Saint Mary's College Alumnae and Google Workspace for Education

The following information is specific to Saint Mary's graduates who graduate in May 2025 or later.

To accommodate the changes they made, Google offered “Gmail Only User” licenses to educational institutions. These new licenses will not count against the full Google Workspace for Education licenses necessary for our current students, faculty, and staff. Saint Mary’s will transition all alumnae accounts from full Google Workspace for Education accounts to Gmail Only User accounts.

The Class of 2026 will automatically have their accounts transitioned from full Google Workspace accounts to limited Gmail Only User accounts for saintmarys.edu e-mail access on December 1, 2026.

All alumnae with student e-mail accounts ending in @saintmarys.edu in Google Workspace for Education will be affected.

The ability to access Google Photos will expire immediately after graduation. You will not be able to view, download, or export anything from Google Photos immediately after graduation. Please download any files in Google Photos that you wish to retain or use Google Takeout in advance of your graduation date to ensure that you do not lose data that is important to you. Files saved on Google Photos cannot be recovered after this transition occurs. Extensions for access to Google Photos will not be granted.

The ability to create or save files to Google Drive will expire immediately after graduation. You will still be able to view, delete, and export your files through November 30, 2026. You will be able to use the Google Takeout Transfer Tool and/or Google Takeout to export your files until 11:59pm on the November 30 following your graduation date (for the Class of 2026, that would be November 30, 2026).

Access to Google Drive will end for the Class of 2026 on December 1, 2026. This includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Sites, Drawings, and Forms. Your files on Google Drive will be permanently deleted on December 1, 2026. Access to Google Drive for future graduates will always occur on the December 1 immediately following their graduation date. Please complete the export of files in Google Drive that you wish to retain (download individual files, Google Takeout Transfer Tool, Google Takeout) in advance of your graduation date to ensure that you do not lose data that is important to you. You should have possession of all the files you wish to retain before 11:59pm on the November 30 following your graduation date. It is your responsibility to verify that you have all the files you wish to keep before the transition deadline. Files saved on Google Drive cannot be recovered after this transition occurs. Extensions for access to Google Drive will not be granted.

Beginning December 1, 2026, members of the Class of 2026 will only have access to their saintmarys.edu e-mail, calendar, contacts, and be able to join Google Meet sessions.

Extensions for having alumnae accounts transitioned from full Google Workspace accounts to limited accounts for saintmarys.edu e-mail access will not be granted.

We recommend moving your files in Google Drive and Google Photos to an account you have more control over, such as a personal Google account. Google Takeout will let you export a copy of all of your files in your saintmarys.edu account to your computer, where you can then transfer the files to another location (such as a Google Drive associated with a personal Google account).

To use the Google Takeout Transfer Tool to copy and transfer your e-mail and Google Drive files to another Google Account (such as a personal Google account), visit takeout.google.com/transfer The Google Transfer Tool will not transfer files from Google Photos or other Google apps.

To use Google Takeout to export a copy of your files from Google Drive, Google Photos, and other resources included in Google Workspace, visit takeout.google.com

If you need additional storage space in a personal Google account, you can purchase a Google One subscription. To learn more, visit one.google.com Apple’s iCloud (icloud.com) and Microsoft’s OneDrive (onedrive.com) are other popular resources for personal cloud storage.

If you have shared files in Google Drive or Google Photos that you do not wish to retain through Google Takeout, but others at Saint Mary’s College still need access to them, you must transfer ownership of those files. Ownership of shared files must be transferred prior to your graduation date. If ownership has not been transferred, the files will be deleted and cannot be recovered. Transferring ownership of files is recommended if you have contributed to research on campus and/or participated in campus groups and want to give others staying on campus access to that information for continuity.

Students who graduate in May and return to campus in August as graduate students will have their full Google Workspace access restored after their status from alumnae to active students is updated by Graduate Studies.

If you have questions about accessing your Saint Mary’s Google account, please contact ResNet at resnet@saintmarys.edu. Assistance with accessing accounts is not available over the phone.

Thank you for your understanding as this transition to Gmail Only User accounts occurs.