Changes to Google Workspace Accounts (Public)

Google no longer provides free unlimited storage to universities, and WVU has changed the way MIX (Gmail) accounts are administered to control unanticipated costs. Google Workspace accounts will only be issued to admitted students; currently enrolled students; faculty and instructors; advisors with a faculty role; instructional support technicians; and Google Workspace account managers, support staff and administrators. 

Starting Jan. 1, 2023, students who graduate or unenroll will retain access to their MIX Gmail accounts for three years after the end of the last term they were enrolled, as long as they log into the account once a year. During this three-year period, data storage will be capped at 200 GB. Alumni and former students will be notified by email 180, 90, 30 and 15 days, before the scheduled deletion of their MIX accounts, as well as the day before. NOTE: Students who have already been unenrolled for more than three years as of Jan. 1, 2023 will receive only 90 days notice.

This change does not affect your WVU Login account. Alumni and former students will retain their WVU Login account and can manage their account at login.wvu.edu using the Change Alumni Account Password option. Alumni and former students can continue accessing STAR for academic records and transcripts.

How big a problem is this? 

WVU has long provided MIX accounts to former students as a courtesy, without expiration, and by October 2022, the number of accounts exceeded 193,000. More than 60% of those have not been accessed for more than a year, and unused accounts pose a security risk. Fewer than 10% of those former students and alumni even logged in during 2022. 

I’m a former student. Will my account be deleted even if I’m still using it? 

Yes. Alumni and former students can easily create a new Gmail account for free and move any content they wish to preserve using Google Takeout. Alternatively, you may want to take advantage of a discount on a personal Microsoft 365 account. When the account is deleted, you will lose access to all services that are tied to the account.

I’m graduating soon or taking some time off from school. How long will I have my MIX account after I leave? 

Students who graduate or otherwise leave the University will have access to their MIX accounts for approximately three years after the end of the last term they were enrolled. During this time, your data storage will be capped at 200 GB. The precise date on which your MIX account will be terminated will depend on the end date of the last term you were enrolled, but you will be notified by email 180, 90, 30 and 15 days before the scheduled deletion, as well as the day before. If you have a recovery email address on file, that account will also receive reminders.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must log into your Google Workspace account at least once every 12 months or the account will be deleted. The password-change process during this time will remain the same: Look for the FORMER STUDENTS button at login.wvu.edu and select Change Alumni Account Password.

If an admitted student ultimately decides not to enroll, when does their MIX account expire? 

An admit who does not enroll will lose access to their MIX account 366 days after the end of the first term to which they were admitted. Admitted students will receive emails 30 days, 15 days and the day before the scheduled deletion of their accounts.  

What happens if I decide to re-enroll in the future? 

If or when you re-enroll at WVU, you will get a new account under the same username you have now. It won’t contain any of your old data. It also will be subject to the new data storage limits and any other standards that may be in place at that time.  

Is the data storage limit changing for student and faculty MIX accounts? 

Previously unlimited data storage for current students and faculty will be capped at 5TB starting April 24, 2023, which very few people will ever exceed. With 5TB of capacity, you can store the equivalent of approximately 1 million photos, 1,250,000 songs or 600 hours of HD movies. MIX accounts are for University business only, but should you need additional storage, you can submit a request to expand it to 25TB. 

What kind of things count toward my data storage limit? 

The contents of all these services count toward your limit: Google Drive, Gmail, Google Photo, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drawings and Jamboard. 

What happens if or when I hit the data storage limit? 

You won’t lose any existing content, but you won’t be able to upload any new data. You also can continue to receive and view attachments from your Gmail account, but you won’t be able to store those attachments in your account. You will still be able to store it locally on your computer. 

How will course content stored in Google Drive be affected by this change? Do I have to move it? 

Faculty do not need to take any action because of this change. If an instructor hits the 5 TB storage quota in the future, they can request an increase to 25 TB. 

Where else can I store data?  

Your data storage options depend on your role and the nature of your work. 

• Students and former students should move data to another personal account if the MIX storage limit is insufficient. 

• Personal emails and files should be stored in personal accounts. 

• Faculty and staff must use University-approved accounts for work-related activities, as articulated in section 2.7 of WVU’s Electronic Mail Policy. Approved services include OneDrive for Business, which is provided with all WVU Microsoft 365 accounts and has 5 TB of data storage.  

• Health Sciences faculty and staff must use the HSC instance of Microsoft 365.  

• Faculty needing to preserve instructional videos may move them to Mediasite. Non-instructional videos should be moved to a non-instructional platform such as YouTube. 

• Researchers should review the Sensitive Data Storage Practices and Storage FAQ and Approved Technologies for Research for more information. Research at WVU often involves “sensitive data,” but what qualifies goes beyond private medical or educational records 

• ITS strongly encourages the use of Microsoft Teams for collaboration within your unit. Each Team is linked to a Microsoft 365 Group, and all groups include a secure SharePoint site where you can securely store and work on documents with other members of your Team. If you’re new to using Teams, you may want to review this FAQ. 

Can WVU forward my MIX email to another account? 

No. It won’t be possible to forward your email because the account is being deleted. You will need to move your content before that happens. 

Is there a process to request an exception from this change?  

There is no exception process for former students. We recommend you move your content as soon as possible so no information is lost. You should also update any accounts linked to your MIX account to a new, personal email address. This includes such services as social media, bill payment, banking, etc.  

WVU employees who believe they were mistakenly included in the accounts scheduled for deletion should email ITSHelp@mail.wvu.edu. We will collect additional information to evaluate your request and assess whether the work you are doing in the Google platform should be moved to the Microsoft platform (ex: from Google Drive to OneDrive). 

I’m getting an error when trying to use Google Takeout to transfer my data. What should I do? 

This is probably because you are logged into more than one Google account while using the same web browser. Review this article for how to resolve this. 

Can I keep my email and just not use the storage? 

Unfortunately, no. Google doesn’t delete the storage when we de-provision Drive, Photos and other apps that are part of Google Workspace. Google only deletes the data we need to reduce if/when we delete the account. 

I use my email to keep up with WVU Alumni Association events. What should I do? 

You can easily update your email and other contact information using the Profile Information Update form.