Overview
In 2025, UO will stop providing retirees with Microsoft Office 365 services — except for web-based email — to ensure alignment with our Microsoft contract.
What's changing?
- UO retirees will lose access to Microsoft software — such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and OneDrive — unless they have another affiliation that grants access.
- Any files in will be deleted.
What's not changing?
- Retirees will keep their UO email accounts and can keep using Outlook on the web at uomail.uoregon.edu.
- People with emerit status aren't affected by this change.
Transition timeline 2025
- Starting this summer
- October 21
- This Microsoft access change will take effect for existing retirees — that is, for people whose employee records had earlier end dates.
Will retirees or others be notified?
It depends on when the employee retired.
- For people retiring this summer or thereafter (see Starting this summer above):
- Unfortunately, Information Services is unable to notify each individual as they retire.
- Due to the flow of retirement transition processing, we typically don't learn about someone's retirement until they've already left the UO.
- We're working to inform UO human resources staff and UO Records Stewards about the Microsoft access change.
- For existing retirees (see October 21 above) — that is, people whose employee records had earlier end dates — Information Services plans to do the following notifications:
- June
- Early summer
- Information Services will contact the UO Records Steward and/or unit head in each retiree's last home department with more information and instructions.
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- Direct emails will be sent to all retirees affected by the Oct. 21 change at their
- In-person tech support appointments will be available. A . USS can help retirees move personal files to another storage location and choose a new free service, if desired.
- Retirees are strongly encouraged to move any faculty portfolio files or other personal files from OneDrive or SharePoint to another location as soon as possible.
Action items for UO departments
- UO offices are responsible for ensuring retirees don’t have files in OneDrive that are required for ongoing departmental operations or to satisfy records retention obligations. (Information Services can help with file transfers.)
- Please update your unit’s offboarding practices to account for retirees’ impending loss of access to OneDrive.
- Encourage retirees to save any personal files to another location before their job ends.
If you have any questions about records management, please contact your unit’s Records Steward or email records@uoregon.edu.
Why the change?
- The university has been using a Microsoft A1 license to provide retirees with online versions of the Office apps.
- Microsoft no longer allows us to give A1 licenses to retirees.
- Retirees will shift to a different type of free license (called Exchange Online) that provides only email service and access to Outlook on the web.
Recent retirees: Access details
- If you've recently retired, your access to Microsoft applications may last for a specified period of time after your employment ends. You can review what access you may get beyond your employment end date at Technology Access Timelines.
- If you're entitled to extended access, the retiree license change will apply to you only after extended access has ended.
Sample Access Timelines
Please see Technology Access Timelines for your specific situation. If you have multiple or overlapping affiliations, you'll get the greatest access available to you.
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