As we move into the new year, UM-Flint ITS is completing the final steps of the Google implementation started over a year ago. Over the past year, this migration involved a significant effort from a core team comprised of nine full-time ITS staff members and approximately 20 part-time student workers known as Google Guides. The rest of ITS,… Read More »
Google launched Fusion Tables almost nine years ago as a research project in Google Labs, later evolving into an experimental product. For a long time, it was one of the few free tools for easily visualizing large datasets, especially on a map. Since then, Google has developed several alternatives, providing deeper experiences in more specialized domains. To continue… Read More »
In February, Google announced plans to transition from classic Hangouts to Hangouts Chat. Hangouts Chat is a workstream collaboration tool that allows for team-based discussion, bots, and more. Google provided a timeline of changes and initially stated they would start retiring classic Hangouts in October, 2019. However, there have been delays as Google listened to critical customer feedback… Read More »
In response to strong feedback about certain features and functionality missing in new Google Sites, classic Sites creation has been re-enabled in U‑M Google. This decision was made to minimize impact to fall term coursework requiring those features. Classic Sites creation will be available until closer feature parity exists between classic Sites and new Sites. The main impact… Read More »
At the beginning of this year, UM-Flint ITS began the process of migrating the campus to Google G Suite for Education from Microsoft Exchange/Outlook email and calendar services. Currently, all students and a majority of faculty and staff have been successfully migrated to Google. Remaining departments will continue to migrate up to the end of July. ITS moved… Read More »
Due to the anticipated availability of Google Hangouts Chat and Microsoft Teams later this summer, ITS will not offer Slack or Slack Enterprise Grid as a centralized campus service. As a reminder to current Slack users: Slack may not be used with sensitive university data, including data protected by FERPA. Slack accounts are considered to be personal accounts… Read More »
Beginning June 23, 2019, UM-Flint will activate student Google accounts, granting them access to the Google platform using their unique name with the new @umich.edu extension—versus the previous @umflint.edu extension. This transition follows previous moves for Ann Arbor and Dearborn and is as part of efforts to reduce costs, increase collaboration, and advance technology on the Flint campus.… Read More »
Beginning May 3, 2019, you will no longer be able to create classic Google Sites in U-M Google. For the time being, existing classic Sites will remain available for updates. This step is in preparation for the eventual retirement of classic Sites. We urge you to convert any remaining classic Sites to the new Sites format. Beginning May… Read More »
The Collaboration Services team has discovered that using third-party apps to connect to a U-M Google account can lead to unexpected results. Google-created apps and applications Apps and applications created by Google provide the most seamless experience when using Google services, particularly with mobile devices. Google-created apps and applications are also supported by Google, whereas third-party apps are… Read More »
As we first communicated on March 4, Google will delete some content in U-M Google+ on April 2, 2019. The ITS Collaboration Services team consulted with Google+ Product Managers to develop a recommended action plan. Please note this information is what we currently understand, according to Google. See the most up to date information directly from Google. Communities Communities owned by at… Read More »
As communicated in December 2018, Google stated that Google+ would remain available in U-M Google after Google retires its consumer version of G+. However, the ITS Collaboration Services team has recently become aware that there are important exceptions that could affect some campus accounts in Google+. (Be sure to read Google’s documentation for details and the most recent… Read More »
Google announced that it will discontinue its Apps Script UI Service on July 15, 2019. Apps Script is a development platform used to create applications that integrate with G Suite. Only the UI service is being discontinued. Apps Script will remain available. We have notified affected U-M users based on a list we received from Google. This is… Read More »
The ITS Collaboration Team has announced its schedule for Google and Box classes for the spring/summer of 2019. All classes will be held in Wolverine Tower, training room G010. ITS_GOOC100, Introduction to G-Suite, Friday, March 8, 2-3 p.m., Register ITS_GOOC101, G-Suite Using Mail and Calendar, Monday, March 18, 1-3 p.m., Register ITS_GOOC102, Working with Drive, Friday, April 5, 1-3 p.m.,… Read More »
In preparation for the retirement of classic Sites at the end of 2021, the ITS Collaboration Services team has been urging campus to convert any remaining classic Sites to the new Sites format. As part of this effort, we will end the ability to create classic Sites in U-M Google on May 3, 2019. Beginning May 3, you will only be… Read More »
In 2017, Google announced Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet for team communication. Later this year, Google will transition classic Hangouts to Chat and Meet on the UMICH domain. As a first step, some changes are coming on April 16, 2019. Key dates to note: Starting April 16, 2019 – Chat will begin to gradually roll out to U-M Google accounts on… Read More »
UM-Flint will transition to G Suite for Education to replace Microsoft Exchange/Outlook email and calendar services, among other apps. See the project plan and timeline that focuses on staff and faculty.
Catch up on the latest feature updates and changes to the U-M Box and Google services.
The Collaboration Services team is pleased to announce that, following this year’s pilot, we are continuing the in-person training program. Classes are offered to U-M faculty and staff at no-charge. Register via My LINC. We have scheduled classes throughout 2019 offering each class once a quarter. You can see the course offerings on the U-M Box website and the U-M… Read More »
Catch up on the latest feature updates and changes to the U-M Box and Google services.
As first announced on July 18, Google has provided an automatic migration tool to transfer from Google “classic” Sites to new Sites. “Although Google has not yet announced a date to end classic Sites, we strongly encourage you to start preparing now to convert your classic Sites,” says Brian Cors, ITS service manager for U-M Google. “This will help avoid… Read More »