Microsoft Copilot Chat is the university-supported AI chat experience available through Microsoft 365 at Illinois. It provides conversational AI capabilities with enterprise data protection, allowing faculty, staff, and students to work with university information within approved environments.
Get Started: Access via Microsoft 365
Sign in with your University of Illinois account (NetID/SSO) to access the secure, institutionally managed version of Copilot Chat.
Type: Conversation-Based Generative AI
Cost: Included with eligible Microsoft 365 licenses
Status: Approved for Faculty, Staff, and Students
Approved Data Types: Public, Internal, Sensitive
What You Get with Copilot
Copilot Chat includes enterprise protections and integrates directly with Microsoft 365 tools:
- Enterprise data protection (EDP) for university use
- No training on your data within the institutional environment
- Integration with Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams)
- Secure chat grounded in web and organizational context
- Supports drafting, summarizing, and analysis tasks
- Streamlined workflows within tools you already use
If you are already working in Microsoft 365, Copilot Chat provides a secure and integrated way to use AI without switching platforms.
Training & Support
Illinois offers training and resources to help faculty, staff, and students use Copilot Chat effectively and responsibly.
Vendor-Provided Training
- Microsoft Copilot Learning Hub
- Microsoft Learn – Copilot Overview and Use Cases
- Copilot for Microsoft 365: Prompting and Productivity
- Explore Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat Training
LinkedIn Learning
Data Security
Copilot Chat is approved for use with Public, Internal, and Sensitive data when used within the Illinois-managed Microsoft 365 environment.
- Enterprise data protection ensures prompts and responses are not used to train AI models
- Do not use unapproved integrations or third-party add-ons
- Visit the Security, Privacy, and Accessibility page for more guidance