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UAlberta Account Change Frequently Asked Questions

Modified on: Tue, 1 Oct 2024 3:16 PM

Introduction

This article is intended to answer common questions about the upcoming changes to University of Alberta accounts, also referred to as CCIDs. 

 


Applicability

This article applies to all U of A account holders. 

 


FAQ

Q: Which Google services are reduced or removed after my relationship with the U of A changes?
A: 
All Google services, including but not limited to those listed on the Core App and Consumer Apps site, will be removed. Please note that the removal of access to Google Play and YouTube includes paid purchases and subscriptions to apps, movies, music, and more.


If you have graduated with a degree from the U of A, your U of A Alumni account is reduced to Gmail only (with 100MB of email storage) and no other Google services.


Q: Can I get an exemption or extension?
A: Due to pressing external timelines on this change, extensions are not possible. It is important that you download all your required data prior to your access expiry date to prevent the loss of your data. You will receive an automated email 30 days prior to changes taking place on your account, informing you of your deadline.


Q: How will I know when my account will expire or change?
A: You can refer to the CCID Changes website for information on what will happen to your account based on your relationship with the University. If you are currently not eligible to retain your account, you will lose access to it once your access expiry date has passed. Automated email notifications will be sent to an account’s ualberta.ca email address approximately 30 days prior to any changes being applied. Once you receive the system notice, it’s important that your data is exported from your account before the 30 days is up as the data will be permanently deleted after that time.


Q: Can I pay to get more storage or more access to Google Workspace apps?
A: We do not have the option for paid account services.


Q: As a student or alumni, how do I move my personal data out of my account before it expires?

A: If you decide to use a personal Google account with adequate storage to hold your data, you may be able to use Google Takeout Transfer to migrate all your UAlberta Google account data directly to your other Google account. Please note however that Takeout Transfer DOES NOT TRANSFER PHOTOS and Takeout is not a core Google service that we can support. If you have any issues or questions regarding it, you can refer to the Google Help article for help with using Google Takeout, or ask the Google Help community forums if you can’t find what you need on the help article.


You can then set up your UAlberta account to forward emails to your personal Gmail address. Step by step instructions on how to do this are provided in this Google help article Automatically forward Gmail messages to another account.


Note that if you don’t want to continually manage your storage in your UAlberta account, you can choose to “delete University of Alberta Mail’s copy” when you set up email forwarding. If you choose to keep a copy of the email in your University of Alberta inbox, each email that is forwarded will still count toward your 100 MB of storage.


Q: How can I best use a Gmail account with 100 MB of storage?
A: Given the limited storage, it is ideal to use them as email forwarding accounts. You can easily set up your UAlberta email to forward all emails to another email address. You can find step by step instructions in this Google help article Automatically forward Gmail messages to another account.


Note that if you don’t want to continually manage your storage in your UAlberta account, you can choose to “delete University of Alberta Mail’s copy” when you set up email forwarding. If you choose to keep a copy of the email in your University of Alberta inbox, each email that is forwarded will still count toward your 100 MB of storage.


Q: I have an Adjunct or Clinical Academic or Guest relationship with the University. What will happen with my account/data when I leave?
A:

Adjunct Academic and Clinical Academic: When your relationship with the University expires, your account will be treated the same as an outgoing employee. This means that you will lose access to the account and all data within it at the end of your relationship with the University. If you need access to BearTracks after you leave, you may be issued an account that can be used exclusively for accessing Bear Tracks and will be active for 18 months.


Guest: Guest accounts will be deactivated 2 weeks after your Guest relationship ends in our system, unless you have other active relationships at that time (eg: employee or student). If there is anything you need from your account, you should work with your supervisor or University contact to get what you need out of the account prior to the end of your guest relationship.


Q: I’m an Emeritus, will anything happen to my account?
A: Emeritus accounts are currently unaffected by this change. Your account will continue to have the same functionality as an employee account at this time.


Q: I’m a student that is no longer taking any courses, however, I’m not an alumni. When will my account expire?
A: 
The amount of time you have before your account expires depends on which semester your last course was in. Your CCID will remain active long enough for you to get your tax forms from Bear Tracks when they are made available to you at the end of the year and you will get an automated email 30 days prior to your account expiring. Please be sure to download your tax forms as soon as they become available to you to avoid losing access.


Q: How can I access my data once I’ve downloaded it with Takeout?
A: You will need to use an external application/service that supports the format in which you chose to download your data. As the applications/services vary greatly, you will need to contact the support team for the application/service that you will be using to store or access your data.


Q: Can you help me backup my data or do it for me?
A: Google Takeout is only accessible to the logged in account holder. We cannot export your data for you.


Q: I'm getting errors when I use Google Takeout and Takeout Transfer.
A: You can refer to the Google Help article for help with using Google Takeout, or ask the Google Help community forums if you can’t find what you need on the help article. If you are encountering errors on the page when attempting to use Google Takeout, please provide a screenshot of the errors and we will do what we can to help resolve the error.

If you are trying to use Google Takeout Transfer and getting an error stating you need administrator access, please try the following:

  1. Open a Private or Incognito browsing session in your browser.
  2. Visit the Takeout Transfer site. You will be prompted to log in, ensure you are logging in with your @ualberta.ca or @ualberta.net email account credentials.
  3. Follow the steps to start the transfer.

Please note that Google Takeout Transfer DOES NOT TRANSFER ALL ACCOUNT DATA and Takeout is not a core Google service that we can support. If you have any issues or questions regarding it, you can refer to the Google Help article for help with using Google Takeout, or ask the Google Help community forums if you can’t find what you need on the help article.


Q: A former student, faculty, or staff member created files for me in Google Drive that I still access and need. What will happen when their U of A email account changes?

A: Depending on their relationship to the university, their U of A account access, storage and features may be reduced and, in some circumstances, deactivated, and associated data deleted. Please review and create a copy of the necessary files shared with you from the former student, faculty, or staff. Alternatively, you can contact the individual to request they transfer ownership of the files to you.


To find files in Google Drive shared with you from a specific account, click into the Google Drive search box and type owner: followed by the email address (e.g., owner:ccid@ualberta.ca). You can copy or download the files if the student or staff has provided the proper permissions.

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