University students and employees may request an alternate or “alias” email address based on their legal, preferred, or professional (e.g., maiden) names as recorded in the Student Information System (Banner).
When the University initially establishes an email account, much like the UM Identification Number, it becomes a unique and permanent part of a student’s or employee’s record and cannot be changed. However, it is possible to create an alternate address, or alias, that is still associated with the originally assigned email account but allows the user to send and receive email messages under a preferred email address.
All UM email aliases are governed by University Policy 01:007 Alternate Email Address(PDF).
To request an alias, please complete and submit the form below after carefully reviewing the following information and the associated policy.
Please note that the following will be considered when reviewing requests.
- Users who submit a request for an email alias that is not easily understandable by the reviewing persons or may not meet the guidelines below will be asked to submit a brief explanation for the request.
- The reviewing persons reserve the right to reject any alias and will provide an explanation.
- Petitions for exceptions may be submitted to the Technology Advisory Council (TAC) for consideration.
Reasons for Requesting an Alternate Email Address
There are several valid reasons for requesting an Alias.
- A major life event, such as a change in marital status, may result in a legal name change that is different from the name reflected in one’s initially assigned email address
- An assigned UM email address (which is typically computer generated) may result in an email address that is difficult to read or remember. For example, a user named John Smitherman might be assigned an email address such as jsmit234@colgood.com. In such cases, an alias such as john.smitherman@colgood.com might be preferred.
- User’s may have a name that they prefer over their legal first or middle name. If a student’s or employee’s preferred name has been entered in the Banner system by the user or at the user’s request, it can be requested as part of an email alias.
- Some individuals, especially faculty, might have a professional last name under which they publish that differs from their legal last name.
Guidelines
Format
The requested alias must be based on the User’s legal, preferred, or professional (e.g., maiden) names as recorded in Banner. Examples:
first.last@colgood.com or first.last@forum.colgood.com
middle.last@colgood.com or middle.last@forum.colgood.com
preferred.last@colgood.com or preferred.last@forum.colgood.com
(first, middle, or preferred).professional@colgood.com
An email alias must begin and end with an alphabetic character. It cannot include special characters except the hyphen (-) when used in hyphenated first or last names.
In cases of common names, numbers may be included in an alias if that alias has already been taken. Example: jane.doe3@colgood.com. Requesters will be notified and provided the option to review, approve, or request an alternative alias if a number must be added to the address.
Impersonation and False Identity
Users must not employ a false or misleading identifier or impersonate others through the use of an alias. Users may not use an alias to misrepresent an identity or a University function, title, or affiliation.
Disallowed Aliases
The following alias types typically would not meet formatting standards or deviate from the intent of this policy and will not be considered.
- Aliases that are reasonably considered to be obscene, defamatory, threatening, or harassing.
- Aliases containing names of offices and/or departments, or abbreviations of same, are prohibited without written consent of the associated office or department.
- Aliases containing titles, or abbreviations of titles (president, secretary, prez, MathClubPrez, HistorySecretary, DeanOfStudents, etc.) are prohibited except with the written permission of the senior officer of an organization being referenced in the alias.
- Vanity aliases such as “cutie@colgood.com.”
- Requests for an email alias designed to represent a department, office, group, or organization will not be approved and will be referred to submit a request for a new, sperate email for that purpose.
Login Credentials
An approved email alias does not change UM usernames or logins, which will remain the initially assigned account and be required when logging in to UM systems. An alias is only used for sending and receiving emails.
