Overview
Sacred Heart University offers two options for Microsoft's Copilot applications.
Note: Review the university policy which outlines expectations for ethical use, data privacy, and compliance: AI Acceptable Use policy.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
Copilot Chat is a secure, AI-powered conversational assistant that helps users research information, generate content, summarize text, brainstorm ideas, answer questions, and improve productivity through natural language interactions. Users can engage with Copilot Chat to draft emails and documents, analyze information, create summaries, and receive guidance on work-related tasks. Copilot Chat combines generative AI capabilities with enterprise-grade security and can incorporate web information and organizational data that users are authorized to access. It is accessible through the Microsoft 365 environment and provides a simple, chat-based experience for everyday work. This version is free to all users at Sacred Heart University with their Office 365 license.
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Copilot is a secure, AI-powered conversational assistant that helps users research information, generate content, summarize text, brainstorm ideas, answer questions, and improve productivity through natural language interactions. In addition to web searches, it will also reason across organizational information such as files, emails, meetings and chats and provides deeper Copilot capabilities inside Microsoft 365 applications. This version requires a paid license with departmental supervisor approval.
Visit Special License Requests for more details on how to acquire this type of license.
Difference between Copilot Chat and Copilot
| |
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (free to SHU users) |
Microsoft 365 Copilot (paid special license) |
| What it is |
Secure, general-purpose AI chat for work |
A more deeply integrated AI assistant for Microsoft 365 |
| Primary grounding |
Primarily the web plus information the user explicitly provides |
Web + organizational/work data the user has permission to access |
| Examples |
Research a topic, brainstorm, draft content, summarize an uploaded file, generate ideas |
Summarize meetings, work with emails/chats/files, analyze organizational information, create or edit content in Microsoft 365 apps |
| Microsoft 365 integration |
Available in the Microsoft 365 Copilot experience and alongside some apps; can work with explicitly supplied/open content in supported scenarios |
Deeply integrated with Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Microsoft Graph |
| Licensing |
Available to eligible Microsoft 365 work/education users without the Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on license |
Requires the Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on license |
| Data protection |
Enterprise data protection |
Enterprise data protection plus access to permitted organizational data |
How to Access
Who is eligible?
All active university users (faculty, adjuncts, staff and students) with a SHU network account have access to Copilot Chat.
Individual users with approved requests for a special license have access to Copilot. To request a license, please visit Special License Requests.
How do I access it?
To access Copilot Chat:
- Visit Microsoft Copilot
- Click Sign In on the top right
- Enter your full SHU email and password to authenticate
To access Copilot, once your license has been provisioned by IT, follow these steps:
You will notice your user information on the lower left hand side noting the Microsoft 365 Copilot (Premium) license. Copilot can also be used within Microsoft applications by clicking on the icons below within the application itself.
Need Assistance?
Contact the PioTech Center
For technical support with access or to report an issue, contact the PioTech Center.
Visit PioTech Training
To access self-help resources or to sign up for training, visit PioTech Training.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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How do I acquire a license for Copilot?
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Is it safe to use Copilot?
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Yes, Copilot inherits the existing Microsoft 365 security, privacy, identity, and compliance policies.