WFU G SUITE FOR EDUCATION

  1. Introduction
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Common WFU Vocabulary
  4. WFU Laptops
  5. Networking
  6. Classroom Multimedia
  7. Printing
  8. Safety & Security
  9. WFU Google Suite for Education
  10. WFU Software & Services
  11. Additional Resources
  12. Getting Help & Self Directed Learning

Browsers & Mobile

WFU officially supports Google Chrome browser and it is installed on all WFU laptops. You will usually get the best results with WFU-provided tools in Google Chrome on the laptops. We also provide support for Firefox.

With a small number of exceptions, the proprietary browsers (Safari, IE, Edge) are generally not supported at WFU.

Mobile devices are supported on a best-effort basis by the University.

Google Apps for Education

We are a Google school. Web-based Google services provide our officially supported email, calendar solutions, and contact tools. Our Google accounts are under the Apps for Education, the paid version of Google that is more secure and FERPA compliant. Signing into any Google Login page with your WFU email and password logs you into your WFU Google Account.

To get started, go to any Google product page (Google Search, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, etc) and sign in with your WFU credentials.

Gmail

The web interface in Google Chrome is the preferred method of accessing WFU email. Google also has apps for both Android and Apple mobile devices

Google Calendar icon

Calendar

The web interface in Google Chrome is the preferred method of accessing the WFU calendar. Google also has apps for both Android and Apple mobile devices.

By default, our Google Calendars are searchable and viewable by other WFU accounts. However, other WFU accounts only see Free/Busy. Other WFU users cannot see details without you explicitly changing settings or granting individuals access.

Google Drive

WFU Google Drive provides unlimited cloud storage for files. It allows you to store, share, backup & synchronize, and work collaboratively with other Google users.  Google also provides real-time, collaborative, cloud-based productivity tools with Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Forms, Google Drawings, and more.

Shared Drives (Previously Team Drives)

Shared Drives are a special kind of Google Drive meant for a team or group. Everyone who is a member of the Shared Drive has the same level of access and ownership of everything in the Drive.

Google Groups

Google Groups is a free Google service that provides an easy way to email and share content utilizing a single email address.

A Google Group is automatically created for each class section each semester. You can use it to email all of your registered students directly from your WFU Gmail.  For a more detailed explanation of how Google Groups are utilized within your class check out the Google Groups for Classes FAQ.  You can also use the group to give all members the same level of access to Google collaborative tools. WFU class Google Groups are formatted like this:

ITG-999-B-FA-2022@gg.wfu.edu
Dept-CourseNumber-Section-SemesterCode-4digitYear@gg.wfu.edu

Google Meet

Google Meet (formerly Google Hangouts) is a virtual meeting/video conferencing platform.  Integrates fully with your Google workspace.  You can access Google Meet through the app launcher.

Personal Google Accounts

We strongly suggest that you do not use your personal Google account (something@gmail.com) for WFU business. Free accounts from Google are scanned data mined by Google and are not FERPA compliant.

You are allowed to access your personal accounts on your WFU laptop. You can sign into multiple Google accounts in Google Chrome.

The one caveat: the first Google account you sign into is considered the Primary account for the browser session. Any other Google accounts you sign into are “Secondary”. You want the WFU account to be Primary. Some services that rely on the Google sign only see the Primary account and not any Secondary sign-ins. You will occasionally run into trouble accessing services that are linked to your WFU Google account if a non-WFU account is signed in as the Primary account in the browser. If a non-WFU Google account is Primary, sign completely out of all Google accounts. Then sign in to your WFU Google account first.