Introduction
Microsoft 365 Copilot is an advanced add-on to standard Columbia College Microsoft licensing. It delivers embedded, context-aware AI assistance directly within Microsoft 365 apps to streamline administrative workflows, automate routine tasks, analyze complex data sets, and elevate productivity.
Applies to: Faculty Staff
Overview
Primary Use Cases
Staff and faculty can leverage Microsoft 365 Copilot across various day-to-day administrative and academic workflows:
●Automating Routine Tasks: Quickly schedule meetings by finding open slots, organize documents into structured folders, and draft recurring monthly performance reports.
●Enhancing Team Coordination: Build event agendas, manage multi-department communications, track RSVPs, and create automated deadline reminders.
●Data Analysis & Insights: Summarize complex data sheets, identify underlying patterns, generate visual charts, and produce actionable summaries to inform strategic decisions.
●Direct Inquiries & Commands: Ask natural language questions (e.g., "How do I create a pivot table?") or issue direct commands (e.g., "Summarize last month's project milestones into three bullet points").
Application Integrations
Using Copilot in Microsoft 365 Apps
1 Outlook — Email & Calendar Management
Automate your inbox workflows, draft replies, and summarize lengthy conversations.
●Thread Summarization: Open any long email chain and select Summarize to quickly review key points and action items.
●Draft Coaching: Prompt Copilot to draft professional replies or adjust tone and clarity.
●Meeting Scheduling: Ask Copilot to find mutually available times across attendees and compose invitations.
2 Teams — Collaboration & Meeting Intelligence
Facilitate real-time collaboration and capture meeting insights effortlessly.
●Meeting Recaps: Generate comprehensive summaries of entire meetings, including decisions made and assigned action items.
●Catch-Up Support: If joining late, ask Copilot to summarize what was discussed before you arrived.
●Chat Synthesis: Summarize multi-day team chat conversations to surface unresolved questions.
3 Word — Document Drafting & Editing
Transform ideas into complete drafts, create reusable templates, and refine written materials.
●Draft Creation: Generate initial drafts of memos, reports, outlines, or proposals based on simple prompts or existing files.
●Rewriting & Formatting: Rephrase text for clarity, adjust formality, or convert text into structured tables.
4 Excel — Data Analysis & Formulas
Explore data sets, generate formula columns, and highlight trends without complex manual setup.
●Data Insights: Prompt Copilot to analyze data in tables and highlight top trends, anomalies, or correlations.
●Formula Generation: Ask Copilot to create complex formulas (e.g., nested IF statements, XLOOKUP) using plain language descriptions.
5 PowerPoint — Presentation Design
Build presentations from existing Word documents or outline prompts with custom slide layouts.
●Deck Creation: Generate a complete slide deck directly from a Word document or topic description.
●Content Organization: Restructure existing presentations, add executive summaries, and generate speaker notes.
6 OneDrive — Document Discovery & Organization
Locate files across your personal cloud storage quickly using natural language search.
●Smart Search: Ask Copilot to find documents related to specific topics, dates, or collaborators.
●Cross-Document Summaries: Compare key takeaways across multiple stored documents simultaneously.
Important Note / Licensing Requirement
Microsoft 365 Copilot application integration requires an assigned add-on license approved through your department. If you need this capability or are unsure if your department has licenses provisioned, please submit an inquiry to the Help Desk.
Learning & Development
Training Resources
Explore external Microsoft guides and demos to deepen your understanding of Microsoft 365 Copilot:
Support & Assistance
Get Help
Have questions about Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing or functionality?