Terms
Google Drive: The file system where we've traditionally worked, or the "old Google Drive." These are the files you access with a @gmail.com address.
GSuite: An enterprise version of Google Drive with expanded capabilities. These are the files you access with a @contemplative.eco address.
Why are we moving to GSuite?
CSC has a vast network of Google Drive folders, and folder management has become unwieldy. We don't have an easy way to take ownership of files once people leave the organization. We also don't have a way to share files with specific teams. Instead, each folder needs to be shared with dozens of people, each with their own email account.
GSuite solves those problems by letting us take control files once people leave, create teams, and generally restrict files to our organization.
You may not see improvements to your workflow immediately using GSuite. In fact, depending on your management level, you might never feel the benefits of GSuite. But migrating from Google Drive to GSuite will make management easier in the long term. GSuite is essential to the sustainability of our files at CSC.
Preparing for Migration
What we're migrating
Everything within the folder CSC Main will get migrated. This includes all files and folders within the following folders:
- Best Practices - CSC
- Communications - CSC
- Compassionate Schools Project
- Contemplative Commons Donor Pitch Book
- Contemplative Council-CSC Files
- Contemplative Scholarship
- Dalai Lama Fellows
- Digital Initiatives
- Digital Technologies (CSC)
- Education Division
- Engagement-Community Building-CSC
- Events & Visitors - CSC
- Faculty - CSC
- Food-Ecology
- Fundraising
- Grant Program-CSC
- Impact Tracking
- K-12 Work (CSC)
- Learning Initiatives-CSC
- Networks
- Operations
- Planning-CSC
- Presentations-Documentation-Reports CSC
- Publication
- Recordings
- Research - CSC
- Residential
- Retreats
- Schools-Units-Social Network at UVa
- SFI
- Space Issues-CSC
- Staff-CSC
- Students (CSC)
- Writing & Editing-CSC
- X Classify
How does migration work?
On March 8, 2019, we'll switch the old Google Drive to View Only. This "freezes" the state of the old Google Drive, so we can make sure that no files get changed mid-migration. After March 8, you shouldn't work in the old Google Drive again when working in the folders above.
Once you log in to the new GSuite post-migration, all of the files should be in the same state as they were in the old Google Drive. However, they will be inside GSuite team drives, which control the permissions for each file and folder.
The GSuite files will just be copies – old Google Drive files will remain in the same location, but View Only. Because of the vast range of ownership and permissions in the old Google Drive, we can't just move these files into GSuite, or even create aliases.
How you can prepare
- Make sure that all your documents are somewhere in one of the folders above (or in a subfolder belonging to that folder).
- Plan to work outside of the old Google Drive during migration. This usually means working offline.
- Inform any people that work for you about the migration, especially people that might fall outside the main CSC lines of communication.
Still worried?
This isn't necessary for migration
If you're extra worried about an extra-special file, you can check to see if the file is shared with both admin-csc@contemplative.eco and kmteaching@gmail.com.
Check the sharing settings
Click Share button. Under Who has access, see if you can find admin-csc@contemplative.eco and kmteaching@gmail.com. If you don't see those emails there, don't share the document with them. Instead, first make sure the file is in one of the folders above, and if it isn't, move it. If that still doesn't work, contact Kathleen.