In December 2022, Ashland University’s executive leadership team made the decision to transition students and staff from Google Services to the Microsoft 365 platform. AU inhabitants received emails from Public Relations in January 2023, learning this news, but have since been able to use their Google Docs and other services since then as they haven’t been fully taken away.  

Information Technology (IT) sent out a notification to AU members on Thursday, Oct. 3, explaining the final step in this transition, now in 2024.   

By Feb. 14, 2025, all Google works will switch to “read-only mode” and will no longer be able to be edited as they once were. Students and staff have been encouraged to begin moving their essays, sheets, presentations, and moreover to Microsoft within the next few months. It’s also encouraged to check websites you may have logged in with your Google account and change it to your current AU account.  

With AU YouTube accounts, the same above applies. Videos will soon no longer play and need to be moved onto a different account. A tutorial on how to do this can be found in James Hayes’ video, the director of Educational Technology at AU.  

By summer 2025, all AU student and staff Google accounts will be fully disabled permanently.