Faculty, staff and students at The Ohio State University and Wexner Medical Center can access secure versions of several Google Workspace and AI products, streamlining collaboration across the university and with other organizations and ensuring that Google does not save or share the information you enter.
University employees can use their university login to access secure versions of Google Gemini, Gemini Notebook and some Google Workspaces applications, including Google Drive™, Google Docs™, Google Sheets™, Google Slides™ and Google Takeout™.
AI Fluency Tools
In support of the AI Fluency initiative, you can use Google Gemini™ large language model and CLI and Google Gemini Notebook™ tools, which are related AI products that complement each other to help you complete various tasks.
- Gemini™ is a generative AI chat app that can be used to brainstorm ideas, draft or summarize writing, assist with research, and generate new text, images, audio, and video.
- Gemini Notebook™ is an AI-powered note-taking and research assistant that uses AI to answer inquiries using information you provide by uploading documents and PDFs. It is designed to help you organize data by creating summaries, questions, and audio overviews from your documents.
- Google CoLaboratory™ (CoLab) enables you to explore artificial intelligence and data science topics. CoLab is a free online platform that lets you write and run computer code right in your web browser—no setup required. Whether you're testing ideas, learning to code, or working on a project, Colab makes it easy to get started without installing anything on your computer.
Coming Soon: Workspace for Education Plus
As part of Ohio State's strategic partnership with Google, additional premium Workspace tools and capabilities will be available to the university community in future phases.
- Meet (1k people, 100k live-streaming), Vids, Forms, App Script, AppSheet
- Enhanced Gemini and Workspace Studio AI capabilities in Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Vids
- Triple storage quota from 15GB to 45GB
Available Tools
Google Slides
Cloud-based presentation tool that allows the creation and delivery of engaging slideshows from anywhere
Workspace Studio
Digital workspace powered by Gemini AI, where users can set up agents to automate everyday work
Coming Soon
Google Vids
An AI-powered video creation app used to create, write, produce, edit, collaborate, and share videos
Google Forms
Survey and quiz administration tool used to create, distribute, and analyze surveys, quizzes and registration forms in real time
Google AppSheet
Transform Google Workspace data into functional web and mobile applications without writing code, and operational workflows
Learn to Use Google Services
Review the training below to become more familiar with the basics of each Google tool.
- Build AI skills with Google and Coursera: Through a partnership with Google and Coursera, faculty, staff and students have access to tools and learning opportunities to support real-world AI use. Sign in with your Ohio State Google account to access these resources.
- Google AI Pro for Education: Unlock advanced features in Gemini and Gemini Notebook to enhance productivity and innovation. Please review the software request procedure and refer to all available offerings on OTDI’s Offerings webpage.
- Coursera Google AI Learning Paths: Explore structured courses that guide learners from foundational concepts to advanced applications in AI. Access Google AI courses by visiting the program portal, clicking the login button and signing in through the Google popup. Seats are limited.
Google Resources
- Free and Paid Versions of Gemini Comparison - Google maintains this side-by-side comparison of the features in the free and paid versions of Gemini.
- Get started with Google Workspace with Gemini - Google hosts a practical “getting started” and features overview guide so you can take advantage of generative AI inside Google Workspace tools.
- Learn about responses from Gemini Apps - Tips for using Gemini Apps responsibly.
- View related sources & double-check responses from Gemini Apps - Gemini Apps may provide links to sources and related content for you to dig deeper.
- What's New in Google for Education - Google Workspace and Gemini announcements that are updated monthly.
- Higher Ed Use Cases for Gemini and Gemini Notebook - Explore practical, ready-to-use AI prompt examples designed in partnership with educators around the world to help every member of your institution integrate Gemini.
For more free AI learning resources, visit the Learn to Use AI page on ai.osu.edu.
Get Help
If you have complex questions about what Google tools you should leverage for your use case, you can engage our Cloud Services Team during Google Office Hours. These sessions are held on Wednesday mornings as needed based on user requests.
You can also contact the IT Service Desk if you have trouble accessing or using the Google Productivity Tools.
Securing Your Google Environment
Data Protection and Security
If you are using Google’s free version of Gemini or Gemini Notebook, all your queries, prompts and conversations are saved for up to three years and used to train AI tools to make them better. That might be fine if you are looking for a good restaurant in the Short North, but if you are working on a thesis or using any other information that you would rather not share, a paid version of the product is necessary to protect your data.
Ohio State's secure Gemini and Gemini Notebook services not only protect your data but also enable you to access more powerful AI models with faster response time and to upload larger files for context. Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides are available to streamline collaboration with other organizations and institutions that use Google Suite products. By logging in with your Ohio State user name and password, your content gets an extra layer of protection provided by the university.
Approved Data for Google Tools
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I be using AI?
Should I?
New AI tools are released daily, and university technology teams evaluate these tools to ensure they are accessible, secure and effective. Faculty and staff should ensure they are logged in with their university credentials if they plan to enter institutional data that is above S1-classified data into an approved AI tool. Learn more about institutional data classifications as they relate to AI in the Security and Privacy Statement on Artificial Intelligence statement.
Students should use GenAI tools for coursework only with the explicit permission of each instructor, in the ways allowed by that instructor. For an overview of all available AI tools, visit Ohio State’s AI Tools webpage.
How do I choose between Google and Microsoft 365 tools?
Ohio State supports both Microsoft 365 and Google productivity tools. Choose the tools that best fit your work, your team and your collaborators, and follow the approved data guidance for whichever platform you use.
Can I use Gmail and Google Calendar instead of Outlook?
No, Microsoft Outlook remains the official email and calendaring platform for Ohio State.
What if I already have a Google account tied to your lastname.#@osu.edu email?
If you're already using Gemini or other Google services with your lastname.#@osu.edu email, you may not immediately have access to Ohio State’s Google Gemini/Gemini Notebook.
- Provisioning an official account may prevent you from accessing existing data in Gmail, Google Photos, and more.
- Back up any data you want to keep before requesting access—Ohio State cannot recover deleted content.
If your existing account contains no data you need, you can request access right away. Log into the Administrative Resource Center (ARC) to learn more about managed and unmanaged accounts.
In either of these cases, contact the IT Service Desk to submit a request for a Google Gemini/Gemini Notebook account.
Are there size limits with the Google tools?
- There is a 45GB limit on Drive and Docs.
How will this affect my personal Google account?
If you do not already have a Google account tied to your lastname.#@osu.edu email, we will automatically create one for you. To activate it, you will log in with your lastname.#@osu.edu and university password.
Use Chrome profiles or log out of your personal account to keep them separate.
Remember, you’ll only get Ohio State’s Google features and security when using your Ohio State login.
Can students use Gemini for coursework?
Students should use GenAI tools like Google Gemini for coursework only with the explicit permission of each instructor, in the ways allowed by that instructor. For an overview of all available AI tools, visit Ohio State’s AI Tools webpage.
Google has a free Gemini Pro student offer; should I use my Ohio State email to sign up?
No, your Ohio State address is provisioned for Ohio State Google Productivity Services, which protects your information and queries from being shared to train AI tools. If you would like to take advantage of the Google’s Gemini Pro student offer, we recommend that you sign up with a personal email address rather than your Ohio State email.
Can I use institutional data in Google applications?
Google Drive, Colab, Gemini Notebook, Gemini, Sheets, Docs, and Slides are collaborative tools designed to enable research in pursuit of the AI fluency initiative. As such, these services are approved for use with Research Data, Research Health Information, and FERPA data. Regulated data including (but not limited to) PCI, ITAR, CUI, and HIPAA are not approved for use with these services. If you have questions about the sensitivity of data you plan to use with these services, please email datagovernance@osu.edu. Ensuring that only approved data types are uploaded to Google services is the responsibility of the end-user of the service. External sharing of certain data types may be disabled if it is identified by our security platform, but customers are still required to validate all uploaded data is of an approved type. Please see the Google Drive Sharing Security Notifications article (login required) to see the user experience if external sharing is disabled.
I’m a user of the university's Google Marketing Platform. Can I access that with my new account?
If you use the Google Marketing Platform, your access may be impacted when your account is provisioned for Google Productivity Services, but it can be restored. This platform is managed by University Marketing, so OTDI’s service desk will be unable to assist you. Instead, contact Websupport@osu.edu for assistance.
Can we enable advanced sharing in Gemini Notebook?
No, advanced sharing is intentionally disabled by Google. This ensures that all documents in Gemini Notebook Enterprise stay securely within Ohio State's Google Cloud environment and are never shared externally or used to train AI models. It’s designed to give the university full control, compliance, and protection of its data.
Is there a way to upgrade to paid "Pro Accounts" for Google AI tools? Do we expect to make VEO 3 available?
We are discussing a process with Google to enable users to pay for upgrades via on-demand software.
Can we enable more advanced analytics tools?
Advanced analytics tools are only available with the Pro versions of Google tools. You can upgrade Gemini Notebook to get additional capabilities, including higher limits and more features through Google AI Pro, Google AI Ultra, Google Cloud , or a qualifying Google Workspace plan. We are discussing a process with Google to enable users to pay for upgrades via on-demand software.
What limits does Ohio State's plan include for Gemini and Gemini Notebook inquiries?
Google had documented Gemini Notebook limits as follows: you get 100 notebooks, each with up to 50 sources (up to 500K words each), and daily limits of 50 chat queries, 3 audio generations, and 3 video generations. Upgrading Gemini Notebook to Pro capabilities increases this to up to 500 notebooks, each with 300 sources, as well as 500 daily chat queries, 20 daily audio generations, and 20 daily video generations. Sharing a notebook does not change the source limit of 300 for any collaborator.
Gemini app limitations are more nuanced. Google may at times have to cap the number of prompts and conversations you can have within a specific timeframe. Your capacity replenishes regularly, so you can get back to chatting with Gemini Apps soon. The number of prompts you can use before hitting the limit varies and depends on factors like how long and complex your prompts are, the size and number of files you upload, and the length of your conversations with Gemini.
I noticed that when I use my university login in my chats in Gemini cannot be deleted, is this intentional?
The retention settings are managed at the organization level, so individual users don’t have the option to manually delete items. Content will automatically be removed once it reaches the end of the retention period.
Do these new services affect my Google Scholar access?
No, this will not impact your ability to access Google Scholar, the web search engine that indexes scholarly literature, including articles, theses, books, abstracts, and court opinions
What is AI Hallucination?
AI Hallucinations
AI "hallucination" is a term used when a Generative AI tool, like Gemini, generates information that is plausible sounding but factually incorrect or completely made up. It's not the same as a human hallucination. The AI isn't "seeing" or "imagining" things in a conscious way. AI's directive is to provide an answer, any answer, to make the user happy. And it will sound VERY confident in its inaccuracy. That is why you must take a Use but Verify approach with any AI generated content or answer. It is up to the user to verify the accuracy of the results. Gemini’s goal is to be helpful and provide a complete-sounding answer, but in doing so, it can sometimes confidently present a fabrication as a fact.
Using Approved Tools
New AI tools are released daily, and university technology teams evaluate these tools to ensure they are accessible, secure and effective. For an overview of all available AI tools, see Ohio State’s Approved AI Tools. Ohio State AI services may only be accessed through university-approved AI environments, including Ohio State Google, Ohio State AWS, Ohio State and Medical Center Microsoft 365, and Ohio State Claude.
Approved AI tools are provisioned by the university and should be accessed using your university credentials. Faculty and staff should ensure they are logged in with their university credentials to protect institutional data. Accessing or storing university data in personal or unapproved AI environments is not permitted, even if you signed up using your university email address.
University community members should not enter any institutional data that is categorized above the S1 (public) level into unvetted AI tools. Learn more about institutional data classifications as they relate to AI in the “Security and Privacy Statement on Artificial Intelligence.”
Students should use GenAI tools for coursework only with the explicit permission of each instructor, in the ways allowed by that instructor. For an overview of all available AI tools, see Ohio State’s Approved AI Tools.