A Google Group is an easy method to email groups of people. Sometimes it’s known as a mailing list or email alias. Google Groups offer a robust and functional system of managing our email aliases. It also provides more options in the way email aliases work, including more control, better visibility, and features for power users.
How do I create a new Google Group?
**NEW as of July 2021** Google Groups are created directly in Groups.
NOTE: When creating a new group, please note that the nomenclature of some Google groups is reserved for College use and your new group might be removed if a reserved term is used. You will receive an email notification, and will need to recreate your Google group.
The following group names are prohibited:
- Groups ending in what looks like a class or lab section.
- Groups ending in -student, -prof, -tas, -editors, -others, -majors, -conc, -emph,-lic, -program
- Groups ending in -building, -office, -dept, -committee, -division, -chairs, -faculty, -advisees, -forwarding
- Groups beginning with fax-
To create a new Google Group, please follow the steps below:
- Go to: groups.google.com
- In the upper-left corner, click Create Group:
How do I manage Google Groups?
There are two ways to access Google Groups:
Method #1: Go to: groups.google.com
Method #2: While logged into Google Workspace (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, etc. formerly G Suite), select the Google Apps icon > Groups:
How do I add people to a Google Group?
The method to add people is different, depending on the type of group:
User Managed Group
User managed are groups that people manually create and manage members. You have a couple options to add people to your group: Direct Add or Invite. We recommend the Direct Add method when adding St. Olaf users (Google might warn you to use the feature carefully). For how-to instructions, please visit the following link: https://support.google.com/groups/answer/2465464?hl=en
Course (or Class) Group
Course Professors can add names, typically to add TA and SI Leaders:
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Login to Account Services at go.stolaf.edu/account
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Under the section “Other Services” select the Manage Class Groups link
Major, Concentrate, Hall, or Building Group
These groups are system managed and moderated. If you need access to moderate this type of group, please speak with your manager and have them fill out this form
Class Year Group
Typically these are system managed. If you require access, please speak with the Dean of Students Office.
How do I setup and manage an Opt-In Google Group?
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After you’ve created a new group in Account Services, sign in to Google Groups.
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Select My Groups.
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Select a group from the list and click on Group Settings
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From the menu on the left, select Permissions > Basic Permissions. Under "General", change the following settings:
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Who can see group = Anyone on the Web
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Who can join group = Anyone on the Web can ask
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Who can post = Group managers
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Select Save Changes
Owner / Managers of Opt-In Groups - to Manage Join Requests:
Please visit this link for instructions: https://support.google.com/groups/answer/2465464?hl=en
How do I join an opt-in only group?
Please note that St. Olaf Extra is managed differently! To join or remove yourself from stolaf-extra, please visit go.stolaf.edu/account
For instructions on how to join an opt-in only Group please visit the following link: https://support.google.com/groups/answer/1067205?hl=en
How do I approve a post to a Moderated Group?
Owners and Managers of a Group can approve a message by following the steps in the link below:
https://support.google.com/groups/answer/2466386?hl=en
What are the different roles in Google Groups?
By default, Google Groups has 3 roles and each group can have multiple people in each role, which are described in the following link:
https://support.google.com/groups/answer/2464975?hl=en
Training?
To learn more about Google Groups (along with Google Drive, Team Drives, and FileStream), please watch our training video.
NOTE: if you are only interested in the Groups portion, please fast forward to 46:00
Sharing My Drive / Shared Drive
You can add a Google Group to a file or folder in your My Drive, or to a Shared Drive. For more information, please visit the following link:
https://support.google.com/a/answer/167101?hl=en
*Note – the link says “for G Suite Administrators,” however the information is correct and steps still apply. And yes, you can add people outside of the St. Olaf organization. However, they will only be able to access the Team Drive if they have a Gmail account.
Sharing Calendar Events
For occasional events, create a new event on your calendar. Add your Google Group as a Guest.
*NOTE* If you later add new members to your Google Group, you will need to edit the event(s) so that your new members are invited. To do this, open your event > remove the Google Group > Save > Open your event again > add your Google Group as a Guest.
For ongoing events, consider creating a Group calendar: https://support.google.com/a/answer/1626902?hl=en