What's changing with Fredonia's Google Workspace accounts?

Due to storage policy changes imposed by Google, Fredonia’s Google Workspace (Gmail, Google Drive, etc.) accounts will no longer offer unlimited storage beginning July 1, 2023. To comply with the reduced storage quota, the university must implement the following changes:

• Students, Faculty/Staff, Emeritus, Associates (e.g. FSA, CCCC, etc.), Alumni (2 years after graduation - see below), and Department accounts will have a total storage quota of 20 GB.

• Visitors and Student Association (SA) Organizations will have a total quota of 5GB.

Although storage limits and available services are being adjusted, the university will continue to support the FREDMail service.

NOTE: This change and the new quotas impact all Google Workspace applications (Gmail, Drive, Shared Drive, Sites, Photos, etc.).

Why is Fredonia making these changes?

Over the past several years, there have been unpreceded changes across higher education that range from extreme financial challenges due to low enrollment, increased regulatory mandates, and an increase in the number of security threats (e.g. phishing attacks) that have required us to make difficult decisions to ensure the University is able to continue to provide a safe, secure, and user-friendly computing environment for the entire campus community.

How did the University prioritize these cost savings relative to other expenditures at SUNY Fredonia?

The SUNY Fredonia Information Technology Advisory Board (ITAB), the Chief Information Officer, and the President’s Cabinet work together to review technology expenditure costs, options, and the impact of changes to provide a safe, secure, and user-friendly computing environment in a fiscally responsible manner.

How are Alumni impacted by this Google storage change?

Fredonia greatly values and appreciates our Alumni community however, due to recent changes imposed by Google, effective July 1, 2022, the campus will no longer offer SUNY Fredonia Alumni Gmail accounts or access to other Google Workspace apps. All current Alumni will need to transfer or move their files from their Fredonia Google Workspace Apps (e.g FREDmail, Drive, etc.) to their personal apps before the July 1, 2022 deadline. 

Changes effective July 1, 2022, include the following:

• Alumni graduating during the spring of 2022 or December 2021 and all future graduates will have access to their Fredonia Google Workspace account for 2 years after graduation. The quota limit of 20BG applies to these alumni as of July 1.

• Alumni who graduated before spring 2022 will not continue to have access to their Fredonia Workspace account and will lose their access to Google Workspace as of July 1, 2022.

What alternative storage services does the University offer?

Microsoft OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage service part of the Office365 suite available to all faculty, staff, emeritus, and students. This cloud storage solution should only be used to store business-related data (no personal data) and is comparable to Google Drive. Only Category I - Public or Category II - Private University data should be used with this solution. OneDrive provides the ability to store your documents in the cloud so that they can be securely accessed from anywhere via the Internet. On University-owned desktops and laptops,  OneDrive functions as if it were a local drive for ease of use. It also provides the ability to share documents similar to the way Google Drive allows you to share documents. With OneDrive users have a 1 terabyte (TB) quota limit.

NOTE: If campus users need additional storage space above and beyond the 1TB quota, ITS can increase individual quotas up to 5 TB if users can demonstrate a valid business need for the additional storage. To request additional storage in OneDrive, please submit a tracker ticket by sending an email to Tracker

ITS will be offering OneDrive training sessions to the campus community beginning in May 2022. Stay tuned!

More Information:

• Please visit the Using Microsoft OneDrive for more information.

• Please visit the complete list of University Approved Data Storage Services for more information.

• All University data should be stored in accordance with State University of New York Records Management, Records Retention and Disposition requirements. 

What actions do users need to take?

Each Google Workspace user must review their Fredonia Google Workspace storage before June 30, 2023, and, if necessary:

• You must check your storage usage to ensure that you are below the limit for your user type (Listed below). A summary of the changes that may affect your account is also listed in the table below this section. 

• Remove email content and data in Google Drive to fall under the storage quota. It is recommended that users get their storage below 75% of their quota allowance (15GB) to provide for continuity of services. 

For current faculty, staff, students, and Emeritus:

• Current faculty, staff, and students accounts, alumni, and Emeritus will be limited to 20 GB of Google Workspace storage, including email and stored files. If you have more than 20 GB stored in Google, you will be required to migrate your email and/or files to a new location to bring you under the 20 GB limit. 

For Visitors and Student Association Organizations:

• Visitor and SA Organization account will be limited to 5 GB of email. You must reduce your Gmail storage below 5 GB and move files stored in Drive or other Google Workspace applications to a new location to help you get below your quota.
  
  

What if I need more data storage above the established quotas?

If users need additional storage or exception to the established quotas after they have reviewed the SUNY Fredonia Data Storage Services, then they should follow the below Data Storage Quota Increase Process. 

Data Storage Quota Increase Process

1. Submit a Data Storage Quota Increase Form. In the Tracker ticket, please provide the justification for the requested additional Google storage and note that it must be for official University business (e.g. instruction, accreditation, regulatory compliance, research, etc.).

2. ITS will review the request and then reach out to the requestor (if needed) for any further clarification.

3. After ITS works directly with the requestor and the quota exemption is still needed, ITS will provide the requested additional storage as needed.

NOTE: Any request over 500GB will need to be approved by the direct supervisor of the employee.

Do I Have Any Legal Obligations for Managing Data in My FREDmail Account?

For Faculty, Staff, and Emeritus:   

• Yes. University faculty and staff must manage emails and files in their FREDmail business accounts as official university records. Emeritus faculty/staff should ensure that they do not have any university records in their accounts.   
  For further guidance, please review the information below in As an Employee, What are my Obligations When Reducing Files and Email in my FREDmail Business Account? 
  
  

For Students, Former Students, and Alumni: 

• No. University retention rules do not apply to students, former students, or alumni FREDmail accounts. Contents of those accounts may be deleted or managed at the discretion of the account owners. 

As an Employee, what are my Obligations When Reducing Files and Emails Stored in my FREDmail Business Account?

Reducing the FREDmail account storage of Fredonia staff and faculty may require deleting or managing records and emails that are official university records. Please consult with the University Records Management Office for advice before deleting.  

You may dispose of all records and emails not conducting university business up to the present day, including:  

• Personal use emails, photographs, and other personal files

• Department social emails e.g., “cookies at the front desk” or “Join us for Ben’s retirement party” 

• Memos from other university departments 

• Unsolicited advertisements  

Am I Allowed to Store Official University Data in my Personal Account?  

No. All university records must be stored in approved, university-managed accounts and storage locations. Do not use your personal FREDmail account (nor any other personal account) to conduct university business.    

Reach out to the Records Management Office for further guidance. 

How do I Check My FREDmail Usage?

You can review the storage used by your Gmail and Drive Content

Viewing FREDmail vs. Personal Account Storage

If you are already logged in to Google with a personal account, you may be shown your personal account storage allocation and usage instead.

You will have to sign in with your FREDmail account to view the storage for your FREDmail account.

Follow Google’s instructions for signing in to multiple accounts at once.

Example:

What does the University offer in terms of alternative storage solutions for the employees, Emeritus, and students?

For Students, Faculty, and Staff:

• If you are a current staff, faculty, or student, a chart detailing the suitability of the FREDmail service for various types of University data is available at University Approved Electronic Data Storage
  See below for moving content to OneDrive.

Alumni and Former Students:

• For alumni and former students, the university is unable to provide recommendations for 3rd party commercial services.  

How do I Export Files from Google Drive?

You may download data stored in your FREDmail account (Including Drive) via Google Takeout.

Instructions for using Google Takeout are available at: How to download your Google Data

You could also download individual or multiple folders or files directly from Drive by right-clicking on the selected content and selecting Download from the context menu.

After you download your content, you can move your files to OneDrive by selecting all the folders or files that you want to move to OneDrive and uploading them to OneDrive. For instructions on how to use OneDrive go to Using Microsoft OneDrive.

How do I Export Gmail Contacts?

If you wish to export your Gmail contacts to re-import them elsewhere, you can view instructions for doing so at: Google Contacts

How do I Export messages from Gmail?

You may download data stored in your FREDmail account (Including Gmail) via Google Takeout. 

Instructions for using Google Takeout are available at: How to download Google Data

You can save your Gmail exported mbox format file to your U: drive and access it using the mboxview.exe free application. Windows MBox Viewer Application

Email Forwarding Rules:

• The Fredonia Computer and Network Usage Policy require that all Fredonia business be conducted with a Fredonia Business account.

• Forwarding of FREDmail Business accounts outside of business environments is prohibited.

How can I get help?

• Google Storage and Microsoft OneDrive Training sessions are offered via Zoom for the campus community. Please visit the ITS Training Calendar to register!

• Please review the alternative storage services available for the campus for more information.

• Please refer to the Fredonia Google Workspace Storage FAQ for more information.