Student Move to Microsoft 365 Outlook & OneDrive

Students now use Microsoft Outlook for email and OneDrive for files.

As communicated starting in January 2023, email, calendar and file storage/sharing moved from Google to Microsoft 365 as of May 30.

Email: Your email address hasn't changed! Make sure you're logging into Outlook not Gmail. Files: Google Drive files have been moved to a folder in your OneDrive labeled ‘GDrive.’

Here's how to access your email and files in Microsoft:

  • The full suite of MS apps: m365.towson.edu and through tiles on myTU: "Microsoft 365" tile for all apps or directly access Outlook through the "Email" tile.
  • Online through a browser: onedrive.towson.edu and outlook.towson.edu.
  • On mobile: download Outlook, OneDrive and Microsoft 365 apps from your device’s store.
  • You can download M365 on up to FIVE personal devices! Learn more.

Need help? Contact Student Computing Services. 

M365 for STudents

About the Project

This project moved students from Google suite to Microsoft. TU students, faculty and staff now all use Microsoft Outlook and OneDrive, expanding their M365 accounts and ending the university's use of Google.

Key Benefits

  • Enhanced Support: OTS’ Student Computing Services (SCS) will be able to provide students with an increased level of support.
  • Improved Security: increases TU’s ability to protect accounts from cybercrimes.
  • Simplified and streamlined collaboration: Using the same product means easier scheduling and collaboration among students and faculty.

High-Level Timeline

  • Fall 2021-summer 2022: high-level project socialization with academic and campus leadership.
  • Fall 2022: planning, testing and communications. Students can use OneDrive now.
  • Jan.-April: early migrations for students who've opted in. Ongoing communications. See the TU Today announcements.
  • May 26-29: all remaining student email and files were migrated by OTS 
  • May 29: all students now use Outlook for email and OneDrive for file storage, ongoing support.

For Students

What you need to know

  • You already have Microsoft 365, including Word, OneDrive, Excel and other Microsoft applications. Learn more about how to use them.
  • TU uses Outlook for email. It's already used by TU faculty/staff and it's an app within Microsoft 365. Send and receive email messages, manage calendars, store contact info, plus track tasks.
  • TU uses OneDrive for files storage/sharing. You already have this cloud storage app, which protects files and allows you to share them from anywhere, on any device. Get up to 5 TB of storage with your TU account.
  • You'll be able to access old (migrated) Gmail messages in Outlook. 
  • Google docs, sheets, and slides will convert over to the Microsoft application equivalents.  
  • Google access ends. TU-provided Gmail and storage will no longer be available once your files and messages have been moved to Microsoft 365. 
  • Student Computing Services is here to help. See hours and contact options.

FAQs

See the TU Today announcements.

Jan. 10 - OTS student employees 
Jan. 24 - Other TU student employees who opted-in for this early migration date
Jan. 30 - Spring term begins
Feb. 2 - Email sent to all students announcing the project and promoting early opt-in opportunities throughout the spring.
Feb. 8 - New accounts created will be in Microsoft (no new Google accounts)
Feb. 10 - Students who opted-in early for this date
March 3-10 - Students who opted-in early for this date
March 17 - Students who last attended in 2022 and aren’t taking classes in 2023
March 18-26 - Spring break
April 7 - Students who opted-in for this early date
May 23 - Spring term ends
May 26-29 - Remaining current/active students. Once migration is complete, TU Google accounts won't be accessible.

You can no longer login to TU’s Google account. If you need help, contact SCS to see if the enterprise access window is still open for OTS technicians. 
Yes, you can access your Microsoft account for 18 months after the spring term ends.
Yes, to better protect students, there will be text at the top of emails coming from external sources to remind you to use caution when interacting with the email. Faculty and staff already have this in place.

Yes. Each account gets 5 TB of storage. Contact SCS if you need more help.

If you signed up for an account using your TU email address, you should be fine since your email isn't changing. If you clicked the option to sign up with Google, you'll need to login into that account and change it before migration. If you're trying to change it after you've been migrated and have questions, contact SCS.

Yes, items on Calendar were migrated. Google forms weren’t migrated but the form spreadsheet and data were. Use Microsoft Forms from this point on.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) for students is not currently in place for M365, however the university is developing a timeline and plan to expand MFA to students in the future.

No. No additional subscription is needed unless you want to create an additional private Microsoft 365 account. Learn more.

No, not as part of this project. TU currently uses Webex for meetings and chats. But if your TU organization or department needs a functionality provided by Microsoft Teams that Webex doesn’t offer, you can include it in a submission to the university’s technology planning process. 

To connect with the technology planning conversation in your college, faculty should contact their CCLT Coordinator. Student organizations can contact the Academic Technology Engagement Program (ATEP) to discuss technology needs.

For Faculty and Staff

Students now use the same email and file storing/sharing service, so you can schedule student meetings in Outlook and share documents directly with them using OneDrive. See how to share a OneDrive file or folder with your entire class or collaborate using OneDrive.

See FAQs for faculty about the M365 student migration. Need help or have questions? Contact the OTS Faculty/Staff Help Center or submit a TechHelp service request.

Support