Faculty & Staff Office 365 System Procedures

Office 365 Electronic Records: Open Records Act

Faculty and staff Office 365 users should be aware that use of Office 365’s products, including, but not limited to, the email system, Yammer Enterprise Social Network, and Skype for Business (Lync) chat transcripts, is subject to all applicable University policies and procedures and applicable law. Specifically any records of electronic communications created by any of these products may be subject to disclosure if requested under the Georgia Open Records Act. For additional information on records requests, call the Office of Legal Affairs at 404-413-0500 or go to information on records requests.

Automated Account Deactivation Procedure

Office 365 Faculty and Staff email account access is made available to faculty, staff and student employees as a job-related resource. Beginning Jan. 31, 2020, in accordance with University System of Georgia policy, faculty, staff and student employee CampusID access will be automatically deactivated five (5) business days after the last date of university employment.

When employee-related CampusID access is deactivated, the account holder is no longer able to access university systems to which access was granted because of university employment. These systems include OneUSG Connect, the Office 365 Faculty and Staff Email system and other systems that use CampusID sign-in. Thirty days after CampusID deactivation, associated Office 365 Faculty and Staff Email account content is automatically erased and cannot be retrieved.

Are employees who are on a break affected by this deactivation?

Employees who have a termination date entered in OneUSG Connect, which indicates that have left the university without a planned return date, are affected by this change. Employees classified as on a temporary work break will not be affected by this process.

Where can I get more information on the USG policy this process complies with?

This change is being made to comply with University System of Georgia policy. See section 3.1, page 35, of the USG IT Handbook.

How can I access my W2 if I am a former university employee with an inactive CampusID?

If you did not elect to have the W2 sent electronically, the W2 will be mailed to you at the address we have on file. If you chose the electronic method, contact our USG Shared Services Center by phone or email to obtain the W2.

Can authorized individuals request extended Office 365 account access or preservation of account content?

The same policy exception practices that exist today will continue when the time period for CampusID deactivation changes from 180 to 5 days. Exceptions include:

Transitioning a CampusID to affiliate access – A CampusID can be transitioned to affiliate access to allow temporary continued access to an Office 365 account, while other system access is removed. An HR representative may request the affiliate account transition with departmental sponsorship when appropriate.
Content preservation or departmental access - A request can be submitted to allow access to account content by an authorized individual or to preserve account content related to potential legal review or process.

Any email access exception requests must be initiated through central human resources and approved by the university’s legal and cybersecurity departments. Requests must be received well in advance of email account content deletion.

Who can I contact with questions account deactivation?

Contact your department with questions about employment classification and account access.

Contact the IIT Technology Service Desk at help.gsu.edu, [email protected] or 404-413-HELP (404-413-4357) with questions about the automated account deactivation process.

Retiree Account Procedures

What is the procedure for retiree accounts?

To maintain the security and integrity of GSU’s digital systems and information, an updated procedure for retiree email accounts is being implemented beginning January 1, 2025.

CampusID accounts of GSU faculty and staff retirees will be inactivated and related email and OneDrive accounts will be deleted three months after retirement date. Retirees who retired before January 1, 2025, are exempt from this procedure and will retain email and OneDrive accounts.

Prospective retirees may request an exception to account deletion for good cause, which should be made as soon as possible, but at the latest two months after the date of retirement. Requests for exceptions to maintain email and OneDrive access can be submitted and will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Provost’s designee (for academic units) and the designee of the VP for Finance and Administration (for non-academic units). If you have any questions or need assistance, contact help.gsu.edu.

Alternatively, for continued access to auxiliary services, such as library databases without associated email and OneDrive account, an affiliate network account can be sponsored.

Why is the procedure for retiree email accounts changing?

Reasons for This Change:

Cybersecurity: The more data that is unnecessarily stored, the more potential for a data breach. Additionally, some employee email and OneDrive accounts include sensitive information such as student education records that should not be accessible indefinitely.
Role Confusion: The @gsu.edu email domain can lead an email recipient to believe that an email is being sent on behalf of the university. This is one of the reasons it is not standard practice for businesses to allow retirees to keep email addresses indefinitely.
Open Records Act: Emails and documents stored in employee email and OneDrive accounts are generally available under the Georgia Open Records Act. This has the potential to create issues if such accounts are being used for personal purposes.
Resources: There is a large amount of data being stored by the university in retiree accounts that are no longer being used for university purposes (i.e., no longer used to conduct work for GSU). There are costs and resource use associated with storing this data.