UVa Student Email Migration

Answers to Frequently-Asked Questions

Frequently-Asked Questions

About the Migration

Who's Affected

About the New Services

Answers to Frequently-Asked Questions

About the Migration

Why is the University making this change?

The migration of student email accounts to third-party providers is a big win for students and alumni. It enables students to keep their UVa email account after they graduate—something the University has wanted to offer for a long time, but has not had the resources to provide. The private vendors also offer a suite of tools and functionality that integrate with email that will enhance the email experience.

Moreover, because email is a core business for these providers, and because they serve vast numbers of users, they are much better able than UVa's email system to scale up to increased demand, and adjust to changes in load. That translates to more reliable, robust email for students and alumni.

Have any other universities done this?

Yes. UVa joins a growing list of institutions that are using third-party email service providers—including Indiana University, the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern, and Arizona State—who have offered either Microsoft Live@edu, Gmail with Google Apps, or both to their students.

When will the transition happen? How will it work?

The transition is really a 2-step process. First, you queue your account for migration so your existing CMS mail is in line to be migrated to Gmail or Microsoft Live@edu. (You can get an account with one or both vendors to sample their services, but must choose only one vendor for migration.) Then, later this summer, after the migration tools have been developed and tested, existing CMS mail will be migrated to your vendor of choice. More detail about these 2 steps:

  1. Students and alumni are being invited to request an account with the vendors in phases, with the Class of 2008 being the first to receive invitations, at the end of April. Phased invitations will be sent to other students and alumni, ending with new students who are entering in Fall 2008. The reason for the staggered timing of the rollout is to test the load on servers and minimize problems for everyone.

    Note: After you select a vendor for migration, you'll have to decide how you want to use your new email account until later this summer, when the migration of your existing CMS mail to your vendor of choice is completed. You may opt to:

    • Continue receiving new email in your CMS account for now, with no new mail delivered to your new account, until later this summer when your CMS mail is migrated to your new account; or
    • Begin receiving new email messages in your new account now, and access your older email messages on the CMS, until later this summer when your CMS mail is migrated to your new account.
  2. The migration of your existing CMS email to your new vendor of choice will not occur until late summer 2008, when the email migration tools are ready. Migrations will also occur on a rolling basis, with those who were among the first to be invited at the top of the list for migration, and later groups following.
Will my email address change?
No. Once you transition to the new service, you will have 2 addresses, which you can use interchangeably: your UVa computing ID (e.g., mst3k) followed by, respectively, @virginia.edu and @email.virginia.edu. For example, if your UVa computing ID is mst3k, then your 2 addresses will be mst3k@virginia.edu and mst3k@email.virginia.edu. (You may also have up to 2 UVa email aliases, as well.)
Will I lose my alias? How many aliases can I have?

If you currently have a UVa email alias (e.g., bungeejumper@virginia.edu), it will continue to work until you graduate and leave UVa. (As has always been the case, email aliases ending in @virginia.edu expire when their owners graduate and leave UVa.)

Students are no longer able to create new aliases that end with @virginia.edu, but can still request up to 2 aliases ending in @email.virginia.edu (e.g., bungeejumper@email.virginia.edu). Up to 2 aliases may be managed (kept, changed, or deleted) in that domain for life. You can create, change, and delete email aliases using the UVa Email Address Management System.

Will my stored messages and folders migrate automatically to the new service?
During the migration that will begin in late summer 2008, students and alumni who have queued their account for migration will have their existing messages and folders on the CMS moved to their vendor of choice.
Can I have an account with both vendors?

Yes, you may have a UVa email account with both Microsoft and Google. However, you will have to choose which vendor will receive your existing email from the Central Mail Service (CMS) during the migration.

So, you may opt to use both vendors, but only one account will contain your old CMS mail and folders from before the migration. You can control how your email is routed to both accounts through the UVa Email Address Management System.

Who's Affected

Does the change affect all students at UVa?

All current students on the UVa Central Mail Service (CMS) will have the option, starting in late spring/early summer 2008, of getting an account with the commercial services. After Fall 2008, all incoming students will have an account with one of the vendors automatically pre-provisioned for them. (These new students will have the option to switch vendors if they want to change from the vendor to which they've been randomly preassigned.)

UVa schools that provide student accounts on their own servers, such as Darden and Commerce, will continue to make their own decisions about student email.

What will change when I graduate or leave the University?

Your email address(es) will continue to work after you graduate. If you have email addresses at both @virginia.edu and @email.virginia.edu, they will still work. (But, your email aliases @virginia.edu will expire when you graduate).

Once you are no longer a student, the only difference you will notice is that your account will display advertisements beside your messages.

If you leave the University before you graduate, you forfeit all your UVa email, as has always been the case.

Will UVa faculty and staff be allowed email accounts on the UVa Gmail with Google Apps and Microsoft Live@edu?
Gmail and Microsoft Live@edu accounts are primarily offered to students and alumni. However, accounts are also available to faculty and staff who provide technical support to students.
Will current alumni, who use the forwarding-only service, have access to the new email services?
ITC is making provisions for alumni presently using the forwarding-only service to take advantage of the Google and Microsoft offerings. More details will be made available by the Alumni Association.

About the New Services

I already have an account with one of the new services. Can I combine my personal and University accounts?
At this time, there is no way for personal accounts to be merged with University accounts. However, while they can't be merged, you can use the Email Address Management Tool to add your personal account as a deliverable address and then use the Tool to forward your University email there.
Where do I go to access my new email account?

The simple answer is go to www.mail.virginia.edu. If you have just one account, you'll be taken straight to it. If you have more than one, you'll be presented with a switchboard so you can choose which account to log into.

Alternatively, if you have a Virginia Google email account, you can also go to directly to www.mail.virginia.edu/google. Note that going straight to google.com or gmail.com will not work.

And if you have a Virginia Microsoft Live@edu account, you can go directly to www.mail.virginia.edu/microsoft. (Or, you can also go straight to www.mail.live.com. You must supply your UVa login password when going to this site.)

How do I choose which service is right for me?
Read about the services provided by each service provider on their websites (see Gmail with Google Apps and Microsoft Live@edu), and feel free to request an account with one or both vendors to sample the services of the vendors. You will have to select only one vendor when you queue your account for migration, though.
Will I be able to access my account using an email program via POP or IMAP?

Yes. Gmail supports both POP and IMAP. Microsoft Live@edu supports POP. Instructions for each are below.

Gmail users: To configure your email program to use IMAP or POP with your UVa Google account, first enable POP or IMAP in Google:

  1. Log into your UVa Google account.
  2. Click Settings at the top of any page.
  3. Choose the Accounts tab.
  4. Click Change Password.
  5. Click button for Yes, reset my password.
  6. Log out and exit UVa Gmail.
  7. Log back into your UVa Google account.
  8. Respond to prompts to reset your UVa Gmail password to match your UVa email password.
  9. Click Settings at the top of any page.
  10. Click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
  11. Enable POP or IMAP.
  12. Click Save Changes.
Then use the following settings in your email program:
  • Username: your computing ID@virginia.edu (e.g.: mst3k@virginia.edu)
  • POP Incoming server: pop.googlemail.com or pop.gmail.com
  • IMAP Incoming server: imap.googlemail.com or imap.gmail.com
  • Outgoing server: smtp.googlemail.com or smtp.gmail.com

Microsoft Live@edu users: To configure your email program to use POP with your UVa Microsoft Live@edu account, use the following settings in your email program:

  • Username: your computing ID@virginia.edu (e.g.: mst3k@virginia.edu)
  • POP Incoming server: pop3.live.com
  • Server port: 995
  • Outgoing server: smtp.live.com
  • Server port: 25
  • Secure connection (SSL) required

Live@edu users can also manage their email and contacts via Outlook by installing Outlook Connector, a free software download from Microsoft.

How big will my quota be?
View Gmail with Google Apps or Microsoft Live@edu for information on quota size.
Will I get a lot of spam using the new service?
No. Both Gmail and Live@edu use state-of-the-art technologies to defeat spam.
Will my privacy be protected once I'm on the new service?

Both of our vendors are committed to protecting your privacy. To find out more about their respective policies and safeguards, please visit the following links:

Where can I go for help with the service I select?
ITC's Help Desk will help with transition issues, and will try to provide support for basic questions. For questions ITC cannot answer, you should work the service provider you selected.
Once I've migrated to one service, can I switch to the other?
You can. However, your existing email messages and folders will not be automatically migrated again. After the one-time migration of your existing email on the University's Central Mail Service (CMS) to the vendor of your choice, no more auto-migrations will be offered. So if you switch vendors, you are responsible for moving messages between them, and setting up any necessary auto-forwarding.
Can I delete my account?

We can make your account inactive if needed. If you would like it deactivated, please email postmaster@virginia.edu, explaining that you want your account deactivated and noting your service provider (UVa Google, UVa Microsoft, or both).

Does the contract with Microsoft for Live@edu include Exchange Labs or just Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail?
UVa's current contract with Microsoft is for Microsoft Live Hotmail, as Exchange Labs was not in production when the contract was signed. We are open to consideration of moving to Exchange Labs after it has matured.

 

© 2008 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia.

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