use Exchange Online, they cannot set a forward to @g.mail.vt.edu, and they will be restricted from sending and receiving in Gmail.

Troubleshooting

If a student loses access to GW or M365 services and believes this to be in error, there are steps that they can take.

  1. Verify they have one of the affiliations listed above (affiliations can also be viewed in the IT Account Manager). If they do not see this affiliation, we suggest they reach out to the Registrar's office.
  2. Check their M365 license in MyCAT. If you do not have a valid license, we suggest they contact their departmental IT.
  3. If their affiliations are correct and they have a valid license, contact 4Help.