Act 1: The Blackout Google Suites

Following the publication of The Cons of the Google Suite Removal, with the student unrest growing by the assignment, Good Counsel senior, Evan Brown, stated, “Please continue to voice your complaints to the technology department. Your opinions are being taken into consideration.”

On August 26th of 2024, the Good Counsel IT department (Good Counsel’s Office of Technology), decided to remove Google Suite applications from the app known as Self Service, and from Good Counsel students’ devices. Claiming this issue stemmed for years, The Good Counsel Office of Technology asked if students would use the web variations of these products to prevent the issues they deemed could be prevented. With the abrupt removal of these Google services, the IT department, formally addressing the Good Counsel community in an email, stated, “Please be patient with yourselves as you navigate this new workflow.” With the correction of some problems, and the creations of others, Good Counsel students had begun to complain of the system’s viability, and began to petition for a revert in their decision. As the decision held firm, students attempting to complete work for their classes would struggle due to these unoptimized platforms.

Act 2: The Google Suites Retrievement

With the unwavering devotion of Alison Igbaroola’s petition, and the student community’s voices concerning the faults in Google Web Services with Apple tablets, the Good Counsel IT Department restored both Google Slides and Google Docs to the Self Service application.

As of January 31st, 2025, the GC IT Department emailed all students, letting them know that Google Docs will return to Self Service. Student feedback had been so negative due to issues concerning glitches and the inability to view documents offline that they were persuaded to bring back Google Docs for students after the first semester.

Interviewing Good Counsel senior Ava Pitner, when asked “How were you affected by the removal of Google Docs” and “How do you feel that it’s back”, this is how she responded:

“It was really inconvenient because there are certain features that are more difficult to access in the browser than in the app. They both have their pros and cons, but at the end of the day it doesn’t work nearly as well as it used to. It’s certainly nice to have both options, though.” – Ava Pitner ‘25

Despite having the Google Docs application as a resource once more, it is still advised that you use the web browser version when dealing with issues such as Google Classroom assignments and teachers’ comments when work is returned.

Act 3: The Power of the Student Voice

This not only demonstrates that Good Counsel students can urge faculty and staff to listen to their claims when an issue presents itself—it also shows that faculty and staff are listening to the students for their input. This outcome serves as a reminder that whenever something in Good Counsel is unfair, distracting, or hindering to the student community, there may be merit to notifying staff of your feelings, problems, and struggles.