5 Best Practices for Managing Access to Microsoft Teams for Education

Navigating the digital world of higher education can be a bit like navigating a bustling campus during orientation week. There's so much going on, and everyone needs access to the right places. Microsoft Teams for Education has become a digital hub that brings educators, students alumni, and researchers together. But just as you wouldn't give every student a key to every building, it's crucial to manage who has access to what within Teams.

Let's dive into the best practices for managing students, faculty, alumni, researcher, and other access.

1. Understand Microsoft 365 Licenses vs. Guest Access vs. Shared Channels

Who gets Microsoft 365 Licenses:

• Actively enrolled students
• Permanent faculty members

Think of this as giving someone a full-access pass. Students and faculty get the complete Microsoft Teams for Education experience. From creating collaborative classrooms to participating in class teams, it's all available.

Who gets invited as Guest users:

• Alumni
• Guest lecturers
• Researchers/other institutions who require temporary access
• Small businesses that require temporary access

Ever had a guest lecturer or an alum who wanted to join a team for a short period? The Microsoft Teams Guest access feature is perfect. By inviting someone as a Guest to a team, you're giving them a peek into your classroom without handing over the full set of keys.

They can chat, call, and collaborate with Guests and other members of a team.

Who gets to participate in Shared Channels:

• Researchers and institutions who engage with your university regularly
• State and local Government
• Small businesses that engage with your university regularly
• Community organizations
• Economic development organizations

Shared Channels are a great way to collaborate with members outside of the faculty and student body. It requires trust between the two organizations and once established, can be configured in Azure AD B2B direct connect.

2. Empower Team Owners:

Just as you might trust a department head or student body leader with a key to a classroom, you can trust them as Team owners. These folks can add guests, remove members, and generally keep things in order. When configuring a Team you 'select more options', and you'll find settings allowing Team owners to manage their Teams.

But with great power comes great responsibility. Regularly remind them to review their guest access in Teams. Keeping an eye on who has access to what can prevent potential issues down the line.

Knowing that most IT departments in higher education institutions are already overwhelmed, asking them to configure reminders for Team Owners is a lot.

This is where Microsoft 365 management software can come in very handy. Apart from robust Guest user management features, they often come with automation and workflows. This automation can engage Team owners to periodically review Guests within the team.

What's more, Microsoft 365 management software like Orchestry can help you keep your environment more secure by engaging Team Owners to capture additional information about Guests.

3. Review and Audit Regularly:

Azure AD (Azure Active Directory) is like the admin's control center. From here, they can see a list of all Guests when they last accessed Teams, and what they accessed. Consider it a bit like taking attendance. If you see a Guest account that hasn't been active for a while, it might be time to bid them farewell.

If you ever had to review Azure AD admin center to find data, you probably know that it's a lot of effort and time. Identifying Guests who have been inactive for some time requires building and maintaining custom scripts.

Again, Microsoft 365 management software like Orchestry comes to the rescue. With comprehensive insights dashboards, getting the scoop on your Guests is a click of a button away.

4. Educate on the Guest Experience:

Guests in Teams have a slightly different experience than regular members. Once you 'select teams' and invite a guest to a team, it's good to let them know what to expect. For instance, their chats and files aren't accessible from their home institution or organization, ensuring privacy for your institution.

5. Sync It Up with School Data Sync:

Managing hundreds or thousands of users manually? That's no fun. Thankfully, the 'school data sync' feature ensures that student information and rosters from your school’s student information system are automatically populated into Teams. This way, as students come and go, they automatically get the access they need.

In Conclusion:

Microsoft Teams for Education is more than just a digital platform; it’s a bustling campus in its own right. And like any campus, it needs rules, security, and a bit of order.

By following these best practices, you can ensure that everyone from educators and students to alumni and guests gets the access they need, when they need it, without compromising the integrity of the learning environment. Whether you're adding guests for a one-time lecture or ensuring that team members have the right permissions, Teams offers flexibility without compromising on security.

So, to all the educators out there: with these practices in hand, you're ready to make your digital classroom as welcoming and secure as the physical one. Happy teaching!