Belmont to shift cloud services from GSuite to Microsoft 365

New and returning students are in for a big change as Belmont University officially announced its transition from GSuite to Microsoft 365.

Instead of Gmail, students will now be using Outlook. OneDrive will take the place of Google Drive for cloud storage.

In an email sent to students on Friday, the university marked August 15 as the official date of the transition.

Belmont said on its website that the change in emails provides enhanced security, increased collaboration and will prepare students for the professional workforce, citing that 95% of Fortune 500 companies use Microsoft cloud services.

Belmont provided a link in the email to the official transition web page with more information. But if you’re wanting to avoid going through a web portal, here’s the breakdown.

Will my email address change?

Yes. Gone are the days of “pop.belmont.edu.” Students’ emails will now feature a new organization address of “bruins.belmont.edu.” Addresses will still begin with students’ first and last names.

Students will be able to take advantage of the services Microsoft 365 offers such as Teams, Outlook and Microsoft Suite by accessing their account at www.office.com.

So how do I access Outlook?

Microsoft 365 provides desktop applications for all its services. Students will be able to download the Outlook app for their desktop or phone along with any other apps they might need.

Some Google Chrome users may be disappointed to see that their new student email account will be unable to seamlessly sync with their web browsers, but Microsoft still offers a browser version of Outlook if preferred.

What about my past emails?

According to Belmont’s website, students’ inboxes will be migrated over to their new Outlook account from Gmail.

However, it is recommended that students change external email and service subscriptions using their current addresses and update them with the new email address once the transition goes live.

“All mail received at an old @pop.belmont.edu address will be forwarded to its new respective @bruins.belmont.edu account. We recommend students track where their @pop.belmont.edu email is registered with external services (subscription services, LinkedIn, professional networking, etc.) and update them accordingly with their new @bruins.belmont.edu address, or another personal email address,” the site says.

Okay, so my emails will track, but what about the files I saved on Google Drive?

The good news is that all your cloud files should be transferred to OneDrive automatically, Belmont’s website said.

“An essential piece of the email migration will be performing a copy transfer of all student email Google Drive contents into a Microsoft OneDrive corresponding to your new @bruins.belmont.edu account. You will be able to access your OneDrive at www.office.com,” the site said.

It is not immediately clear how the transition will occur or if files created over Google Slides and other GSuite apps will keep the same formatting once shifted to OneDrive.

It’s important to note Belmont’s email admin still suggested students save copies of cloud files on a local drive before the transition as an extra level of backup protection.

What if I’m having trouble accessing my new Outlook account?

Students will not have access to their new accounts until after the transition date of August 15.

However, if on that day you are having trouble accessing your account, you can find more support regarding the transition at this link here or you can contact Belmont’s email admin at servicedesk@belmont.edu or over the phone at 615-460-8888.

–

This article was written by David Pang.