News

IST has extended the temporary exception to email and OneDrive storage limits for employees with A5 licences. This extension allows continued access beyond the original May 1, 2026 timeline while alternative storage solutions are finalized. Employees are encouraged to continue reviewing and reducing their current data storage usage.

IST is reducing the daily email sending limit for individual accounts from 10,000 to 500 messages per 24‑hour period, effective Monday, May 4. This change helps protect email services and encourages appropriate use of distribution lists and groups for high-volume communications.

LabVIEW licenses purchased in 2025 will expire on March 31, 2026

Two important changes are now in effect for SharePoint and Microsoft Teams site management at UWaterloo:

1. Shorter Inactivity Window Site owners will now receive email notifications when no activity is detected on their SharePoint site for 6 months (reduced from 14 months). These monthly reminders come from noreplySharePoint@uwaterloo.ca and prompt owners to decide whether to keep or delete the site.

2. Two-Owner Minimum Required All SharePoint/Teams sites must now have at least two active site owners. Sites that don't meet this requirement will receive an email notification. Site owners are asked to add a second owner as soon as possible.

IST is turning Print-to-PDF back on in Outlook—but there’s a catch. Every PDF you make this way will now be auto-labelled “Confidential.”

Rolling out:

• June 3 @ 11 PM – Academic Support Vanguard group

• June 6 @ 11 PM – All Academic Support groups

What to do:

• After saving your PDF, adjust the sensitivity label if needed.

• You may need to restart Outlook

Starting June 2, 2025, Waterloo students and staff can add pronouns (e.g., she/her, they/them) to their Microsoft 365 profile card.

• Visible in Teams and Outlook Web

• Only shown to people within the University

• Optional and customizable (up to 60 characters)

• Governed by UWaterloo policies

• Misuse can be reported via the EDI-R Advocate tool

Due to Microsoft's global policy changes, the University of Waterloo is required to significantly reduce Microsoft 365 cloud storage usage across campus. This change applies to all user groups, including employees, students, alumni, retirees, and generic accounts.

IST is enabling sensitivity labels in the Microsoft 365 environment. These labels will be required for all files stored in OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams, as well as all emails sent using Outlook.

All office phones, Skype phones and Skype for business will be eliminated effective March 31, 2025.

The University will decommissionWatSAFE, both the mobile app and desktop notifications, by the end of February 2025.