Skip to main content

Overview of Slack at Brown - Knowledgebase / Email and Collaboration / Slack / Slack Overview - OIT Service Center

Overview of Slack at Brown

Authors list

Slack at Brown is currently only available for use in Slack Course Workspaces. At this time we are not offering creation of separate workspaces, or migration of existing workspaces.

What is Slack?

Slack is a communication platform that allows groups of people to easily collaborate.

Members of the Brown community who already use Slack like that it:

  • Is conversational, less formal, and can be more fun than email
  • Has excellent integrations with Zoom, Google Calendar, Gmail, and Google Drive
  • Creates a running log of conversations for new team members to catch up on older conversations, and to search older topics
  • Provides organizational tools such as channels and threads for less clutter
  • Has highly customizable and schedulable notifications to avoid alert overload
  • Offers an excellent mobile app experience
Slack Help Center: What is Slack?

What is Slack at Brown?

Brown has an Enterprise Grid license for Slack. This means that we can connect multiple workspaces under a single organization.

With Slack at Brown:

  • You get Slack Pro features, such as unlimited message history and larger file sizes, without having to pay for a license.
  • You use Brown single sign-on to initially log in to all of your Slack at Brown workspaces instead of a separate username and password for each.
  • You can direct message (DM) any Slack at Brown user from any workspace, even if they are not a member of that workspace.
  • Through a Canvas integration, you can create course workspaces that students in your course can join without you having to invite them.
  • Your content will be more secure by using your Brown account, and people no longer at Brown will automatically lose access.
  • Legal and data privacy protections are provided that are not granted to free accounts.

Getting Started with Slack

Install and Set Up Slack

We recommend installing the Slack app on your computer as well as your mobile device for a better experience than on the web. Visit slack.com/downloads on the device you’d like to use to view download links for that device.

Participating in a Slack Workspace

Administering a Slack Workspace

List of Slack Articles

A full overview of our Slack documentation can be found below. Additionally, Slack’s own documentation can be found at the Slack Help Center.

Slack at Brown Overview

Articles for Slack Workspace Owners/Admins

Slack Course Workspaces Articles

Helpful Unhelpful

95 of 165 people found this page helpful

Send us a note about this article

Contact the OIT Service Center

Phone: 401-863-4357

Email: help@brown.edu

Location: Page Robinson Hall - 69 Brown St., Room 510

See our availability

https://it.brown.edu/get-help

Walk-ins Welcome! Appointments recommended.

For reserved service for a technical consult or a loaner check-out, you can schedule an appointment here.