It’s true. Starting after exams, McMaster student email move from Gmail into the Microsoft 365 Outlook environment. 

“It will take time to adjust, that’s for sure,” says student, TA and McMaster IT Student Advisory Committee member Dabeer Abdul-Azeez, “but by integrating staff and students together with the same network of industry-standard products, there will be new avenues for productivity, creativity, and innovation available to everyone, so long as we push ourselves to achieve great things.” 

Students already have access to the Microsoft 365 platform and this migration will give them access to more features once migrated. For now, there is no immediate action required of students. Students will continue to work in Gmail until after exams and the winter semester ends and will continue to have access to Google Workspace until well into 2022. Email addresses will not change.

An FAQ can be found on the McMaster Microsoft Hub. This FAQ will continue to be updated with additional details as we approach migration dates.

The migration process will copy emails, contacts and calendar information from your Gmail account to your Microsoft 365 email (Outlook). After the migration, emails sent to you will be accessible through the Outlook app. New students coming to McMaster for the fall semester will be provided with Microsoft 365 email at enrollment.

With this move, students will get access to new tools and services that will make it easier for them to interact, work on group assignments and connect with faculty. Microsoft 365 email also offers better accessibility, security and integration options. Students can find out more about the Microsoft 365 email benefits here. 

Students will be given advance notice of their migration date, so they can be prepared. There will be a wide range of resources to walk students through the process.

McMaster’s Microsoft licensing means students can use Microsoft 365 applications with no direct cost.  The university will also avoid costs associated with the change in Google Workspace storage costs starting in 2022.  

The Student Email migration is the second initiative in a multi- year strategic program to improve email systems and security at McMaster. The first project, the migration of our staff, faculty and instructors and medical students to Microsoft 365 took place last year. 

You can check the McMaster 365 Hub and follow @McMasterMS365 (Twitter) and/or @mcmasterms365 (Instagram) for the latest updates. Stay tuned for training opportunities and further communications throughout the semester and be sure to check out the FAQ.