ICT Info for Students Leaving the University

At the end of your enrolment with the University of Waikato offboarding processes will remove most of your system access and your data.

Timeline of What Changes after Enrolment Ends

Students and Alumni 

For alumni and students no longer enrolled in any papers: 

  • 6 months after the end date of your last paper: 

    • your Google student account will be deactivated 

    • your Microsoft 365 account will be retained 

    • your Microsoft 365 license will be removed - access to Microsoft 365 Online(https://office.com) will still be available, but M365 applications such as Word Online will not be available without a license. Any locally installed Office applications will require re-licensing to retain full functionality 

  • 7 months after the end date of your last paper: 

    • your Microsoft 365 data is deleted (i.e. one month after the license is removed) 

  • 9 months after the end date of your last paper: 

    • your Google data is deleted 

    • your Google student account is deleted 

PhD students and Thesis students

For students working with research data which requires long term retention, but are no longer enrolled in any papers i.e. PhD students, students doing a thesis (593/594 papers), and other specific programme codes: 

  • 6 months after the end date of your last paper: 

    • your Microsoft 365 license is downgraded - allowing access to M365 web-based applications and services, such as Word online, through a web browser 

  • 5 years after the end date of your last paper: 

    • your Google student account will be deactivated 

    • your Microsoft 365 license will be removed, and one month after license removal your Microsoft 365 data is deleted 

  • 5 years + 90 days after the end date of your last paper: 

    • your Google data is deleted 

    • your Google student account is deleted  

FAQ/Support

What does this mean for students who are currently enrolled in papers? 

Nothing will happen while enrolled in a paper(s). This offboarding process only applies to students who have not been enrolled in any papers for at least 6 months. 

Will I still be able to access MyWaikato and a record of my papers/grades after I leave? 

Yes, you will still be able to login to MyWaikato and access your enrollment records. Your Microsoft 365 account does not get deactivated or deleted (only the Google account is deleted). 

How can I avoid having my Google account deactivated and M365 data deleted?

You can avoid this by enrolling in another paper.  

If you are not able to re-enroll before the timeframes outlined – when you return to the University you will be provided with a new Google account, and access to your M365 account with no data in it. 

I received an email saying my student account is going to be deactivated, but I am still enrolled – what do I do?

Please email help@waikato.ac.nz with the codes for the paper(s) you’re enrolled in, your student ID # and/or student username.  

What should I do with my data (in OneDrive and Mail) at the end of my studies? 

If you wish to keep this data, we recommend you make a copy of files and emails outside of the University M365 environment i.e. transfer/import the data to another personal cloud service, or export to USB drive etc.  

I have data in Google I want to keep, what should I do?

You can use Google Takeout to move some or all of your data.

I received an email saying my student account is going to be deactivated, but I have since enrolled in another paper – what do I need to do to stop my account getting deactivated? stop my data getting deleted? 

You do not need to do anything – the offboarding process will stop if you’re enrolled in a paper in the system. 

What happens if I leave the University and return to study after a period of time? 

  • If it has been less than 6 months since your last paper ended – your Google account will not have been deactivated, your student email address will be the same, your OneDrive (data storage) and mailbox (emails) will be retained 

  • If it has been 6-9 months since your last paper ended – your Google account will be reactivated, your student email address will be the same, your OneDrive (data storage) and mailbox may be empty 

  • If it has been more than 9 months since your last paper ended - your Google account will have been deleted and the data is not recoverable. You will be provided with a new Google account for your new enrolment, your Microsoft account will be re-licensed and contain no content/data 

How can PhD students continue to access their data once they’re no longer enrolled? 

If your final paper ended less than 5 years ago: 

  • You will be able to access data using Microsoft Office in a web browser 

  • If you studied prior to the migration from Google to Microsoft (i.e. before mid-2023) - your Google data was migrated to Microsoft, you will be able to access data using Microsoft Office in a browser 

How can I ensure that I hear from the University / Alumni Office in the future / after I can no longer access my student email?

Please update your alumni details with a valid personal email address to continue receiving University alumni updates and invitations to events. 

Why does the University no longer provide enduring Google accounts and storage? 

The university shifted from Google to Microsoft in 2023. 

Post January 2023, Google charged the University for data storage. Without mitigation, this change in model would have led to an increase in costs, as Google had previously offered free accounts with unlimited storage for educational institutes. 

Note: a Google account, with reduced services, is still provided for enrolled students for the purpose of supporting collaboration with other organisations.  

What happens with files I have shared with others? 

If these files were shared from your student account OneDrive, when your M365 data is deleted these files are also deleted. Please contact the people you have shared files with and ask them to make a copy of the shared files they may wish to keep, or upload the files to Microsoft Teams / a shared UoW SharePoint document library. 

What if I have data that is critical to the University that cannot be moved and must not be deleted?

Please contact the Service Desk help@waikato.ac.nz or 07 838 4008.