Changes to UIC Google Workspace Storage Limits

Dear students, faculty and staff,

Over the course of 2022, Google introduced a cost structure for its Workspace product for Higher Education. Prior to this announcement, the suite had been free for all institutions and included unlimited storage. Participation in one of the newly created plans would result in a significant cost increase for Google Workspace storage (i.e. Google Drive).

Google Workspace is a powerful tool, which we intend to support for as long as the UIC community requires it. Its storage is best used for Docs, Sheets, and other collaborative documents. It is not intended to be a large data repository, such as for research data sets, computer backups or extensive multimedia collections.

Technology Solutions has worked with Google for months to understand the criteria for data’s inclusion in the new storage cap, as well as tools available to manage the storage environment. Despite this work, there continues to be a lack of clarity around the reality of our usage and how it applies to the storage cap. In order to avoid service disruption, we have made a one-year purchase of additional storage in the Google environment and will immediately begin work to implement policies around the future of the Google Workspace offering, ensuring its long-term viability.

Our goal is to make data-driven decisions on selecting the appropriate Google plan for our institution. If accurate data shows demand for Google Drive storage that supports our faculty and serves our students in ways not met by other existing tools, we will work with Google to ensure participation in a plan that serves those needs.

What is happening?
To ensure fiscal responsibility and eliminate the risk of service disruptions within the Google environment at UIC, Technology Solutions implemented a 20 GB storage quota for individuals and for Google Shared Drives. This quota was carefully considered after identifying that less than 5% of individuals are or will soon be impacted by this quota.

How does this impact me?
If you are in the vast majority of UIC affiliates by currently being below the quota limit, you do not need to take any immediate action. However, you are encouraged to review your current storage usage by following the steps provided below.

If you are currently over the quota limit, Technology Solutions will be reaching out to you separately with next steps, and in the meantime, you are encouraged to review your current storage usage and take steps to reduce your usage below the quota level.

Along with the 20 GB storage quota, you are no longer able to create new Google Shared Drives on your own. To request the creation of a new Shared Drive submit a request at the Google Shared Drive service page.

What other storage options are available?

While Google Workspace is a powerful suite of tools preferred by many students, faculty and staff, Technology Solutions supports a number of alternative solutions that are better suited for uses such as: storing large research data sets, backing up computers, storing instructional videos and more.

There are multiple alternative storage solutions available to the UIC community, including Box and Microsoft OneDrive, as well as Panopto and Echo360 for video. More details can be found at our File Storage and Sharingservice page or by using the Data Storage Finder tool to see which option best fits your needs.

We also encourage you to submit a service request to discuss your specific needs with specialists in research technology, learning technology, or our systems teams at it.uic.edu/ask-a-question.

How do I review and manage files on Google Drive?

We encourage you to review files on your UIC Google Drive, confirm storage quota use and perform any necessary actions to manage storage. Follow these steps:

1. Confirm how much storage you are currently using at google.com/settings/storage.
2. Review and delete large or unnecessary files in Google Drive at google.com/drive/quota.
3. Consider deleting Google Drive content that you have previously copied to a Google Shared Drive. If a file resides in two locations, it may be consuming twice the storage space.
4. Search for and delete unnecessary or large emails, by visiting Manage files in your Google Drive storageand following the instructions for Gmail.

As a reminder, UIC instructors should be leveraging EdTech tools and resources for course content management. It is recommended to use Panopto or Echo360 to create, edit and integrate video content to Blackboard courses. These tools enable instructors to add active learning activities, accessibility features, are optimized for streaming and mobile viewing, along with many other features and integration capabilities.

How can I get support?

To ask a question or request support, visit it.uic.edu/ask-a-question.

We apologize for the inconvenience and confusion this may cause and thank you for your cooperation in ensuring the university remains compliant to the Google Drive storage limits. We continue to work with Google to determine accurate storage usage and ensure that we are good stewards of university resources. We will update the university community as we have more clarity.

Regards,

Jason Maslanka
Chief Technology Officer

For more information, please contact:
Jason Maslanka
crystalo@uic.edu