Microsoft 365: Accounts for People Who Leave U-M

Overview

U-M Microsoft 365 (OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and all Office 365 productivity apps) is provided to all active faculty, staff, students, and Type-1 sponsored affiliates on the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses. You will lose access immediately after your active affiliation at the university changes (i.e., after graduation, after the last day of employment, etc.). This document explains what steps to take before you leave the university and lose access to your U-M Microsoft 365 account.

Important: 

• For students, the exact timing of when you lose access to your account depends on when your U-M affiliation changes from “student” to “alum.” The timing of this change is different for each school or college. For specific information on when your affiliation will change, contact your school or college’s registrar. ITS strongly encourages you to take the steps below before the last day of classes to ensure that you have enough time to export your data before you lose access. If you need assistance, please contact the ITS Service Center.
• U-M Microsoft 365 accounts remain intact for emeritus/emerita faculty who retain all standard computing services. For details, refer to 19.K Emeritus/Emerita Status in the U-M Faculty Handbook.
• @umich.edu and other UMICH email addresses cannot be used to create personal Microsoft 365 accounts. You must create personal M365 accounts using a non-UMICH email address.
• All files stored within U-M Microsoft 365 OneDrive and SharePoint (including Teams Meeting recordings) will be deleted. In addition, any Office 2016 software installed while actively affiliated at the university will only be able to view documents in read-only. You will not be able to edit Office documents again until you have a personal, paid license for Microsoft 365. Or, you can use Google to access and edit the documents. If you need to retain access to your account after your active affiliation ends, you may pursue a sponsorship.

For more detailed information on what happens when someone leaves U-M, refer to Leaving U-M.

Retaining Your Files

Before your affiliation with U-M ends, be sure to:

• Download and save all personal files, including Teams Meeting recordings, to another location. (This includes OneDrive and SharePoint cloud storage.)
  • Option 1: Download files and folders using the web app.
  • Option 2: Download files and folders using the OneDrive desktop sync client on Windows or Mac. 

If you have a large number of files in OneDrive, you may want to use the OneDrive sync client. Remember to turn off, deactivate, and uninstall the OneDrive sync client after moving your files.

• Share files/folders containing university data in OneDrive to another individual at the university.

Uncooperative Departures

Involve the ITS User Advocate as soon as possible.

With User Advocate involvement, U-M Microsoft 365 administrators can assist in:

• Preserving the contents of an account.
• Moving U-M Microsoft Office 365 files and folders from one account to another.
• Inactivate the U-M Microsoft Office 365 account access sooner than the automated process.
• Download university data from the person’s account if time is critical.