Office 365 Guidelines

I. Introduction

This document provides structure and governance for the Microsoft Office 365 Team Sites, an online version of SharePoint that provides robust collaboration features. The Office of Technology Services (OTS) administers the Microsoft Office 365 services for the University and these gidelines addresses the roles, responsibilities, and intent of OTS in managing Sites as a service offered to the University.

II. Definitions

The following terms are used throughout this guidelines.

Site Collection	A collection of Team Sites that share a common administrator and site settings. Site collections allow you to share content types, site columns, templates, and Web Parts within a group of sites.
Team Site	A Team Site is a private Web site that provides central storage and collaboration space for documents, information, and ideas.
OneDrive for Business	An individual document repository that can be used to store, share, and collaborate on documents.
Site Templates	A pre-built set of features designed around a particular business need, such as Team Site, Blog Site, and Document Center.
Site Administrator	A user or group of users delegated the administrative tasks for creating and maintaining a Team Site and their users.
Sensitive Information/Personally Identifiable Information (PII)	This information is considered private and should be guarded from disclosure; disclosure of the information may contribute to financial fraud or violate state and/or federal law.
Quota Space	The amount of storage space that a user's OneDrive for Business area or site collection is allowed. Quota space cannot be managed at a Team Site level.

III. Statement of Guidelines

A. Types of Sites

Departmental Sites

Departmental Sites are private websites that provide central storage, collaboration spaces, and workflow opportunities. One Site Collection may be created per University departmental unit. A primary Site administrator as well as a secondary administrator will be designated within each requesting unit. Any requests to create additional sub-Sites within that department will be referred to the primary administrator for that department. Active Directory security groups will govern the initial permissions for these Sites, and these sites will use the /sites URL path.

Team Project Sites

Team Project Sites are sites used for special team projects or committees that fall outside the scope of any individual department. A primary and secondary Site administrator will be designated. Any requests to create additional Sites for breakout groups or subcommittees will be deferred to the Site Administrator. Active Directory security groups may govern the permissions for these Sites, or the primary administrator may alternately choose to assign the permissions independent of OTS. These sites will use the /sites URL path.

Academic Collaboration Sites

Faculty may request Academic Collaboration Sites to facilitate student group work across a major project or capstone. Faculty may also request Academic Collaboration Sites when working with colleagues on a research-based initiative. Requests for and Site Collection administration of these types of Sites will be initially be governed by OTS initially and will transition to the Office of Academic Affairs at a later date. These sites will use the /team URL path.

B. Site Collections and Ownership

A Site Collection has been established for Site Type. The table below illustrates the governing body for each site. The Site Administrator assigned to each site Collection will review and approve any requests for a new Site to be added to that particular Site Collection.

Site Collection Type	Site Governance	Site URL Path
Departmental Sites	OTS	/sites
Team Project Sites	OTS	/sites
Academic Collaboration Sites	OTS	/team
My Sites	Individual	/personal

C. Requesting Sites

My Sites are provisioned automatically when user accounts are created in the Office 365 system. Anyone requesting a Departmental, Project, or Academic Collaboration site should complete the web form at the link below. All new Sites will be given 10GB quota space as the default. **Once a Site is created, its URL cannot be changed. Team Site Request Form

D. Site Approval

Requestors shall be notified within 7 business days of the request to have a Site created. Considerations into the Site approval process include but are not limited to: jurisdiction of the request, overlap and/or conflict with similar technologies currently in use, duplicate requests, or denial by the Site Administrator of a Departmental Collection.

E. Site Administration

Each Site Collection will have a named primary Site Collection Administrator as well as a secondary named Site Collection Administrator. Each Site will have a named primary Site Administrator as well as a secondary named Site Administrator. Administrators will be charged with attending any mandatory training and/or reading any supplementary training materials provided by OTS or by another qualified Site Administrator. The primary administrator will have the option to have OTS manage the user permissions through Active directory security groups, identical to the security and permission process for the R: drive. The Site Administrator may alternately choose to manage the site permissions solely through the Site permissions interface. Site Administration will include, but is not limited to:

Creating sub-Sites inside the hierarchy.
Assigning user permissions to Sites and sub-Sites.
Removing user permissions from Sites when access is no longer needed or warranted.
Ensuring information stored on the site confirms to the University’s policies identified in section G of this document.

F. Site De-Provisioning

OTS will run periodic reviews of the Sites in Office 365 for latest activity. Sites will be classified as stale after 12 months of user inactivity, and OTS will email the primary site administrator to determine if the Site is still in use. If the Site is found to be no longer needed, it will be deleted. Sites will be deleted automatically after 18 months of inactivity.

G. Content

All content within the Office 365 Sites tool at the University must abide by all of the policies referenced below, including the University’s Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources Policy.

USM Institutional Information Technology Policy:
https://www.usmd.edu/regents/bylaws/SectionX/X100.html

University of Baltimore Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources Policy:
https://www.ubalt.edu/policies/administrative/III-A.pdf

University of Baltimore Data Management Policy:
https://www.ubalt.edu/policies/administrative/III-3.1.pdf

University of Baltimore Cloud Storage Security Guideline:
UBalt Cloud Storage Guideline

H. Monitoring and Security

Security Vulnerabilities
The Office 365 environment will be subject to periodic vulnerability scans for protection against known or potential information security threats, and Site Administrators will be notified if any changes or updates are required. OTS reserves the right to access system logs, account directories, site content, and other records to investigate and/or resolve system problems.

Resolving Incidents
If a Site or Site Collection is found to be in violation of a stated policy, guidelines or presenting a security threat, OTS may take one or more of the following actions, in consultation with the administrator or owner, unit leadership, and campus leadership (as appropriate), depending on the nature and severity of the problem, as well as the time estimated for the site administrators to correct it:

Disable dangerous files by altering permissions, moving, or renaming them
Terminate all access and processes
Disable the site
Remove administrative access (e.g. when compromise is suspected)

I. Support

OTS Provided Support
OTS is responsible for providing support for the Office 365 core services and connectivity to all of the off premises servers. OTS does not currently offer design, development, or plugin support for the Office 365 Sites tool.

Backups
OTS does not provide or facilitate backup of O365 content. Deleted items are available via the self-service Recycling Bin for Site Collection Administrators for up to 90 days. It is the Site owners' responsibility to verify that Version History is activated on their Libraries for quick item restore.

Office 365 Team Sites Guidelines