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Email Access for UW Alumni
Beginning June 15th, 2023, the PCS team that supports M365 and Google Workspace will begin the deactivation process for former student accounts. Once an account is deactivated, Alumni will have no further access to their M365 and Google Workspace accounts.
Student accounts have been broken down into three distinct "populations" based on the student's date of leaving the university and their activity on their email account. Each population will face deactivation in the months following June 2023.
Populations (Alumni and Former Students)
Population #1 meets the criteria outlined below:
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Accounts with only affiliation as “Former Student” (left UW–Madison prior to May 2023)
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Accounts do not have an email forward setup
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Accounts have not been accessed for more than 180 days (considered abandoned accounts)
Population #2 meets the criteria outlined below:
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Accounts with only affiliation as “Former Student” (left UW–Madison prior to May 2023)
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Accounts may have an email forward setup
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Accounts may have been accessed in the past 180 days (may be active/in use)
Population #3 meets the criteria outlined below:
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Accounts with only affiliation as “Former Student” as of May 2023
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Accounts may have an email forward setup
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Accounts may have been accessed in the past 180 days (may be active/in use)
- If you graduated in May of 2023 or later, you will fall into Population #3
Timeline of Deactivation
This is the general timeline for an account that has been selected for deactivation.
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Day 1 - Accounts selected for deactivation
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Day 5 - Notification sent to selected accounts informing them of changes to eligibility for M365 and Google Workspace
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Day 30 - First reminder notification sent to selected accounts
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Day 60 - Second reminder notification sent to selected accounts
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Day 75 - Third reminder notification sent to selected accounts
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Day 90 - Selected accounts disabled (no longer accessible to users)
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Day 270 - Accounts deleted from the M365 and Google tenants (no longer recoverable)
Population #1 will begin deactivation on June 15th, 2023. Population #2 will enter deactivation in August of 2023, and Population #3 will begin in December of 2023.
Note: Once Population #3 enters deactivation, this process will become the status quo for all students leaving the university. Once an account enters the "former student" status, it will follow the above deactivation timeline.
Exemption from Deactivation Process
There are 2 possible use cases in which an exemption would be considered:
1. The user needs to retain temporary access beyond the 90-day deactivation period to complete a project or collaboration with a specific university department, which requires the user to retain eligibility for a temporary period.
For assistance, the user should contact the DoIT Help Desk to have a case opened requesting an exemption from the deactivation process. The request will be escalated and reviewed for approval by DoIT Productivity and Collaborative Solutions (PCS). If the request is approved, it will be created with an expiration date. At the time of the expiration date, the account will enter the deactivation process again.
2. The user needs to retain access for an indefinite period beyond the 90-day deactivation period due to an ongoing collaboration with a specific university department.
For assistance, the user should contact their departmental collaborator to request an official change to their university affiliation based on a need for continued collaboration with a specific department.
For more information, FAQ's, and a detailed timeline for this process, see the official project page: Former Student Eligibility Project
UW Alumni Association Gmail
Prior to October 2021, the UW Alumni Association provided free alumni email services hosted by Google. Due to changes in Google's terms and policies, they are no longer accepting new requests.
For information on this service, see the UW Alumni Email Page.
Gmail support for alumni accounts created before October 2021
- Accounts that were created through the UW Alumni Association are not supported by the DoIT Help Desk.
- Visit the Gmail Help Center for technical support of your G Suite account.
- The Wisconsin Alumni Association does not provide technical support for G Suite/Gmail but does administer the accounts and can assist with basic issues such as password resets and name changes. You can contact the Alumni email administrator at emailhelp@uwalumni.com.