Butler discontinues alumni access to university email accounts. Graphic by Reece Butler.

MOLLY DURM I STAFF REPORTER I mdurm@butler.edu 

Butler University will no longer offer email access to alumni effective Nov. 1. For approximately the last 10 years, Butler has continued to offer email services to graduated students. With the updated email policy, 90 days after students graduate they will no longer have access to their Butler Outlook email account.

When first enrolling, the university provides students with an Outlook email address. Students use this address throughout their time at Butler and could previously continue to use this account long after graduation, but with the new email policy, this is no longer the case. 

Alumni will lose access to services linked to their Butler email — files, data and contacts. Alumni will need to update subscriptions or accounts registered under their Butler email, and will no longer be automatically included in the Butler email listserv.

2023 Butler graduate Elliott Petroff has been utilizing his Butler email account as an alumni. One reason he still uses his account is to keep in contact with his resources at Butler.

“It was useful as a point of contact for talking to my professors, or even just being able to look up their email addresses,” Petroff said.

In addition to the contact database accessible with a Butler email, Petroff said that as a recent graduate, his Butler email plays a significant role in his application processes. He uses it while exploring graduate schools during this transitional phase in his academic career.

“I’m still [looking into] grad schools and I think losing access to my ‘.edu’ email takes away some of my credibility right off the bat,” Petroff said. “If I’m cold emailing a grad school saying ‘Hey I’m interested in your program, I’d love to learn more about X, Y and Z’ they’re going to be like ‘Who’s this person with a Gmail’ … In that in-between phase that I’m in right now, post [graduation] it’s important to still have that Butler connection.”

Petroff also expressed concern regarding how losing access to his Butler email could impact his ability to stay engaged with the university. He questioned how effectively Butler will be able to maintain connections with alumni once they no longer have access to their university accounts.

“It was probably the best way for me to get alumni information and to be a part of alumni events,” Petroff said. “I don’t get a lot of alumni-related material to my personal email, a lot of the news that I would get would be through my Butler email. Now [I’m wondering] will they know how to contact people for inviting alumni to future events?”

Chief information security officer Wade Javorsky is confident that alumni will still be able to receive useful information from Butler even without access to their Butler email account.

“The Office of Butler Community Engagement remains committed to staying in contact with our Butler alumni,” Javorsky said in an email to the Butler Collegian. “We are prioritizing alternative communication channels such as direct mail and social media. These platforms allow us to reach alumni with important updates, event invitations, and other relevant information.”

Senior marketing major Chloe Perkins was also disappointed to hear that Butler will be discontinuing student email accounts, as she will graduate soon.

“It stresses me out a little bit,” Perkins said. “I used my Butler email for everything work-related and school-related so all of the internships and jobs I have been applying for have my Butler email.”

Besides the issue of staying in contact with potential internships and job opportunities, Perkins also worries that she could lose access to all of the work and networking she has done through her four years of school.

“It would benefit me [to keep my Butler email] because then I would be able to go in and look at my past work and I wouldn’t have to transfer all of my contacts,” Perkins said. 

While students and alumni now face the challenge of transitioning to a personal email account post-graduation, Javorsky provided insight as to why this policy change was necessary. 

“After careful consideration of various factors, including decreased utilization, rising costs, and heightened security concerns, we have made the difficult decision to revise our policy on providing email accounts to graduated students,” Javorsky said in an email to the Butler Collegian. “The security concerns are particularly troubling. We’ve observed a significant increase in compromised accounts and phishing attacks originating from these alumni email addresses.”

As alumni email accounts have become a risk to the Butler network, the discontinuation of alumni email services has been put in effect to protect the entire Butler community. With this policy update, it is important for soon-to-be graduates to know exactly when they will lose access to their account so they can adequately prepare for account transition. 

“Moving forward, students will retain access to Butler systems including email, Canvas, Teams, etc. for 90 days following degree conferral,” Javorsky said in an email to the Butler Collegian. “Students will receive email notifications when this 90-day period begins, and again 2 weeks before account deactivation.”

In addition to providing students with 90 days after graduation to transition from a Butler email to a personal email, Javorsky highlights Butler IT’s other efforts to support alumni, such as providing temporary licensing to alumni to install Microsoft Outlook on their personal computers. 

“This allows alumni to transfer emails between accounts with ease, and the IT Help Desk is also available to assist alumni with transitioning to another email account upon request,” Javorsky said in an email to the Butler Collegian. “IT has provided articles to alumni on ask.butler.edu on each of these topics, including ‘What happens to my account when I graduate’ and ‘Move emails to another account.’”

As Butler University phases out alumni access to Butler email accounts, students and alumni should proactively transition important files, contacts and subscriptions from their Butler account to a personal email account. While this new policy marks a shift, Butler is offering resources to support alumni and ease the process. By preparing now, alumni can ensure they remain connected to the Butler community and continue to receive important updates through alternative communication channels.