M365 Licence Request Reasons

When requesting Microsoft 365 (M365) licenses at the University of Waterloo, it’s important to know the type of identity being sponsored.

Each identity needs three things:

• A department affiliation

• A sponsor (person vouching for it)

• A reason for the request

Here’s a simple guide to each sponsor type and when to use them:

M365 Access Before New Hire Start

Use this when a new hire needs access before they officially appear in Workday (HR system).
Valid for: Up to 180 days

Affiliated Person

Use this when you're requesting a licence for someone who works with the university but isn’t an employee or student (e.g., a contractor, collaborator, or visiting scholar).
Grants access to:
Valid for: Up to 1 year, and can be renewed

Generic/Service Account

Use this when you’re requesting a licence for a shared identity for a department, role, or position — not a real person (e.g., “ITS Helpdesk”). Or when you’re requesting a licence for an account for a system, tool, or automated process (e.g., backup jobs, email bots).
Valid for: Up to 1 year, and can be renewed

Upgrade M365 Licence Access To Previously Provided Access

Use this when the identity already has an existing M365 licence based on role (eg, Retiree with A0) but requires a higher level licence to access more M365 resources (eg: OneDrive, Office 365 apps, etc).
Valid for: Up to 1 year, and can be renewed

Shared Mailbox Creation

Use this when you’re wanting to convert a standard user account into a shared mailbox.
Sets expiry date to 2 weeks. Licences are not required for shared mailboxes, but is required to convert it.

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