Google Services for Alumni

Summary

Google has discontinued unlimited storage for university accounts. In response to this change, UCSC must make adjustments to our Google services to align with the new campus storage quota set by Google. 

What’s changing for Alumni

UCSC Google Services (Gmail, Drive, Photos, YouTube, etc.) will no longer be available for alumni accounts with the following exceptions:

• Alumni will be able to continue to use their UCSC Google account for one year after their graduation.
• One year after graduation, UCSC Google accounts (Gmail, Drive, Photos, YouTube, etc.) will be closed.
• Alumni will have the option to keep their existing @ucsc.edu Gmail with a 500 MB storage limit by request only. 

Important Deadlines for Current Alumni

• Deadlines differ for different classes and situations. Please refer to the email you receive from "UCSC Information Technology and Alumni Engagement" to confirm your specific deadline. Generally speaking, deadlines are one year after graduating or leaving UCSC. If you didn't receive an email, contact the ITS Support Center for assistance. 

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How to retain your UCSC Gmail account

Alumni can retain their existing @ucsc.edu Gmail address by submitting a request and meeting additional storage-related requirements. However, the email account will be limited to 500 MB (0.5 GB) storage, and access to all other Google services such as Drive and Photos will be unavailable.

If you want to keep your existing UCSC email, you must follow ALL of these requirements by the deadline listed in the email you received by UCSC Information Technology and Alumni Engagement.  

1. Request to keep your existing @ucsc.edu Gmail address using the form linked in the email you receive from UCSC Information Technology and Alumni Engagement.
   NOTE: Log in with your UCSC CruzID and Gold password to access the form. If you forgot your login credentials, learn how to recover them.
   
2. Reduce your email storage to be under 500 MB (0.5 GB).
   Data includes email messages, attachments, images, etc. Follow these instructions on how to reduce your email storage.
   
3. Export and then delete ALL your Google Drive files.
   • Export: If you want to avoid permanently losing your files, follow these instructions on how to export your Google Drive content. We recommend starting early, as large transfers can take time.
   • Delete: You must delete ALL your Google Drive files to retain your @ucsc.edu Gmail. Follow these instructions on how to delete your files in Google.
     
4. Export and then delete ALL of your Google Photos.
   • Export: If you want to avoid permanently losing your photos in Google, follow these instructions on how to export your photos. We recommend starting early, as large transfers can take time.
   • Delete: You must delete ALL your photos in Google to retain your @ucsc.edu Gmail. Follow these instructions on how to delete your photos in Google.
     
5. Verify compliance with permitted storage totals by checking your storage.
   Make sure that you have 0 GB for Google Drive and for Google Photos, and under 0.5 GB for Gmail. IMPORTANT: If you request to retain your @ucsc.edu Gmail address but do not meet all the requirements listed above by the deadline, your UCSC Google account will be reset. This means that all content, including attachments and contacts, will be deleted and your email account will be empty. 

NOTE: If you don’t need to keep your @ucsc.edu email address or the files and photos you’ve stored in your UCSC Google account, no further action is necessary.

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Reduce your email storage and delete unneeded emails

1. Log in to your UCSC Gmail account 
   NOTE: To access your account, log in with your UCSC CruzID and Gold password. If you forgot your login credentials, learn how to recover them. 
2. Check your storage totals to determine whether you need to reduce your email storage. Gmail storage must be under 0.5 GB.
3. Find emails with large attachments 
   • This will be the fastest way to reduce storage. 
   • Consider downloading any important attachments to your computer. 
   • Follow the instructions below to permanently delete unneeded emails. 
4. Delete any emails that are no longer needed 
   • Select the emails you don’t need and select the trash bin icon to delete. 
   • This will move them to the “Trash” folder. They will still count against your storage until deleted permanently.
   • To delete permanently, go to your Trash folder, select the emails and click the “Delete forever” button.
5. Find and delete Archived emails
   • Archived emails aren't visible in your inbox but still count toward your total storage allowance.
   • Archived messages can be seen by going to “All Mail” located on the left-side navigation.
   • Follow the instructions above to permanently delete unneeded emails.
     

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Export your Google Drive Files, Photos and Email

Export your files, documents, videos, and photos from your UCSC Google account to avoid losing them. Start your exports early because large transfers can take time to complete. It's important to note that UCSC ITS has no visibility into Google Transfer and Takeout and is unable to offer support for these tools.

NOTE: We do not recommend using a mobile device with Google Transfer and Takeout. If you only have a mobile device and experience an error, try logging out of all Google accounts on the device and then log back in with your UCSC account only.

Google Transfer

• Google Transfer will copy your Gmail and Drive content to another Google account. Free to use. Go to Google Transfer to begin. 

See Google's Transfer support page for additional information.

Google Takeout

Recommended for Google services like Google Scholar, Photos, and YouTube, but not recommended for Gmail and Drive. We recommend using Google Transfer (see above instructions) for Gmail and Drive.

• Google Takeout will create an exportable archive of your Google content. Free to use. Go to Google Takeout to begin. 

See Google's Takeout support page for additional information.

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Delete your Google Drive Files

There are two steps to deleting your Google Drive files. 

1. Select your Drive file(s), right click or click on the three action dots, then select “move to trash.” 
2. Go to your Trash located in the left side navigation, select the files, right click or click on the three action dots, then select “Delete forever.” To delete all files in your Trash at one time, select “Empty Trash” located at the top right. 

Note: It may take a day or two after deleting content for your drive storage to show as empty.

See Google Drive support page for additional information. 

Important Note: If you have important files that you feel should be retained by UCSC, make sure to transfer ownership before deleting all the documents out of your drive. One way to identify important documents is to search for files and folders that you have shared previously. Before transferring ownership, please carefully read the below section.

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Transferring Ownership of Files

See Google’s instructions on transferring ownership and keep in mind the following important facts. 

1. You can only transfer ownership to someone who has
   1. An active UCSC account
   2. "Editor" access to the document
2. Changing ownership of a folder alone will not change ownership of files or subfolders within the folder. 
3. It is best to transfer ownership of files in bulk, so that the future owner receives fewer notifications of changed ownership.  
   1. Identify a group of files you want to transfer ownership of
   2. Highlight them, right click, and click on "Share"
      1. Make sure the future owner is listed as an editor. If not, you will need to make them an editor first, save, and return to "Share."
   3. By the future owner’s name, click the dropdown and select "Transfer Ownership". 

Repeat this process for files inside any subfolder.

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Delete your Google Photos

IMPORTANT BEFORE YOU DELETE: Unsync your UCSC account before deleting Google Photos content or you might permanently delete your photos from all devices.

1. Identify each device that you are logged into on Google Photos with backup enabled, including iOS devices, Android devices, and Windows desktops with Google Drive and Google Photos.
2. Confirm that you have copies of the content you wish to keep either through Google Takeout or ensuring it is in your personal storage (i.e., an external hard drive or other cloud service).
3. Turn off backup and unsync UCSC account on every device.

Deleting content:

Once backup is off and content is preserved:

1. Select the photo(s) or video(s) in batches (<1500 items per batch) and click on the trash bin icon.
2. Go to your Trash located in the left side navigation, select the photos/videos, then select "Delete permanently" located at the top right.
3. To delete all photos/videos in your Trash at one time, select "Empty trash" located at the top right.

See Google Photos support page for additional information. 

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How Alumni can access their UCSC Google account

Alumni must know their CruzID and Gold password in order to access their Google account. Provide your @ucsc.edu email address when accessing a Google Apps service, then log in with your CruzID and Gold password. Depending on your current affiliation with UC Santa Cruz, Multi-Factor Authentication may also be required.

How Alumni can obtain their CruzID

Your CruzID is your UCSC account, sometimes referred to as your username, that gives you access to many services and systems. Your CruzID is also part of your UCSC email address, such as bslug@ucsc.edu, the "bslug" is the CruzID. 

If you require assistance with your CruzID, please submit a support ticket with the ITS Support Center or email help@ucsc.edu or telephone (831) 459-4357.  

Please be prepared to provide your full name that we may have on file when you attended UCSC and two pieces of information from the following list: 

• UCSC Student ID Number
• Personal email address (if applicable and not your UCSC email address)
• Permanent street address on record when you attended
• Specific class taken in a particular quarter at UCSC
• Last quarter attended at UCSC

How Alumni can obtain their Password

Self-service password recovery is provided through CruzID Manager for most users through the use of a Password Recovery Email (PRE). PREs must not be the same as your UCSC email address and can not end in @ucsc.edu.  To recover a forgotten password, select Forgot Your Password? on the CruzID Manager login page and follow the instructions. 

If you do not have a PRE in CruzID Manager and require assistance resetting your CruzID, please submit a support ticket with the ITS Support Center or email help@ucsc.edu or telephone (831) 459-4357.  

Please be prepared to provide your full name that we may have on file when you attended UCSC and two pieces of information from the following list: 

• UCSC Student ID Number
• Personal email address (if applicable and not your UCSC email address)
• Permanent street address on record when you attended
• Specific class taken in a particular quarter at UCSC
• Last quarter attended at UCSC

Accounts that have been dormant for a long period of time, may not be eligible for self-service password recovery. Please submit a support ticket. 

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Get Help

If you have questions, visit the frequently asked question section or reach out to ITS by opening an online support ticket, by emailing help@ucsc.edu, or by calling (831) 459-4357.

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FAQs

If I am a UCSC alumni and also a current faculty, staff, student, or contractor employee for UCSC, does this change apply to me?

• No, active faculty, staff, student, or contractor status automatically secures your continued access to your UCSC Gmail account and all the other Google services like Drive, Calendar, Photos, etc. without any further action required.

I heard about this change from someone else. Why haven't I received an email from UCSC?

• Given the size of the alumni community (over 50,000 people) and to ensure ITS support technicians can effectively address your inquiries, we'll be delivering communication notices to current UCSC alumni via email over time.
  • Current alumni will be notified in January and February.
  • Current students who are approaching graduation will be notified in February.

I signed up previously to keep my Gmail account. Now, I've gotten an email with a different deadline. How do I know which deadline is accurate?  

• Some alumni heard about the UCSC Gmail request form from friends or from social media and signed up for Gmail before receiving a email notification from UCSC. The deadline that applies to you and the link to the form you should complete if you want to retain your UCSC Gmail can be found in the email you received from UCSC Information Technology and Alumni Engagement. 

Will I still be able to use my UCSC Google login credentials (username and password) to access other web applications (Facebook, Slack, etc.)?

• Yes, if you are a current UCSC Alumni and request to retain your existing @ucsc.edu Gmail address using the form linked in the email from UCSC Information Technology and Alumni Engagement, you will still be able to use Google to authenticate to other web applications like Facebook. After the deadline stated in the email you receive, you will NOT be able to access other Google applications like Drive, Calendar, Photos, etc.

I have a Gmail alias. Will that continue to function?

• If you set up a gmail alias previously and request to keep your gmail account, your alias will continue to function. No new gmail aliases will be set up for alumni accounts.

Is there any paid option for Alumni that would provide more storage?

• Unfortunately, no. UCSC does not have a way to provide a paid service tier.

If I don't want to keep my UCSC Gmail account and give it up completely, will UCSC give my Gmail account to someone else at UCSC down the line?

• No, UCSC does NOT reuse or recycle accounts. Even if your UCSC Gmail account is closed, it will always be linked to you. If you come back to UCSC, you will have the same email address as before. NOTE: Your CruzID (the part of your email address before the @ symbol) is always kept active so that you can keep logging into systems like MyUCSC, library services, etc.

Is it possible that someone else might receive email intended for me or get access to documents that were shared with me?

• No, UCSC does NOT reuse or recycle accounts. Even if your UCSC Gmail account is closed, it will always be linked to you. If you come back to UCSC, you will have the same email address as before. NOTE: Your CruzID (the part of your email address before the @ symbol) is always kept active so that you can keep logging into systems like MyUCSC, library services, etc.

Why are you making Alumni go through the hassle of requesting to keep their UCSC Gmail? Why not just automatically extend everyone's UCSC Gmail service?

• Our primary reason has to do with security. We found that a lot of alumni have abandoned their accounts and no longer use them. The genuine problem is that abandoned accounts are a security vulnerability. It puts both UCSC and our Alumni at risk.
• The secondary reason has to do with the need to bring accounts into compliance with our new Google storage quotas. We can't automatically bring your account into compliance without a full reset of the account, which would delete everything. This is why we are giving you the choice between bringing your account into compliance or having us reset it.
• We felt that the burden of requesting continued access is reasonable given the very real need to maintain data security.

Why do I have to delete all my Google Drive files and Photos? Why doesn't UCSC just do it for me since you're getting rid of this service anyway?

• You don’t have to. We can delete your content for you, but this method removes everything in your account, including contacts, emails, and attachments. You can choose either (1) a full account reset by us or (2) bring your account into compliance with upcoming quota limits yourself, retaining contacts and select emails. The Request to Retain Your Email Account form sent to you via email offers these two choices.

Some alumni don't check their email that often. How are they supposed to know about this change in Google services?

• ITS is alerting UCSC Alumni three months before any change is due to happen with several reminder email notifications before the deadline.
• We worked with the UCSC Alumni Engagement team to use alternate email addresses (non-UCSC email) when possible.
• There are notifications about the change on the UCSC ITS and Alumni websites.

Someone shared Google Drive documents with me via my UCSC Google account. What should I do?

• If you wish to keep any Google file that someone else has shared with you, make sure to export them before April 16, 2024. Instructions for exporting data.
• You can use "Google Transfer" or "Google Takeout" to export documents that have been shared with you in addition to your own documents. If the owner has restricted making copies of the file, these tools will not function.

I signed up previously to keep my Gmail account. Now, I've gotten an email with a different deadline. How do I know which deadline is accurate?

• Some alumni heard about the sign-up form from friends or social media and signed up for Gmail before receiving a notification from UCSC. The deadline that applies to you and the link to the form you should complete if you want to retain your UCSC Gmail can be found in the email you receive from UCSC.

I'm confused about what you mean when you talk about my CruzID vs. my Google account vs. my Gmail account. What is changing and what is staying the same?

• CruzID: Your primary UCSC account is called your "CruzID". You use your CruzID to log into campus systems that use UCSC single sign-on, including Google and MyUCSC. Your CruzID will always be associated with you and will never be deleted.
  
  
• Google Account: We use a person's CruzID to generate their Google account. The resulting Google account and your email address has the format: cruzid@ucsc.edu.
  Because of this association with the CruzID, UCSC Google accounts are never recycled. Even if your UCSC Google account is closed, the name is always reserved for you. If you return to the university at any time, your Google account with the same email address would be reopened.
  
  
• Gmail: If you decide to keep your Gmail, you will retain your UCSC Google account. You will continue to have access to your email (albeit with a quota). If you use your UCSC Google account to log into other applications (e.g. Facebook, Slack, etc.), you will still be able to do that.
  
  
• Other Google Applications: Even if you retain your UCSC Google account for purposes of email, no other Google services will be associated with it. You will not have a Google Drive, Calendar, Photos, or other Google services associated with your UCSC account. If there is any content contained within these other applications you wish to export, Google provides tools for this.
  
  
• Other UCSC Applications: Even if you decline to keep your Gmail account, you will continue to have access to other UCSC applications like MyUCSC, Handshake, or library services because your CruzID will continue to function.

Go back to the Changes to Alumni Google Services information page.

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