Memorial University has made changed to its email policy for new students and staff. After 16 years, email “access for life” after leaving Memorial is over.
Access to your Memorial email after graduating or departing a staff position had been part of the deal for a long time. This perk is even advertised on the Graduate Studies page: “Email for Life: Continue using your @mun.ca email account, ensuring seamless communication and access to university updates.”
This access is now being stripped back and will seemingly be provided only if the email is regularly used. Access to the services your Memorial email provides, such as access to Google Suite, would also be lost.
Students enrolled at Memorial before the change comes into effect will still retain lifelong access – only incoming students who enroll after the policy implementation will be impacted. There is currently no set date for this new framework.
The Official Email Account for Students Policy page has been updated to reflect these new changes.
Notes at the bottom of the page state that “Memorial will create retention schedules for inactive mailboxes. If current or previously departed students and staff are using their Memorial email account, access will continue as long as it remains accessed regularly.”
The frequency that constitutes “regular” email usage is once per year, according to communications manager for the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Sandy Woolfrey-Fahey, in an interview with the Telegram.
Reasoning for policy changes
Memorial has attributed the scaling back of lifelong email access to multiple factors. It says that email for life usage comes with “security, information management, privacy, compliance and reputational risks.”
This has been seen firsthand by many students, as Memorial emails have been hit with several scams and cybersecurity attacks in the past year. Rising costs of licensing and storage models were also listed as grounds for the policy changes.
The website suggests that departing students and staff can access free email alternatives instead, such as Gmail and Hotmail.
Additionally, the new policy is separated into two separate models for students and staff, due to factors such as different purposes and retention requirements, and employee governing legislation not being relevant for student emails, per the website.
