Understanding Alumni's Gmail Service


Introduction

Google Workspace (GW) Gmail is provided to alumni at Virginia Tech. The following article contains

  • Overview of service
  • How to access the service
  • How to find training on the service
  • Where to find information on the cost of service
  • 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 service

Explanation

 

Table of Contents

Overview

Alumni receive a new, clean, empty Gmail mailbox with 5 GB of storage – no other Google services are provided (i.e., Drive, Photos, Docs, Sheet, Voice, Chat, etc.). The email address will be the same one used while a Virginia Tech student, but no student email data will be migrated from Exchange Online to this new inbox.

Access

Training

Cost

There is no cost to the alumni for this service.

Eligibility

From a technical standpoint, the service is available when a student receives the VT-ALUM affiliation, which happens soon after they graduate. However, because of their prior student status it will take approximately a year for this benefit to be available for use. Because their student affiliation, VT-STUDENT-RECENT, is maintained for two consecutive major semesters and 60 days after the last semester of student attendance, recent graduates will continue to receive student-level services until the student affiliation is dropped, and email will continue to be routed to Exchange Online during this time  After this student affiliation is removed, the alum will be able to use their Virginia Tech Alumni Email benefit. More information about affiliations can be found in the article, Understanding Virginia Tech Affiliations. An alum can view their affiliations within the IT Account Manager.

Loss of Eligibility

You need to use your account to keep it active: We recommend that you log into your VT Gmail account using your web browser at least once a month. This ensures that Google will continue to report your account as active. If you become inactive (representing six months of no use), your account will be deprovisioned and you will lose your email and files. This data cannot be recovered.

If an alum chooses to decline their Alumni Email benefit, then they can put in a request at VT Alumni Email Benefit.

Upon loss of eligibility or declination of service, if they have no other relationship with the university, such as employee, student, or GW retiree, then 

  • This is reversible using the same request form; however deleted data and email is not recoverable.
  • Their VT Google account will be deleted.
  • They will no longer have email with Virginia Tech or a vt.edu address.
  • They will lose the ability to collaborate on any items shared with their VT Google account.
  • They will lose the ability to use their VT Google account to authenticate with third-party software or websites.
  • No notifications or grace period will be provided.
  • Their email and files will not be exported or migrated for them.
  • They will lose Google Play purchases and YouTube content associated with the VT Google account.

Eligibility with Multiple Affiliations

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

Troubleshooting

If an alum loses access to their Gmail services and believes this to be in error, there are steps that they can take.

  1. Verify they have VT-ALUM and do not have VT-STUDENT-RECENT (affiliations can also be viewed in the IT Account Manager). If their affiliations are incorrect, we suggest they reach out to the Registrar's office.
  2. If their affiliations are correct, contact 4Help.