Many students are nervous about this month’s transition from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365.  

After spending all their school careers using Google, several undergrads say they are concerned the new software will be confusing and that previous work will be lost after the transition, which is scheduled for Feb. 23. 

“It is awful and a waste of time to transition from Google to Microsoft,” said Samuel Tirado, a sophomore Construction Management major. “I have been using Google since I started here at PNW and having to use Microsoft during the semester can cause problems.”  

“I don’t expect the switch to go smoothly,” he said. 

Sophomore Nathan Witherspoon worries that students are being rushed to change. 

“Personally, I am comfortable with the system we’re using now,” said Witherspoon, a Construction Management and Engineering Technology major. “When I transitioned my files to Microsoft 365 in the past few months, the font I adjusted before appeared janky, wild and out of control. The size of the font letters would morph between huge and small sizes. There would be huge gaps between each sentence, making them unorganized.” 

The transition was announced last April as an effort to merge all the schools in the Purdue system onto a single technology platform. PNW is the last campus to make the move. Purdue Fort Wayne transitioned to Microsoft 365 last fall. 

PNW plans to transition more than 15,000 students, faculty and staff. 

“Platform consolidation to [Microsoft] 365 is focused on enhancing productivity, collaboration and security across all campuses,” said Robert Geswein, the Purdue system’s chief information security officer. “It will reduce complexity, both from the user and an administrative perspective, creating consistent customer and employee interactions.” 

“It will also enhance the University’s cybersecurity posture … leading to more effective, centralized security management against sophisticated threats,” he said.  

Despite the university-stated benefits, many students say they are frustrated by the move. 

“I have used Google for almost everything school related since elementary school,” said Isaiah Donald, a sophomore Finance major. “I use Google for everything and I know I’m not the only one. People will hate Microsoft … or struggle to use it. 

“My worst nightmare about the switch is that I fall behind in my assignments because I’m struggling to learn how to use a different program,” he said. “It will be implemented in February. That’s almost in the middle of the Spring semester. I do not want to have to learn how to use a different program when I’m trying to do my own learning for my degree.” 

Several students say they have struggled with other Microsoft products, like Authenticator, which the university is adopting as its two-step verification platform. 

“The switch to Microsoft has me feeling kind of worried …  because I am having problems with my account and the [Microsoft] Authenticator app,” said Mila Vargas, a sophomore Biology major. “I’m hoping the switch to Microsoft won’t be too much of an issue and [that] it doesn’t impact my semester.” 

“My experience with Microsoft has not been so positive,” she said. “I’ve had my Word documents and Excel sheets not save, and that has put me behind in assignments. I also find Microsoft to be not as user-friendly as Google, even sharing documents over Microsoft 365 is a hassle.”  

But even students who worry the transition will be bumpy are resigned to it. 

“I hate it, because I feel that it’s a burden,” said Leah Reese, a sophomore History major. “I imagine that majority of people will comply with it. And I think that other people will adjust.” 

Mariam Syed, Megan Curran and Alison Batts contributed to this report.