Information for Employees

• Employees retain access to Google Workspace (Google Drive) storage and tools, including: Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Sites, as well as Google Groups.
• Each employee has a minimum 5 GB storage allocation. Departments have the ability to increase storage for employees, but may not reduce any employees' storage limit below this minimum.
• Department-set storage allocations were implemented on March 15, 2024.
• Employees should work with their departments to determine plans for Google Drive data. 
• The Photos app has been discontinued. If an employee has data remaining in Photos, this will count against that employee's storage allocation and could cause an increase in storage costs for the department.

• Employees will retain access to Microsoft 365 products and services.
• The main change is that storage limits will be implemented in 2025. This includes:
  • Up to 25 GB of baseline storage allocated for use within the Microsoft 365 online environment (including OneDrive and Exchange Online).
  • Departments will have the ability to increase storage for employees, but may not reduce any employees' storage limit below the baseline. 
  • Departments will determine their storage allocation plans for Microsoft 365; a detailed schedule will be shared when available.
  • In the future (date to be determined), employees will need to obtain departmental approval to create new SharePoint Online and Teams sites.

Google Shared Drives

• Departments now manage Google Shared Drive storage. 
• Departmental approval is required to create new Shared Drives.
• To remain active, a Shared Drive must be “claimed” by a university department. This means that the department has agreed to provide for any storage used by the Shared Drive (i.e., to sponsor the drive).
• Employees may indicate their preference on what to do with any Google Shared Drives for which they are a Manager. To view your roles and storage totals in Shared Drives:
  • Log in to the MyCAT Tool. Scroll down and open the "Google" tab, and then open the "Shared Drives" tab. 
  • If you are listed as a "Manager" and you want to keep that shared drive, click the "Recommend" button to indicate your preference for that drive.
• Departments determine how much storage to allocate towards shared drives they have claimed. Storage plans were implemented on March 15, 2024.

Microsoft SharePoint and Teams

• In the future, departments will also manage storage for Microsoft's shared storage resources, SharePoint Online and Teams. 
• Dates for these changes to Microsoft shared storage are to be determined, and will be shared when available.

• The Google Photos app was turned off on Jan. 16, 2024. This means you can no longer access the app through your VT Google account.
• You can still export/download photos out of the app using Google Takeout. However, the storage left in the app will continue to count against your Google storage allocation, and could cause an increase in storage costs for your department.
• Employees should discuss storage needs for university photos with their departments.

More about this change, and how to prepare, are in the Google Photos export and relocation guide.

• Employees now use Microsoft Exchange Online for email and calendars.
  • Email and calendar migrations to Exchange Online were completed between Jan. 15 and March 1, 2024. 
• Employees no longer have access to Gmail or Google Calendar.

Employees can take the following actions to prepare:

• Check your Google storage totals. Be aware of the amount of storage you are using in Google.
• Work with your department to determine if any cleanup is required for your Google Drive. Storage plans will be decided by your department and new storage limits for Google Drive and Shared Drives began on March 15, 2024. Your department will communicate if any specific cleanup actions are required. Please keep university retention policy requirements in mind if you do decide to remove data.
• Transfer any personal files to a personal account.