Email Q&A

1. I would like to be able to forward all mail addressed to my campus email address to my private email address. Is this possible?
2. What should I do with my email and voice mail accounts before I go on vacation?
3. What happens to my campus computer account when I leave the university?

 
Q: I would like to be able to forward all mail addressed to my campus email address to my private email address. Is this possible?

A: Yes. Your campus mail can be redirected to another campus account (e.g., your work department account or class account) or to an off-campus account (e.g., an Internet Service Provider account). You need to send your request to postmaster@ucdavis.edu and include the following information in the body of your email message:

• full name
• student/staff ID number
• campus mailID (the name that appears before @)
• email address where you wish your mail to be redirected

The postmaster does not need your password to process your request. In fact, you should never share your password with anyone.

Allow at least two days for your request to be processed.

 
Q: What should I do with my email and voice mail accounts before I go on vacation?

A: Before you leave for summer vacation, an important item on your checklist should be the management of electronic and phone messages during your absence. This can prevent a backlog of email or voice mail messages, particularly if you subscribe to email lists with heavy traffic or if you are a list owner. In the case of email, if you have a large enough backlog of messages, your disk quota could be exceeded, causing subsequent messages to "bounce." To check your email quota status, go to http://ir.ucdavis.edu/info/email/check-quota.html.

Setting Up Absence Notifications
A popular message management solution is setting up email and voice mail absence notifications. These messages provide a convenient way to automatically inform anyone trying to contact you that you're on vacation. Other possible options include setting up another email program at your vacation destination or using Web-based email (though IT does not recommend this option because Web-based email is not secure). To learn more about how to check your email away from home, see the UC Davis email Web site at http://email.ucdavis.edu/vacation.html.

Email Vacation Message. To set up an email notification message for your UC Davis account, a tool is available on the Web. To use it, you will need the following:

• A UCD LoginID (i.e., the name you use to access the campus network). To verify your LoginID, go to http://mothra.ucdavis.edu/UCDLoginID/ and click on "Check the Status of Your LoginID."

• A Kerberos password. To create or verify your Kerberos password, go to http://mothra.ucdavis.edu/UCDLoginID/ and click on "How to Obtain a UCD Kerberos Password." If you need to create a Kerberos password, allow 24 hours for it to take effect.

• An account on one of the campus email servers (blue, green, scarlet, purple, yellow, or mailbox). To check which server you are on, go to http://email.ucdavis.edu/forms/mailid.html and enter your mailID (i.e., the set of characters before the @ucdavis.edu in your email address). The name of one of the email servers will appear after the @ symbol.

Voice Mail Absence Greetings. If you subscribe to a UC Davis voice mail plan, follow these steps to create an extended absence greeting:

1. Access your mailbox by dialing 2-8629 from campus or (530) 752-8629 from off-campus.
2. Select option 4, Personal Options, from the Main Menu.
3. Select option 3, Record Greetings, from the Personal Options menu.
4. Select option 2, Create an Extended Absence Greeting, from the Record Greetings menu.
5. Record your greeting.

From then on, whenever you check messages, the voice mail system will give you the option to retain or delete the extended absence greeting.

Depending on your plan (Subscriber or SubscriberPlus), the maximum number of days that new messages will be stored is 14 or 21, respectively. The maximum number of messages that a voice mailbox can hold is 30 or 50, respectively.

For more information on voice mail and its capabilities, refer to your VoiceMail User Guide or contact the IT-Communications Resources Network Services Center at (530) 752-4603.

 
Q: What happens to my campus computer account when I leave the university?

A: In a nutshell, it depends on whether you are faculty, student, or staff. According to the UC Davis Postmaster, the account closure process is completely automated and begins soon after you officially leave the university. Each individual is given a grace period after leaving UC Davis to transfer email messages and to inform colleagues and friends. The grace period for faculty, staff, and students lasts 180, 90, and 30 days, respectively. When the grace period elapses, you will be notified by email that your account will close in 30 days. Once your account closes, you can no longer log into the system or retrieve email from it. For further questions, please contact the UC Davis Postmaster at postmaster@ucdavis.edu.