Account Lifecycle and Storage

What is happening?

• Content from inactive Google & Box accounts will be deleted.

• Collaborators must manually transfer any research, project, or other files they collaborated on from the inactive account.

• Failure to take preventative steps will result in the LOSS OF ACCESS to important files.

What accounts will be impacted?

Accounts owned by individuals who have left the University will be removed a year after their separation from the institution. This includes thousands of old accounts for individuals who left the University as far back as 2014.

To assist campus with identifying accounts in this backlog, a label of [Pending Deletion] has been prepended to the account name. 

Note: Emeritus/Retirees accounts will maintain their 'active' status and are not affected. However, if an individual has passed away, their account may be included in the pending deletion group.

Who will be affected by the change?

Anyone who is using collaborative materials owned by a former faculty, staff or student community member.

When does the deletion of Google & Box accounts begin?

Inactive faculty and staff accounts have begun being deleted. Inactive student accounts will be deleted beginning June 6, 2024.

What is the timeline for cleaning up the backlog of inactive Google & Box accounts?

Upcoming Deletions & Implementations of the Account Lifecycle Process

• • May 2024 - Begin the automatic lifecycle deletion process for faculty and staff accounts
    
    
  • June 6, 2024 - Students who left the University prior to July 30, 2023
          List of accounts to be deleted on 6/6:
                 Inactive Google Accounts
                 Inactive Box Accounts
    
    

July 2024 - Begin the automatic account lifecycle deletion process for student accounts

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Deletions Completed

• • March 20, 2024 - Faculty who left the University prior to 11/1/2022
    List of accounts deleted on 3/20:
    Inactive Google Accounts
    Inactive Box Accounts
    
    
  • April 17, 2024 - Staff who left the University prior to 11/1/2022
    List of accounts deleted on 4/17:
    Inactive Google Accounts
    Inactive Box Accounts

Why do we need to do this?

The OIT has maintained thousands of inactive accounts for people who have previously left the University (e.g., graduated students). This helped maintain access to shared documents that reside in those inactive accounts. However, recent storage changes now require that we delete inactive accounts according to the account lifecycle policy. To protect access to collaborative content, you may need to copy important documents before they are deleted.

As part of the University’s continued efforts to manage our storage footprint, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) will be required to more deliberately implement the account lifecycle process, which includes the deletion of an individual’s Google and Box account after they leave or graduate from the University. This process will delete the accounts and remove any files associated with the accounts including collaborative content.

The updated policy will hold both the individual and OIT departments accountable for maintaining strong information security and resource management. The new process will go into effect in the spring of 2024, and further information about the schedule and how to prepare for it over the coming months.