Beginning in 2022, Old Dominion University will no longer offer unlimited Google account services to alumni due to changes in Google's storage policy. The University's Department of Information Technology Services has started the process of alerting account owners of the upcoming changes and advising a timeline for migrating content before accounts are closed.
Google accounts will now expire one year after graduation. Alumni and former students will receive notification prior to when an account is closed.
In the past year, Google announced a new fee model for storage. Google's updated storage policy affects data storage limits for the entire University, and all institutions that use Google Workspace for Education. By limiting alumni accounts, the University can minimize the cost of providing adequate storage in support of research and student success.
To prepare for the change, ITS audited approximately 130,000 accounts to learn how many are actively used. The audit found 90% of alumni stopped using their ODU accounts within a year of graduation. Based on those findings, the University decided to initiate a phased approach to limit storage to active student, faculty and staff accounts.
ITS will send notifications to alumni and students no longer enrolled at the University who have provided current contact information beginning six weeks before accounts are disabled. During this period, ITS recommends alumni log in and assess what, if any, information needs to be migrated or deleted. In addition, the University recommends alumni check whether their ODU Google account is linked with any third-party services, such as Netflix or Spotify. Alumni can use resources found here move their content to another Google account, to export content, to back it up, or use with a service outside of Google.
More information about this change may be found here, and questions can be directed to the ITS Help Desk.
