Google Workspace (GW) and Microsoft 365 (M365) services are provided to employees 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

Overview

Graduate Students receive the following storage in Gigabytes (GB) in Microsoft 365.

¹Storage is fixed and cannot be increased

²Additional storage can be purchased by a department

Additional Microsoft 365 apps include³:

³Downloadable versions are available.

Graduate students receive the following in Google Workspace.

⁴Additional storage may not be allocated.

Additional Google Workspace apps include:

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 through your organizational unit administrator (OU admin).

Training

• LinkedIn Learning via OneCampus (requires signing in with their Virginia Tech username and password)
• Division of IT Knowledge Base articles
  • Exchange Online
  • Microsoft 365
  • Google Workspace
• TLOS’s (Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategies) Professional Development Network (PDN)

Cost

Services are paid for by the university and departments.

Eligibility

Eligibility is determined through a partnership between the Division of IT and the Graduate School. If you need to determine if you are eligible, please submit a ticket to 4Help and they can confirm for you. General information about affiliations can be found in the article, Understanding Virginia Tech Affiliations. A graduate student can view their affiliations within the IT Account Manager, but, again, if you need to confirm eligibility, please ask 4Help. They can let you know what your current eligibility is.

Loss of Eligibility

This section describes how services will be terminated, or deprovisioned, after an individual is no longer a student at Virginia Tech. 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 (either graduate or undergraduate) 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, Google Voice, and YouTube data or access 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.

• • Exporting Email
  • Migrating files out of My Drive using Google Takeout
  • Transferring Files from OneDrive

Eligibility with Multiple Affiliations

If a student has multiple relationships with the university in addition to graduate 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 met the criteria to receive services as a graduate student. If they do not see meet this requirement, we suggest they reach out to the graduate school.
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.

If a graduate student cannot send using VT Gmail even if they have access to the service, this is by design. They are required to use Exchange Online. More information can be found at Troubleshooting Sending and Receiving Gmail using a VT Gmail account.