Highlanders are encouraged to review the new storage quotas for Google Workspace. Storage quotas for Microsoft O365 are still being determined and will be announced as soon as they are available.

ITS is working diligently to ensure that any set storage quotas are consistent with the current usage of the vast majority of campus users. As a result, it is anticipated that most members of our campus community will not be directly affected by these upcoming storage changes.

Academic personnel will retain access to Google Workspace storage services (R’Mail, Drive, Photos, etc.); however, they will need to adhere to the new Google Workspace storage quota of 100 GB by June 15, 2024. Please note that this change to Google Workspace does not affect Google Cloud Platform (GCP) services. 

Any academic personnel currently utilizing Microsoft O365 storage services (Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, etc.) should be advised that changes to O365 services are forthcoming, and action may be required to reduce storage to meet new storage quotas. While O365 users will retain access to SharePoint and OneDrive, they are encouraged to consider Google Workspace as their primary storage solution.

Departments will be able to purchase additional storage if required (more details to follow). Research computing storage options are available to researchers and individuals with grant funds.  

Faculty and researchers should note that if their research and teaching data exceed the quota, ITS will reach out and work with them directly to identify options and ensure their storage needs are met.

These new storage quotas also affect alumni, and alumni account cleanup is currently underway. If an alumnus shared files with you, it is crucial to take steps now to save any data you wish to keep. We highly recommend that you locate and make copies of files shared with you. Please watch for an email from ITS with additional guidance and support.

Students will retain access to Google Workspace storage services (R’Mail, Drive, Photos, etc.). However, undergraduate students will need to adhere to the new Google Workspace storage quota of 25 GB by June 15, 2024, while graduate students will need to adhere to the new Google Workspace storage quota of 100 GB by June 15, 2024.

Any students currently utilizing Microsoft O365 storage services (Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, etc.) should be advised that changes to O365 services are forthcoming, and action may be required to reduce storage to meet new storage quotas. Students are strongly encouraged to use Google Workspace for storage.

Staff will retain access to Google Workspace storage services (R’Mail, Drive, Photos, etc.); however, they will need to adhere to the new Google Workspace storage quota of 100 GB by June 15, 2024.

As Microsoft O365 is currently the primary storage service for staff, staff should be advised that changes to O365 services (Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, etc.) are forthcoming, and action may be required to reduce storage to meet new storage quotas. While O365 users will retain access to SharePoint and OneDrive, they are encouraged to consider Google Workspace as their primary storage solution.

These new storage quotas also affect alumni, and alumni account cleanup is currently underway. If an alumnus shared files with you, it is crucial to take steps now to save any data you wish to keep. We highly recommend that you locate and make copies of files shared with you. Please watch for an email from ITS with additional guidance and support.

In response to Microsoft’s recent change to its licensing model for higher education, UCR is currently working to determine what changes to O365 services must be made in order to comply while meeting our University’s business needs and fiscal responsibilities. Decisions, any resulting user impact, and next steps will be communicated as soon as possible.  

Alumni will retain limited access to Google Workspace storage services (R’Mail, Drive, Photos, etc.). They must adhere to the new alumni Google Workspace storage quota of 10 GB by June 15, 2024. Alumni are strongly encouraged to enable email forwarding.

To prepare for this change, alumni should take the following steps:

• Check your current storage usage in Google. Google provides an overview of your current storage usage in Google Drive, Mail, and Photos and a list of the largest files in your Drive.
• Export data from your account. Use Google Takeout to export your data from your UCR Google account to another non-university storage solution or personal account.
• Enable email forwarding. Forward your UCR R’Mail emails to another personal email account to ensure you do not exceed the storage limit in the future.
• Transfer ownership of university data. Transfer ownership of files/folders containing UCR data (especially research data) to an individual with an active university role (e.g., a faculty or staff member). Alternatively, move files/folders to Google Shared Drive managed by individuals with an active university role.

Retirees and Emeriti will retain access to Google Workspace storage services (R’Mail, Drive, Photos, etc.); however, they will need to adhere to the new Google Workspace storage quota of 100 GB by June 15, 2024.

Any Retirees and Emeriti currently utilizing Microsoft O365 storage services (Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, etc.) should be advised that changes to O365 services are forthcoming, and action may be required to reduce storage to meet new storage quotas.