Table of Contents
Overview
Texas A&M Microsoft 365 provides A1 and A5 licensing to TAMU individuals depending on their affiliation with the university.
A1 vs A5 licenses
Microsoft 365 services are grouped into two license types for Texas A&M University members.
The A5 license includes more features and applications than the A1 license. Some notable applications included in the A5 license which are not included in the A1 are
- Copilot
- Microsoft Bookings
- Audio conferencing
- Phone system
- Power BI Pro
- My Analytics
- InTune for Education
A full list of features included in both the A5 and A1 licenses can be found on Microsoft's website.
A5 licenses are provided to active students, faculty, and staff in System Part 02, 09, 10, 23, and 28 with the following exceptions:
- TAMU Qatar
- Athletics
- College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
These units, along with retirees and affiliates, get A1 licenses for Microsoft 365.
Exchange mailboxes
All active students, faculty, and staff receive either an A5 or A1 license for Microsoft 365. The primary difference between the Exchange mailbox for an A5 or A1 license is the mailbox quota size:
Lifecycle
Once an Exchange mailbox has been provisioned, it stays provisioned for the life of the NetID. If the mailbox claim is dropped by a departmental Exchange administrator, the mailbox will not be deprovisioned. Exchange mailboxes are only deleted when the NetID is removed from the TAMU system. NetIDs are removed according to the NetID Account Lifecycle.
For Exchange email users who transition from an active position to an inactive position, including retiring, the user's license will switch from an A5 license to an A1 license. This means that the Exchange mailbox quota will decrease from 100GB to 50GB. If a retiree has more than 50GB of email in their Exchange mailbox when they transition, they may find that they are immediately over quota and unable to send or receive email.
Microsoft 365 account status after leaving TAMU
Undergraduate and Graduate-Level Students
These processes are automated and driven by events/flags coming from Banner.
- Not Enrolled: After a student leaves the university (is marked "not enrolled"), they retain access to their Texas A&M Exchange Email account for two years (42 months if they're an international student).
- Graduates: After a student graduates, they retain access to their Texas A&M Exchange Email account for two years (42 months if they're an international student).
- Student Worker: Student access to email is determined by their role as a student (not employee) outlined above.
Faculty and Staff (Including Adjunct/Visiting Faculty)
These processes are automated and driven by events/flags coming from Workday.
- Normal Employee Departure: If an employee leaves employment under normal circumstances (Flag = Terminated), their NetID is disabled within 72 hours after the official separation date and the employee will be unable to log into their Texas A&M Exchange Email account. Supervisors have 30 days to access the former employee's emails before supervisor access is removed. The emails are retained in "cold" storage for an additional 30 days and can be recovered if requested. After that point, they are deleted forever.
- Transfer Between TAMU Departments: If there is no break in employment and an employee moves to any other TAMU entity, they retain access to their Texas A&M Exchange Email account. However, if they move to a TAMU entity not in our M365 tenant (Athletics, Agrilife, etc.), their license would be downgraded to an A1 license with a maximum storage quota of 50GB. The IT staff in the new department the employee transfers to should claim their mailbox in the Exchange management system.
- Transfer to Another TAMUS Entity: If there is no break in employment (transfer) and an employee moves to any other System part, they will retain access to their mailbox at TAMU, but their Exchange license is downgraded to an A1 license. If the employee's mailbox is larger than the A1 license allows, they will need to reach out to Technology Services to request assistance accessing the mailbox. Other important things to note:
- The TAMUS Entity they are moving to will create a separate email account with a different email address in their email system.
- We recommend the employee put an automatic reply on their mailbox directing people to their new email address. Alternatively, they can visit Gateway.tamu.edu and change their Email Settings to deliver future email sent to their @tamu address to their new TAMUS email address. The forwarding may break and not last forever which is why we recommend they put the auto-reply on their mailbox instead.
- Employee Fired/RIFF'd/Etc.: Requests for "account locks" must be submitted and approved to disable email access sooner than the default 72 hours for a normal employee departure. Learn more and request account locks here.
- Employee Retires w/Non-Emeritus Status: Texas A&M Exchange - If the retiree previously had a Texas A&M Exchange email account, they will retain access with a maximum storage quota of 50GB as they will be downgraded to an A1 license.
- Employee Retires with Emeritus Status: Texas A&M Exchange - If the retiree previously had a Texas A&M Exchange email account, they will retain an A5 license with a 100GB storage quota as long as their Exchange account was claimed by their IT department in the Exchange management system.