Changes coming to UA Google storage
March 5, 2025
The News: In the coming months, UA will be making changes to our Google Workspace storage policy. The changes will help us address increasing Google Workspace storage costs, optimize our digital storage solutions, and develop policies to govern that storage moving forward. All colleges and universities nationwide who use Google Workspace are having to make similar changes.
The Details: The storage landscape is changing at UA. In February 2021, Google announced a new model for Google Workspace for Education (GWE) and an end to unlimited storage, effective July 2022. However, Google agreed to delay the full implementation of those limits at UA to December 2025.
- UA’s existing storage far exceeds Google’s new limits, and maintaining current levels of usage would incur significant costs.
- Over the coming months, OIT will be working with University stakeholders across the system to reduce our storage footprint, including developing new storage policies and limits to be more sustainable
Zoom Out: New strategies will improve how and where we store our digital assets and maximize resources. As we move towards these goals together, UA’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) along with IT teams at UAA, UAF, and UAS will provide the information and support to navigate this change.
Likely forthcoming actions include:
- Developing email retention policies
- Developing additional tools to help the universities to manage their own allocations
- Purging inactive employee and student data
What’s Next: In the coming months, watch for additional communications and updates on specific upcoming changes.