Office 365 Upgrade FAQ
Summary
Over the summer of 2022, Pima college began a migration from Microsoft Office Professional 2016 to Microsoft Office 365. This upgrade included all college systems, including administrative and academic, and was done on both Windows and Mac systems.
Below are some common questions related to this transition. If you have questions not addressed in this document, please create an IT Support ticket in TeamDynamix.
Questions
When did the change occur?
During the summer of 2022, in a phased approach.
Why did the change occur?
This change was made for many reasons, most notably because Office Professional 2016 was no longer in mainstream support and Office 365 is a perpetually updated version that will not require future major version upgrades. If we wanted to continue using supported software, we needed to upgrade; if we stayed with Microsoft Office Professional, the upgrade version would have been 2019.
We decided instead to move to Office 365, for numerous reasons. One significant reason was the benefit of not having to do mass upgrades across the college every few years. Another was the fact that Office 365 receives perpetual updates and upgrades so we are always on the latest version of the product—and it is always supported.
We did not move to Office 365 before this time because we first had to configure our staff and student accounts to synchronize with Office 365 online, as that is a prerequisite for deploying Office 365.
Does that mean I already have a College-related Office 365 account?
Yes. If you are an active employee or active student, you can go to Office.com and sign in with your Pima email address and the same password you use for MyPima. After doing that, you can use the Office applications online and download Office applications to a personal device, so long as you are on an active contract or are an actively enrolled student.
What if I am neither on an active contract nor an actively enrolled student?
If that is the case, you’ve been assigned an O365 A1 license. With that type of license, you can continue to use the Office applications on the web but not activate downloaded copies of Office 365. If you had already downloaded copies of Office 365 to personal devices prior to the college's upgrade to Office 365 in the summer of 2022, they will no longer function. If your status changes in the future, your license will automatically be upgraded and those limitations removed.
What happens if I leave the College entirely?
If that happens, your College-related Office 365 account is disabled and your access to the applications, both online and downloaded versions, is revoked. Any data you have stored in that account also becomes inaccessible.
Why was I prompted for additional information when I first signed in to Office.com?
A functioning account requires secondary recovery information for each user, including a backup email address and phone number. That phone number is used as part of the multi-factor authentication—when you sign in, it sends a text message to your phone to confirm it’s you who is signing in. You confirm that by entering the code contained in the text message. After you enter the code, you can continue the sign-in process.
How do I download and install Office 365 to my personal device?
Note: This process applies only to personal devices. Neither students nor staff should violate security policies by attempting this on college-owned devices; the upgrade was performed by authorized IT staff who have the requisite administrator privileges.
To download and install Office 365 on your personal device:
- Navigate to Office.com.
- Click Sign In, and then enter your Pima email address and password.
Note: The first time you sign in, you should be prompted to confirm or supply an alternate phone number and email address, as described earlier.
- In the upper right corner, click the Install Office button like the one shown here.
- Follow the on-screen guidance to download and install Office 365 applications on your personal device.
- After installation completes, activate Office the first time you run any of the applications by signing in with your Pima email address and password. See the next question.
How do I activate my downloaded copy of Office 365 on my personal device?
The screen you see for activation varies depending on your device. The example shown below is for a Windows PC, where the user downloaded and installed Office 365, and then opened Word. It prompts for the email address during the activation process.
When prompted, enter your Pima email address and then click Next. Follow subsequent dialog box prompts for logging into Office.com, which should result in the copy of Office being activated.
I already had a downloaded copy of Office 365 on my personal device. Do I need to reinstall or reactivate it?
We have seen instances where employees and students could not activate the previously installed copy of Office 365 on their personal device. In these cases, uninstalling and reinstalling resolved the issue. When reinstalling, be sure to sign in to Office.com on the web using your Pima credentials (you may need to first sign out of a personal account) and then use the Install Office button to ensure you’re installing the version corresponding to your College-related account.
How many activations of Office 365 am I allowed?
Pima Community College’s education licensing contract with Microsoft for Office 365 permits five total activations on up to five separate devices. Depending on the number of college-owned devices provided to you (usually one or two devices), you may activate Office 365 on three or four personal devices.
Will I need to activate Office 365 on classroom or instructor station PCs?
Yes. Classroom computers, instructor stations, computer commons, library PCs, assessment computers, and other front-facing education PCs are set up with a multi-user shared license. While this multi-user license does not count towards the 5 device activation limit, Office 365 will still need to be activated the first time.
Where can I manage my Office 365 activations?
- After you sign in, click Install Office and then click Other Install Options as shown here:
- After the My Account page opens, click View Apps and Devices.
- On the Apps & devices page, click the down arrow next to Devices to expand the list of activated Office 365 installations.
- As necessary, click Sign Out for the devices on which you no longer need Office 365 to be activated.
Was Microsoft Access included with Office 365?
The default installation of Office 365 did not include Access (Microsoft's database management system). We asked that if your job role/function requires Access, you submit a Software Request ticket to ask that Access be deployed to your system. Many of our Access users have already done that. Note: Access is a Windows-only product; it does not run on Apple devices.
Do I have access to OneDrive?
While OneDrive is included with Office 365, do not store College data in it. Instead, store files in the College-approved cloud storage service: Google Drive.
What should I do if I have issues logging in or accessing my applications and data?
If you have any problems or encounter any error messages, create an IT Support ticket in TeamDynamix.