Google Workspace Account Changes

Issue/Question

I am no longer able to collaborate via Google Drive and Docs with users outside of the University or I received an email and/or notification stating:

Hello, Your IT admin is requesting that you transfer your Google account, [first.last]@wku.edu, to the G Suite for Education account for Western Kentucky University. Transferring your account gives you access to education versions of Google apps like Gmail and Google Drive.

Cause

As of May 21, 2024, multiple changes have been made which affect the use of Google services at WKU.

Resolution

Changes to New and Existing Google Workspace Accounts

• Collaboration in Google Drive and Docs will be restricted to our organization and a limited set of approved organizations (school districts where CEBS students are actively placed). This will prevent external collaboration with members of unapproved organizations or with personal Google accounts.
  • Existing links (such as those in a Blackboard course) will continue to function, however the contents of that link will only be accessible to those in the revised scope.
  • Google Sites will be affected by these settings.
  • These changes do not affect the ability of a Google Form to be completed by external parties when the per-form setting of Restrict to users in Western Kentucky University and its trusted organizations is not enabled. With this setting disabled, Google Forms can still be completed anonymously or by personal accounts/unapproved organization members.
• Use of Google Classroom or Google Assignments will be limited to our organization and the allowed domains of the approved organizations.
• We will be implementing single sign-on (SSO) for ITS-provided Google Workspace accounts via Microsoft multi-factor authentication.
  • To sign into Google Workspace via SSO, users will have to enter their g.wku.edu email address into Google’s sign-in prompt. They will then be redirected to sign into their WKU-provided Microsoft account.
  • Users who do not know their g.wku.edu address can locate it on the Accounts page.

Note: If you need assistance signing into a WKU-managed Google Workspace Account, please see this article.

Changes to Personal Google Accounts Using the wku.edu Domain

• We will begin the process of preventing consumer/non-ITS provisioned Google accounts from utilizing the @wku.edu domain. This effort will seek to ensure that official usage of Google services is limited to an ITS-provided Google Workspace account and that any personal accounts are not tied to a WKU email address.
  • While the wku.edu domain is already associated with Google Workspace, Google permits any email address that does not already exist as a user in Google Workspace to sign-up for a non-Gmail, consumer Google account using an existing email address.
  • Existing @wku.edu Google account holders will be invited to place their existing accounts under WKU ITS management, moving the account and its data into our Google Workspace tenant. However, as these users will not have ITS-provided g.wku.edu addresses they will not be eligible to complete SSO. These users will have Google 2-step verification enforced.
  • Alternatively, users may opt out of WKU ITS managing their existing @wku.edu Google account but would need to rename their Google account by maintaining its consumer account status. This will involve using a non-WKU email address or selecting a Gmail address.
  • Google Workspace at WKU is still intended to be dedicated to CEBS initiatives as Google products and services are not supported by ITS for the campus community.
  • In time, ITS will implement measures to prevent the provisioning of additional consumer Google accounts on a WKU-owned domain and will begin to expire non-CEBS Google Workspace accounts after a six-month period of inactivity (like alumni email accounts). Once deleted, a Google Workspace account would not be provisioned for an individual without the approval of both ITS and CEBS staff.