RM Unify Group Sync - what happens to groups at the end of the year rollover

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RM Unify Group Sync - what happens to groups at the end of the year rollover
Published Date : 13 Jul 2017 Last Updated : 14 Sep 2023 Content Ref: TEC5786546

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Summary	Explains how RM Unify manages MIS groups, which are synced to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, at the end of an academic year.

Cause

RM Unify Group Sync is included as part of the RM Unify Premium subscription. It is intended to take away some of the pain of having to create and maintain hundreds of groups and classes and their membership in your school's Microsoft® 365™ or Google Workspace domain.

Any improvement suggestions for RM Unify Group Sync can be made via the 'Ideas' link in the RM Unify Help page, found on the top taskbar (the '?' icon) when logged on to RM Unify.

Procedure

Important note: RM Unify never deletes groups or classes from Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, unless an RM Unify user with admin rights explicitly chooses to do so manually from the RM Unify Management Console.

	Year groups	Registration groups	Teaching groups
What will happen to my Microsoft 365 Groups after end of year rollover?	The same group stays active in Microsoft 365. Therefore last year's content (OneDrive, Calendar, conversations) are still available. Old students are removed as members. New students are added as members. There is no change in group owner(s), as RM Unify does not receive records of any teachers for the year group. There is no change to the group name.	If the same registration group code is used for the new academic year: The group will stay active with previous content. Old students are removed as members, if they have left the registration group in the MIS. New students to the group are added as members. There is no change in group owner(s), as RM Unify does not receive records of any teachers for the registration group. There is no change to the group name. If new registration group codes are used for the new academic year: A new group is created. New students are added as members. The old group is not deleted, but student memberships are removed. Teachers are only removed as owners of the group if they have left the MIS, otherwise they remain able to access the content.	Each year, new teaching groups are created that are separate to those in use the previous year. This is because the MIS assigns a new ID to each class, every academic year. A new group is created with the new students added as members and registered teaching staff added as owners. Any equivalent group for the previous academic year is not deleted, but student memberships are removed. Teachers are only removed as owners of the group if they have left the MIS, otherwise they remain able to access.
What will happen to my Microsoft 365 classes at end of year rollover?	As per Microsoft 365 Groups.	As per Microsoft 365 Groups.	As per Microsoft 365 Groups.
What will happen to my Google Classroom classes at end of year rollover?	As per Microsoft 365 Groups.	As per Microsoft 365 Groups.	As per Microsoft 365 Groups except: Any equivalent class for the previous academic year is not deleted, but student and teacher memberships are removed.
What if you want to clear down last year's content from the group/class and start afresh this year?	You can delete the group/class for the previous academic year and create again from the RM Unify Management Console, Groups page. The content from the old group/class will not be recoverable unless you choose to manually copy the class first and archive the copy. See below*	As per year groups.	Not applicable - it creates a new group/class every academic year.

*Can I archive a Google class before manually deleting it?

RM Unify deletes and does not archive classes. When you select to manually delete a class from the RM Unify Management Console, RM Unify will delete the Google class even if you have chosen to archive or rename the class directly in Google. This is because RM Unify uses the unique ID of the class to find and delete it, rather than its current status or class name in Google.

If you want to retain an archived copy of the class prior to manual deletion, please use the following:

In Google Classroom, locate the class and click the three 'ellipsis' to open the menu.
Select Copy, provide a suitable class name, e.g. Year 7 [2021] Archive and select Copy to complete the process.
On the copied class, click the three 'ellipsis' and select Archive, read the information and select Archive to complete the process. The archived copy will be removed from the Classroom view - all archived classes can be viewed from the main menu.
In RM Unify Management Console, select to delete the original class.

Will the Microsoft 365 group name and/or primary email address update each year?

The Name and the Groupid (email address) of the RM Unify group contain the year it was created, e.g. [2021]. When the next academic year begins, these groups' names and email addresses do not automatically update to contain the current year, e.g. [2022].

It is possible, however, for a group owner or administrator to change the group name and/or primary email address directly in Microsoft 365 via Windows® PowerShell®. However, there is no write-back feature to RM Unify, so the group will retain its original name and email address when viewed in the RM Unify Management Console.

Future membership and group changes will continue to sync from RM Unify to Microsoft 365, but none will revert the group name or email address to their original value.

I have class teams created from my Microsoft 365 Groups, what will happen to them?

Your existing class teams will remain unchanged, will not automatically update and will need to be refreshed for the new intake of students, class and group memberships, etc. To benefit from dynamic class teams membership, move to using RM Unify Group Sync for Microsoft 365 Classes and create new class teams based on those classes.

More Information

Any improvement suggestions for RM Unify MIS Group Sync can be made via the 'Ideas' link in the RM Unify Help page, found on the top taskbar (the '?' icon) when logged on to RM Unify.