Yale University

ITS policies

Yale ITS Home Email Services

Gateways for:

Help Desk
203.432.9000
203.785.3200

ITS Office
Yale University
175 Whitney Avenue
P.O. Box 208276
New Haven, CT
06520-8276
USA

Yale logo.

Email policies (University and ITS)

Email is governed by University policies:

The University policies listed below apply to all people at Yale who use email or who manage email servers.

Account removal/deactivation

Email accounts and aliases (firstname.lastname@yale.edu) are deleted upon request or when a person does not meet the eligibility requirements. Notification of a pending deactivation will be emailed to the account 14 days before the account is deactivated. Information and instructions on what the individual should do to prepare for the deactivation are included in this notification.

Who is deactivated when?

  • Accounts for Staff are deactivated 21 days after their last active day
  • Accounts for Faculty are deactivated 60 days after their last active day
  • Accounts for Students are deactivated twice per year - October 1st or April 1st:
    • Students who leave Yale between March 15th and September 14th have their email accounts deactivated on October 1st (students who graduate in May are removed the following October 1st)
    • Students who leave Yale between September 15th and March 14th have their email accounts deactivated on April 1st. Students who become employees by taking summer jobs or other appointments with the University are reclassified by Human Resources. These accounts are terminated 21 days after their job ends, with a notification email sent to their account of record 14 days before that account is deactivated.
    • Graduates of Yale University are eligible for a permanent email forwarding service to non-Yale accounts. This service is administered independently by the Association of Yale Alumni (AYA) as a courtesy to alumni, and is not maintained by Central ITS. Please see the information on the Virtual Yale Station.

Account Backup


ITS performs nightly backups of the email server, and retains at least five versions of email stored on the server. Email received and deleted in the same day will not be backed up, nor will any email stored in the folder called "tagged-spam."

Logging account activity

The logging and backup practices of the Central Email system are designed around the principles of protecting the privacy of individual users while also ensuring system integrity and reliability for all users.

Logging of User's Activities

The following list shows the things that are logged to system log files. These system log files are kept online for 2 months and then deleted. Logging these activities allows system administrators to debug problems that affect individuals or the entire system. Only system administrators have access to these logs and they are only reviewed when addressing a specific problem.

  • Login and Logout (access) of users to their accounts - including the address of the computer used for that access
  • Sender and receiver information of every email message (the contents and subject are not logged)
  • System errors which may reveal file/folder/mailbox names for individual accounts
  • Other system errors that don't contain specific user information

Online directory and aliases

Your email address is actually netid@yale.edu, but all email addresses also have a "polite form" as well: first.last@yale.edu.

online directory

  • To be listed in the Online Directory, an individual must have an active role at Yale University and an active NetID.
  • Students may request that information about them be left out of the online Directory and other printed directories by contacting their registrar.
  • Consistent with the IT AUP policy of Yale University, the online Directory is for private, non-commercial use. It is offered to the public to facilitate communication with individuals and departments at Yale to further the academic mission of Yale University. It is a violation of policy to use the information in the online Directory for any other purpose. Such violations may result in disciplinary and/or legal action.
  • Unless special circumstances require an immediate removal, when an individual leaves the University, their entry and their email aliases will be subject to removal from the online Directory.

Aliases

  • A unique email alias is assigned for each individual. This unique alias is assigned based on the individual's name as entered in the Human Resources system. These aliases are generally in the form of firstname.lastname@yale.edu, however, in order to maintain uniqueness, these aliases may also include the middle initial or other parts of a person's name. Individuals may not use an email alias to obscure their identity, or use a single name alias (smith@yale.edu).
  • Individuals may request additional email aliases if they are known by two or more names. These additional email aliases must be a form of the person's name and must be approved by the ITS Client Accounts Office. Individuals may request up to 3 aliases. Examples: John Doe may have two email aliases. One for his real name of John.Doe@yale.edu and one for his common name of Jack.Doe@yale.edu
  • Email aliases may also be requested for departmental email accounts, and does not count as one of the 3 aliases allowed for individuals.
    Examples: helpdesk@yale.edu, or physics@yale.edu
  • Email aliases may also be requested for departmental positions, and do not count as one of the 3 aliases allowed for individuals.
    Examples: provost@yale.edu or amt.director@yale.edu
  • Email aliases of the form john.doe@yale.edu will only be assigned to email accounts on servers in the Yale University Internet domain.
  • To get started in requesting, changing, or adding a new alias, visit this page.

Forwarding an email account

You can forward one Yale email account to another Yale or non-Yale email account if you are in compliance with HIPAA Policy 5123 (Electronic Communication of Health Related Information). For help, read more.

Listservs

Mailing lists are intended to serve the Yale community. By using mailing lists, the Pantheon List Management Tool, and Mailman, you agree to adhere to all ITS policies. In addition, the following stipulations apply:

  • Lists must be owned by an owner with a valid and active NetID.
  • Lists must be annually renewed by October 1. By September 1, you will receive an email with a URL to renew your list. You must follow the URL to renew your list. On October 1, all un-renewed lists will be made inactive. You then receive a grace period until November 1 to contact listmaster@yale.edu to renew your list. After that date, all un-renewed lists will be permanently deleted.
  • You may not add subscribers without their express permission. If a person requests to be removed from the list, then you should do so promptly and send him/her a confirmation email, preferably within 24 hours. Failure to remove subscribers promptly will result in the revocation of mailing list ownership.

There is also some basic list etiquette that applies:

  • The first time you send a message to a list, identify yourself as the owner of the list and instruct members to email you at listname-owner@panlists.yale.edu or listname-admin@mailman.yale.edu, respectively, to be removed. You should respond to removal requests promptly and send the requestor a confirmation email, preferably within 24 hours.
  • When replying to only the person who wrote a particular comment, be careful to reply to only that person and not the whole list.

Make certain that your subscriber list is typed correctly. When it is incorrect, anyone who sends a message to your list will receive a bounced email, though the message will reach all of the correct addresses. You should resend the message only to those who did not receive it the first time.

If you manage an email server

Inbound and Outbound Port 25 Restrictions

Please visit the Port 25 restriction section of our website.

Jump to top.

Last modified: Friday, 28-Sep-2007 13:00:51 EDT. (vm)