Academics

ANGEL group space will be ending in 2017; alternatives now available

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Faculty, staff and students who use ANGEL groups for collaborative or storage space will need to find an alternative by Nov. 1, 2017. This change is tied to the transition from ANGEL to Canvas as the University's learning management system.

No new ANGEL groups can be created after June 30, 2017. Access to all ANGEL groups will end on Oct. 31, 2017.

Available alternatives

Box, Yammer, Sites at Penn State, and Qualtrics are four alternatives that ANGEL group users should consider as a replacement. Each offers varying capabilities as far as file storage, sharing and collaboration, and surveys:

  • Box: file storage; file and note sharing; collaboration (including collaborative note editing via Box Notes and Microsoft Office Online)
  • Yammer: file storage; group conversations in activity streams; file and note sharing; collaborative note editing; polling
  • Sites at Penn State: file storage; content sharing and collaboration (including blogs and web pages)
  • Qualtrics: surveys and polling

IT Training Services has developed a table comparing these four alternatives to help users see what will work best for them.

View a full list of resources and training available for each alternative.

Users who need help moving content from their ANGEL groups to any of these alternatives can find directions on extracting files in the Bulk Extraction of Files from an ANGEL Group knowledge base article.

Meeting minutes

Official copies of meeting minutes representing University business should be transferred to the University Archives, per requirements outlined in University Policy AD35. This transfer can be accomplished most effectively by uploading copies of the minutes to Box and sending a link to the Box contents to the University Archives.

Future option in Canvas

The Canvas project team is working to create space in Canvas that will be comparable to ANGEL group space for academic purposes such as study groups and co-curricular activities. This alternative is targeted for completion by June 30, 2017.

Contact the IT Service Desk with any questions.

Last Updated December 6, 2016