Microsoft 365 License Details for Retirees Due to changes in CSU’s Microsoft licensing contract, retirees and emeriti no longer have the option to download and use Microsoft (M365) Office as of March 31, 2022. This includes the option to download Office for up to 5 computers and free access to desktop versions of M365 Office applications. The change applies to desktop versions of M365 Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook (CSU email), Access, Publisher, Skype for Business, and OneNote, as well as Office Mobile applications for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on iOS and Android. Note for emeriti: If a user was an emeritus and had a downloaded copy of Office as of 12/31/2021, they will continue to have access to the desktop versions of M365 Office applications for 3 years (Jan 2022 – Jan 2025). If a user was set as emeritus after 01/01/2022 (or did not have a downloaded copy prior to 12/31/21) they will not have the option to download Office. Notice to Activate Microsoft365 Subscription When opening the desktop/downloaded versions of Word, Excel, Outlook, or any other Office application, you may see a notice that your subscription has expired or to buy, renew, or reactivate your Microsoft 365 subscription. Options for Accessing M365 Office Applications Access to browser-based versions of M365 Office applications will still be available; only downloaded desktop versions are impacted. To access the browser versions, navigate to portal.office.com. When prompted, log in using your NetID in the format of NetID@colostate.edu along with your NetID password. (Retiree NetIDs are held active indefinitely, as are their email addresses). You can also purchase a personal Microsoft 365 subscription to download desktop and mobile versions of the full suite of Microsoft Office applications. Questions? Please reach out to your CSU IT support contact. If you are unsure of who your support contact is, contact the Central IT Help Desk at help@colostate.edu or call (970) 491-7276.

Microsoft is introducing storage limits for M365 services that will affect Microsoft applications and user accounts at Colorado State University. A plan has been developed by a CSU committee to ensure continued service access and to establish a process for allocating and managing the remaining capacity, and for growing additional capacity. Applicable to: Fort Collins, Pueblo, Spur, System Affiliation: Students, Faculty, Staff, Guests Details Changes happening in December 2024 - January 2025 New users: New email and OneDrive accounts will be created with 5 GB quotas each. Most existing email and OneDrive accounts consume less than 5 GB already. Existing users: Existing email and OneDrive quotas will be adjusted: they will be updated to their current usage plus an additional 5 GB of storage space. A focus shift: departmental storage While email and OneDrive are tied to a person's NetID account, departmental objects like SharePoint sites and Teams persist over time. Applying the individual item quotas described above allows the university to focus the remaining storage capacity and shift storage growth towards these shared resources. So, quotas available to new and existing Teams and SharePoint sites will remain generous and can still be expanded up to Microsoft limits. The IT community has been made aware of this part of the committee recommendation and a plan to allocate the remaining storage among organizational units is in place. Reports coming Reports of users nearing individual quotas will be regularly published to IT leaders. Reports of total usage by organizational areas will be made regularly; these will help forecast any additional storage capacity purchases that may be needed. Historical Report of Tenant-wide Storage Consumption Strategies to reduce storage Even though no user's email or OneDrive storage quotas will be cut, by working together to reduce or trim unneeded items, we will increase the available storage to be used for current teaching, research, learning, and other university business. Those interested can explore the below topics; more communications about this will be coming in 2025. Managing Exchange Storage Managing OneDrive Storage Managing Teams Storage Future additions coming to this page: Once questions are received and answered, an FAQ will be posted and maintained. Record of previous communications: Source article: https://source.colostate.edu/microsoft-365-reducing-storage-limits-for-the-csu-system/ (published January 2025) This Fresh Service landing page: https://csusystem.freshservice.com/a/solutions/articles/23000154701 (published December 10, 2024) Source newsletters mentioning this project: Jan 14, 2025: Get ready for CSU Day... Jan 13, 2025: Live Updates: CSU at the ... Jan 7, 2025: Welcome to 2025! DoIT web site announcement, linking to Source article: Division of IT news + updates section Other Postings to Microsoft Team "CSU IT Community" notifications channel Open Forum January 9, 2025 Presentations at CSU IT Community meetings: December 31, 2024, October 29, 2024, early 2024 IT Committee outreach: Faculty Council Standing Subcommittee on Information Technology: November 15, 2024, College Information Technology Advisory Committee (CITAC): Summer 2024 Contact us with questions This project is being administered by the Microsoft System Operations (MSOPS) team. If you have questions regarding the implementation of this project you can reach out to them at msops@colostate.edu. If you have questions regarding how to manage the storage of your account, please refer to Safely and effectively managing storage in your M365 account. Suggested Tags: M365,storage,policy

Part of the M365 Storage solution project is to track the overall growth in the combined storage that all objects in our multi-campus Microsoft account ("tenant") consumes. The last recorded observations: 2025-03-24: 1.22PB 2025-03-17: 1.21PB 2025-03-10: 1.20PB 2025-03-03: 1.20PB 2025-02-24: 1.20PB 2025-02-17: 1.19PB 2025-02-10: 1.18PB 2025-02-03: 1.18PB 2025-01-27: 1.17PB 2025-01-20: 1.16PB 2025-01-13: 1.16PB 2025-01-06: 1.16PB 2024-12-30: 1.16PB 2024-12-23: 1.15PB 2024-12-16: 1.15PB 2024-12-09: 1.14PB 2024-12-02: 1.13PB 2024-11-14: 1.11PB 2024-11-11: 1.11PB 2024-11-08: 1.13PB 2024-10-28: 1.12PB 2024-06-15: 1.02PB A typical graphical report we can see that is updated daily for us. Note that the "SharePoint" product includes the storage consumed by Teams as well as that by actual SharePoint Sites. Teams and SharePoint sites are created by distributed IT staff using the "resource coordinator tools" interface. As of January 20, 2025, the breakdown of the four bars (note SharePoint includes Teams and SharePoint Sites): Exchange: 194.4 TB SharePoint: 260.5 TB OneDrive: 737.8 TB Available: 402.5 TB As of February 17, 2025: Exchange: 197 TB SharePoint: 262 TB OneDrive: 762 TB Available: 373 TB As of late March 2025: Exchange: 197 TB SharePoint: 272 TB OneDrive: 777 TB Available: 349 TB Per the approved plan, central purchases of more storage will begin before we consume the entire "Available" category, aiming for approximately 100TB reserve.

Learn how to manage email messages that have been quarantined in Microsoft 365 using the Microsoft Defender portal. Follow these steps to review, release, and report emails as needed. Applicable to: Fort Collins, Pueblo, Spur, System Affiliation: Students, Faculty, Staff Prerequisites You must have an active netID/Microsoft 365 account. You must use M365/Exchange as your email provider (these steps do not apply to @Rams Google Apps users) Instructions Accessing Quarantined Emails Go to the Microsoft Defender portal. Sign in using your CSU Microsoft 365 credentials in the netID@colostate.edu format. Click Review > Quarantine to view all quarantined emails. Reviewing Quarantined Emails Locate the email you wish to review using the search bar or filtering options. Click the email subject to see detailed information about why it was flagged. Review the email body, header, and threat detection information to determine if it’s legitimate. Releasing Emails from Quarantine Select the email you want to release. Click Release message at the top of the page. Choose whether to report the message as a false positive if applicable. Confirm your action. The email will be delivered to your inbox. Outcome After following these steps, you will be able to manage your quarantined emails effectively. Emails marked safe will be delivered to your inbox, while reported emails will help Microsoft enhance its security features.

Learn how to adjust and use third-party mailer services in compliance with Colorado State University’s policies. Due to recent security changes by major email providers, additional authentication steps are necessary to continue using third-party mailers. Applicable to: Fort Collins, Pueblo, Spur, System Affiliation: Faculty, Staff The Need Recent security changes by major email providers like Google and Yahoo now require mailer services to apply extra authentication to prevent spam and malicious email. Departments at CSU using third-party mailer services must adjust their settings to comply with these authentication methods, such as: SPF (Sender Policy Framework) DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) The Division of IT understands the importance of using third-party vendors for business functions and is committed to supporting this capability. The Constraint To protect and prioritize the @colostate.edu, @csupueblo.edu, and @mail.colostate.edu namespaces for official student, faculty, and staff use, CSU does not allow third-party vendors to send emails "as" or "on behalf of" these protected domains. The Solution The Division of IT works with departments to create and manage subdomains for third-party mailer use. Examples of subdomains include: admissions.colostate.edu communications.colostate.edu These subdomains allow the necessary SPF and DKIM customization to meet vendor requirements while protecting CSU's main domains. Get Started To request a subdomain or make adjustments for your third-party mailer, please email msops_help@colostate.edu with the following information: Vendor name Your college/administrative area and/or department The email address(es) your vendor is sending as Suggested subdomain(s) or your preferred option Need for email receiving: If applicable, specify the desired email address using the subdomain and the shared mailbox to receive messages. Providing detailed information will help expedite the process. Outcome After following these steps, the Division of IT will work with you to configure your mailer service using a subdomain, ensuring compliance with security standards while maintaining your email functionality.

Purpose: The CSU System discourages the use of third-party AI/Transcription tools, e.g. read.AI, Otter, etc. in your work environment or when using M365 service like Teams and Outlook or a service like Zoom. Applicable to: All CSU System faculty and staff Policy: Central Administrative Data Governance Policy Third-Party AI Usage Guidelines: Usage of third-party AI tools should be discouraged in administrative operations at Colorado State University System campuses, especially those associated with AI/Transcription tools. While AI can improve efficiency, CSU employees should prioritize ethical conduct and public accountability. Users are encouraged to disable third-party products during meetings by declining the interaction if these tools appear. Using Third-Party AI Services Poses Several Risks: Data Security and Privacy: Third-party AI tools may compromise sensitive information, including personal data and confidential university records, by failing to adhere to established data security and privacy guidelines, thereby increasing the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches. Research Security: These tools pose a risk of misuse or theft of research findings by exposing sensitive research data and intellectual property to external entities, undermining the integrity of academic research. Legal and Compliance: Third-party AI tools may not comply with legal and regulatory requirements, leading to potential violations and penalties potentially affecting the university's reputation or legal consequences. Discouraged Transcription Tools - What and Why: Read.ai: Joins, transcribes, and summarizes meetings without participant consent, risking confidentiality. Otter.ai: Records and transcribes conversations automatically, potentially breaching privacy without full consent. An Artificial Intelligence task force and evaluation pilot are in progress at this time. While no permanent blocks are in place, due to privacy concerns, users are encouraged to disable third-party products during meetings by declining the interaction if these tools appear. Please note that platform-approved tools are being evaluated and may be released to our users in the future. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Related Articles: Interim Guidelines to AI usage on CSU System campuses CSU System IT Data Governance

Create a reusable Microsoft Teams meeting link for impromptu sessions, virtual office hours, or recurring meetings using the "Meet Now" feature. Applicable to: Fort Collins, Pueblo, Spur, System Affiliation: Students, Faculty, Staff, Guests, Community (All Microsoft 365 users) Prerequisites You must have access to a Microsoft 365 Account through CSU and be signed in on either the desktop app or the web version. Instructions Open Microsoft Teams and sign in to your account. Click the Calendar icon in the left-hand navigation pane. Select Meet Now in the top-right corner of the screen. Enter a Meeting Name (e.g., "Office Hours" or "Consultation Room"). Click Get a link to share. Copy the generated link to your clipboard. (Optional) Click Configure meeting options to adjust settings, such as who can bypass the lobby or who can present. Share the link by sending it via email, chat, or embedding it in your email signature or website. Note: This method does not create a calendar event; the link remains active and can be reused whenever needed. Additional Information While Microsoft Teams does not provide a permanent personal meeting room like Zoom, you can schedule recurring meetings far into the future (e.g., daily or weekly for several years) to create a consistent, reusable link. However, be aware that chat history and participant lists are retained across sessions, which may not be ideal for all situations. Outcome After following these steps, you will have a reusable Microsoft Teams meeting link to distribute for office hours, impromptu meetings, consultations, or recurring sessions.

Learn how to easily download, install, and sign in to Microsoft Teams on your Windows PC or macOS device. Applicable to: Fort Collins, Pueblo, Spur, System Affiliation: Students, Faculty, Staff, Guests, Community Prerequisites You must have a valid Microsoft account (e.g., university-provided email credentials) to sign in to Microsoft Teams. Instructions Installing Microsoft Teams on Windows (PC) Go to the Microsoft Teams download page. Click Download for desktop and then select Download Teams. Locate the downloaded Teams_windows_x64.exe file in your Downloads folder. Double-click the Teams_windows_x64.exe file to launch the installer. Open Microsoft Teams after installation. Sign in using your Microsoft account credentials. Installing Microsoft Teams on macOS (Mac) Go to the Microsoft Teams download page. Click Download for desktop and then select Download Teams. Open the downloaded Teams.pkg file. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Microsoft Teams. Launch Microsoft Teams from your Applications folder. Sign in with your Microsoft account credentials. Grant microphone and camera permissions when prompted during your first call or meeting. Outcome After following these steps, Microsoft Teams will be installed and ready to use on your PC or Mac. You can start chatting, calling, and joining meetings right away.