Student Deletion Process

Our student deletion process is rather simple and generous with regards to the amount of time a student is given to tie up loose ends after they graduate from the university.  In the same respect, our students particularly the ones about to graduate can and should proactively use Google TakeOut to extract their data from their Google Apps for Education account.  The following two links lead to a couple of sample videos demonstrating how to extract data from a GAE account. This is particularly important if they want to take their data with them after they are no longer Augsburg University students. At the end of the extraction process, they will end up with a collection of folders that can be imported onto another Google account.  Ideally that account will be their Alumni account. With that being said, let’s commence explaining the deletion process.

Our student deletion process relies on one condition.  The student’s status in Agresso (our ERP) must be “Graduated” or “Withdrawn”. If that condition is not met, accounts will not enter the deletion process.  This doesn’t mean that students can’t use Google Takeout. To the contrary, students can use Google Takeout at any point during their university career. But now let’s get back to the deletion process after that condition has been met, a series of events or steps are to follow. 

Step 1

Four weeks after someone’s records in Agresso changes to Graduated or Withdrawn, the account enters the deletion process.

Step 2

A week after the last event and for eight consecutive weeks, an automated email message titled “Finalizing your Augsburg account” is sent to the account holder.  The body of the message contains the necessary information for the account holder to select from three possible options.

1. Expire Account (This option stops any subsequent automated email messages)
2. Hold (This option places the account on hold for up to six months from the time the account entered the deletion process).  Here is important to remember that the account is not placed on hold for up to six months from the time the student selected that option but rather from the time the account entered the process as stated earlier.
3. Migration (This option has a few steps of its own)
1. Email content is extracted from GAE account (Here is important to note that only email content is extracted nothing else).
2. Alumni email account is created using the following format firstname.lastname@alumni.augsburg.edu.  In this step the former student is given the opportunity to create a password to access that newly created account.
3. Webmail link on the Inside Augsburg page is redirected from Augsburg.edu domain to Alumni.edu domain.  This means that when former students clicks on the Webmail link on the Inside Augsburg page, the links leads them to their newly created Alumni email account.  There are a few important things to consider in this sub step of the deletion process. First, the assumption is that the former student selecting the Migration option has already extracted all desired data from their former GAE account.  This is particularly important because of the fact that once the Alumni email account is created, the webmail link no longer points to the former GAE account but rather the newly created Alumni email account.  It is highly recommended that students about to graduate, extract their desired data from their GAE accounts before migrating to an Alumni email account. Second, a bounce back message is put in place notifying email senders that there is a new email account for the former student.  This feature is not permanent but rather temporary. Third, a forwarding feature is put in place so emails received to the former GAE account are forward to the newly created Alumni email account. This forwarding feature is also temporary in nature. It is the former student’s responsibility to not only extract any desired data but also notify their contacts of the change of email address.

Step 3

A week after no action has been taken after all the eight automated messages have been sent and received or six months hold has expired or the migration option has been set in motion, the GAE account is “Disabled”.

Step 4

A week after “Disabled” status has been set, the account is “Deleted”

Keywords: (Delete, Disable, Graduated, Withdrawn)

go.augsburg.edu/studelete

Last Modified: 5/13/2019