Email Policies

Your email account will be revoked at the time you graduate. You should plan for this and have an alternative service in place and have notified people you exchange email with of your new address. Occasional exceptions are made. You will have to consult with your school should you have a special need that would justify an exception.

Federal Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA) and Email:

If students elect to have all information withheld from any and all publications on campus, then their names will not be included in the global address book for email or in the web-based student directory. Students who have elected their privacy rights under FERPA may execute waivers to permit their names to appear in the UTMB internal email directory. This will permit them to receive communications from their school and campus offices as well as from other UTMB students. Without these waivers, students may fail to receive important communications about campus activities and school work. For more information click here.

Name change requests:

The email database is a derived from the records in the Registrar's Office and the Human Resources Department.  If your name changes while you are a student at UTMB, you must contact the Registrar's Office and follow their procedures to have your records changed. If you are also employed at UTMB, you must contact Human Resources and follow their procedures. Only after you have changed your name in one or both will a request to change your email name be accepted. You can initiate the request for IS by clicking here.

Second alias request:

When your email address is created, an email alias is created in our Internet Gateway so that you can send and receive email from sites remote to UTMB. This alias is your email name followed by @utmb.edu. For example, if your email name was "jsmith", your Internet address would be jsmith@utmb.edu.  You are allowed to have an optional second alias such as John.Smith@utmb.edu. For information about what alias variations are permitted and how to request them click here.

Forwarding email:

If you have an Internet Service Provider and prefer to receive your campus mail at that address, you will have to create a "rule" in your UTMB Exchange email account to forward the mail. Since the rule can be selective, you can elect to forward only certain mail messages. Documentation for creating rules can be found here.

Resetting Passwords:

If you forget your password or you manage to lock your self out while changing it, you can call the Help Desk, x25200 (409 772 5200) for assistance. There are two types of lock-outs that can occur. If the Help Desk is unable to reset your password and informs you the account has been disabled, refer to the next section Disabled Accounts.

Disabled Accounts:

If your name drops off the list of active students maintained by the registrar's office, your account will be disabled and the Help Desk will not be able to reactivate it. If this occurs, you must see the contact in your school. The school contacts are the only ones who can authorize an exception that will permit access to email when you are not actively enrolled in classes.

School Distribution Lists:

Each of the four schools maintains distribution lists of all students whose email addresses are not Hidden (due to FERPA privacy). These lists are maintained by the schools and access to them is granted to other campus offices who need to communicate with students.

If you have elected your privacy option via FERPA, then you must also sign an exception request for email in order to be included in the list and obtain the important communications sent via these distribution lists.

There are a few other distribution lists maintained by student groups. A student would have to communicate with the appropriate group to be included or excluded from these lists.