Google has announced a new storage policy that ends free unlimited storage for the academic community.
The University of Arizona has provided Google Workspace for Education (formerly known as G Suite for Education) accounts to students, faculty, staff, and DCCs with unlimited storage for Google Drive, Gmail (CatMail), and Google Photos. Additionally, because Google Workspace for Education has been free to the university, these accounts have persisted after graduation and separation from the university.
The change in Google’s service to a paid offering with more limited storage requires the University to shift these practices. The impact to your account will vary based on your current affiliation with the university. Please remember, file storage in the Google Workspace is provided for work and learning purposes only. Personal files unrelated to coursework or University business should be stored elsewhere.
New UArizona Google Account Guidelines
The University of Arizona is implementing a 15GB storage limit on all University Google accounts. Resources in this knowledge article can assist you with migrating and saving content.
Current faculty, staff, students, Designated Campus Colleagues (DCCs), emeritus faculty, and retirees
Current account-holders who exceed the 15GB limit will need to reduce the number and size of files stored in their accounts by Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
Former students who completed a degree
Former students who have completed a degree at the University of Arizona will continue to maintain their University Google account including Gmail (CatMail), Google Drive and Google Photos and will need to maintain a storage level under the 15GB limit.
Former students and affiliates
Effective March 1, 2023, University of Arizona Google accounts will be discontinued for former students who did not complete a degree and for former university affiliates.
Former faculty, staff and DCCs
Effective March 15, 2022, University Google accounts were discontinued for former faculty, staff, and DCCs.
Resources and Support
Resources to prepare and assist account holders to check their storage levels and migrate content as needed are available in this knowledge article. If you have questions or need technical support with saving your content, contact the 24/7 Support Center.
FAQs
Any data stored in your University Google account is impacted, including files from Google Drive (including shared drives), Gmail, and Google Photos.
Yes, leverage Google’s Takeout tool for an easy transfer to a personal Google account - https://takeout.google.com/transfer?pli=1
- Note: If you are logged into your personal account at the time of clicking the above link, you will need to select your profile picture in the top-right and change to your University Google account.
All account holders are strongly encouraged to review their file storage in the Google Workspace as soon as possible and to begin managing file storage to remain within recommended limits. See the storage management tips above.
- Find additional instructions to transfer files here: Copy CatMail and Drive Files to a Personal Google Account
Google shows storage in Gigabytes. If you carry under 1 Gigabyte in Drive, click the 9-square menu in the top-right of the Drive Storage page and open Google Drive. Open the Gear icon menu in the top-right and choose Settings. This page will provide a detail summary of your storage usage.
If permitted, download any files that have been shared to your account. If the share was set to prevent downloading, you will need to reach out to the person who shared the files with you to attain proper permissions.
Upon graduation and/or separation from the university, you will lose access to any Shared Drive you have created or are a member of. Be sure to change ownership to a relevant colleague if you are the owner. If you are not the owner and the share does not permit downloads, reach out to the present owner to attain files before you lose access.
Upon graduation and/or separation from the university, you will lose access to any Google Sites you have created or are an editor of. Be sure to change ownership to a relevant colleague if you are the owner. You will be able to reach the site’s URL provided it remains publicly available.