JAMES LILLIN
Staff Writer
Student usage of FredMail varies, with some students endlessly shooting off both educational and professional emails, checking it repeatedly throughout the day, while some students are happy to let it lie dormant for days on end. Even students who use the service habitually, however, seem to have several misunderstandings about the service, especially in regards to what happens to the account after graduation.
“I wouldn’t be upset if it was deleted,” said senior acting major Angelo Heimowitz. “I have alternate accounts so I can put business related emails in one email and school related ones in another. I absolutely don’t see using it after graduation. Not at all.”
In fact, email accounts may occasionally be deleted in the case of students who choose to drop out or transfer schools, although many former Fredonians still find some use in occasionally checking FredMail.
“I don’t check FredMail as often now,” said former sophomore theatre major Carolyn Zobel, who transferred to the University at Buffalo this semester to participate in their BFA acting program. “I do still sometimes go on to look at departmental news, or my friends’ projects or audition information, if it’s being sent department-wide.”
Many students seem to hold the belief that their accounts will be terminated after graduation, but according to the Computer and Network Usage Policy held by the University, students will get to keep their emails indefinitely as long as they graduate.
The Usage Policy states that “Email accounts are provided to students and continued when they reach alumni status.”
Though many students transfer over to personal accounts after graduation, some, like former audio/radio production, applied music and journalism major Carl Lam find use for FredMail long after graduation.
“After graduation, I used my Fredonia email address regularly for over a year before I started using a different email address,” said Lam. “Many of my classmates from the Class of 2014 still use their Fredonia email addresses to this day.”
Just because graduating students get to keep their email, however, doesn’t mean they own it, with Fredonia claiming sole ownership of all email accounts under its domain.
The Usage Policy states that “Under certain circumstances it may be necessary for the Information Technology Services staff or other appropriate university officials to access email files to maintain the system and to investigate security or abuse incidents or violations of other institutional policies,” but that “such access will be on an as-needed basis and any email accessed will be disclosed only to those individuals with a need to know or as required by law.”
At the end of the day, it may be for the best that students transfer over to their own personal email accounts, as the Usage Policy also states that “while incidental non-business personal use of email is acceptable, conducting business for profit using university resources is forbidden,” a broad ban on email usage that students could be found in violation of if they lean too heavily on their Fredonia email to correspond with prospective companies, or as a platform to launch personal projects with a potential for profit.
Students with further questions about the Computer and Network Usage Policy are encouraged to visit http://home.fredonia.edu/its/computer-network-policy for the complete text.