Shared Google Inboxes

A Shared Inbox is an inbox with a dedicated account address - think "dining-services@umd.edu" - that isn't tied to a single individual, but is its own address. It's like a P.O. Box for gmail. A shared inbox address is "delegated" to individuals who have access to it, who can then send and receive mail as the dedicated address instead of their own. 

Request a Google shared account

Provide access to existing Google shared account

Google groups

With a Google Group, everyone receives a copy of each message sent to that address, in their own inboxes; similar to reflectors or listservs that have a smaller number of members. 

Getting started with Google groups

Google shared drives

Google Shared Drives are a useful option for shared storage cloud spaces. Since there is no individual owner of shared drives, the drive persists even if someone leaves the University. These are good options for research labs and Staff/Faculty projects, as long as they comply with the Campus data sensitivity standards. You can read more about Google Shared Drives at this Google shared drive overview.

Gmail mail delegate

Delegating your UMD Gmail account is useful for when someone needs to grant access to their UMD Gmail inbox to another person. For example, the Chair of a department may delegate access to their inbox to their Faculty Assistant for when they're on Sabbatical, or for scheduling and administrative purposes. This differs from a Shared Inbox in that it is a direct delegation from one user to another, instead of a shared inbox. 

Delegates and permissions in Google email and calendar