Email Usage Policy

Policy Owner	Chief Information Officer
Contact Information	Gavin Foster, Chief Information Officer; gfoster@gettysburg.edu
Approval Authority	Approval Authority: President
Approved By	Robert Iuliano
Approval Date	January 6, 2026
Effective Date	January 2026
Date of Last Review
Date of Next Review	January 2029
Related Policies	- Acceptable Use Policy - Network Use Policy - Student Handbook - Employee Handbook - Faculty Handbook

Email Usage Policy

Purpose of Policy

The purpose of this policy is to establish the Gettysburg College Accounts (as defined herein) as the exclusive means of electronic communication for all academic and administrative communications in furtherance of College Business.

Scope of Policy

This policy applies to all members of the Gettysburg College community, including students, faculty, staff, and retirees of Gettysburg College, as well as external partners such as contractors, volunteers, and others who are issued a college email account.

Definitions

College Business: Any communication or activity related to academic, administrative, or operational functions of Gettysburg College.

Gettysburg College Account (“Account”): Suite of Microsoft contracted services, for Gettysburg College, comprising Email, OneDrive and Teams.

Inactivity: The absence of user-initiated engagement with user’s Gettysburg College Account over a specified period of time.

Official College Email Address: An email address (e.g., username@gettysburg.edu) associated with a User’s Gettysburg College Account issued by Gettysburg College which is to be used for all College Business.

User: Any individual who has been provisioned and granted access to a Gettysburg College Account.

Policy Description

i. Email Account Assignment and Usage

All students, faculty, and staff are assigned an official Gettysburg College Email Address upon matriculation or the start of employment, as applicable.
Students must use their Official College Email Address for all electronic correspondence with faculty, staff, and administrative offices, and for all electronic correspondence with external entities related to College Business.
Faculty and staff must use their Official College Email Address for all College Business communications, including those with students, colleagues, and external entities.
The use of personal or non-college email accounts by any User for any College Business is strictly prohibited.
All Users are responsible for regularly checking their Official College Email Address and responding to communications related to College Business in a timely manner.

ii. Account Security and Confidentiality

All Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their Gettysburg College Account credentials. Sharing a Gettysburg College Account password is a violation of this policy, the Acceptable Use Policy, and the Network Use Policy, and may subject Users to disciplinary action and/or revocation of Gettysburg College Account privileges and access to other network resources.
Users must employ strong passwords that meet the College's password requirements, defined and published at the IT Knowledge Base, and must change passwords on a regular basis as required by IT.
Users must report suspected security breaches, phishing attempts, or compromised accounts to IT immediately. Failure to do so may result disciplinary action consistent with College policies and procedures.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required for Gettysburg College Account access, and Users must comply with all authentication requirements implemented by Gettysburg College. From time to time, Gettysburg College may modify existing and/or implement new authentication requirements at any time and as deemed necessary by IT to best protect Gettysburg College Accounts and network resources.

iii. Email Forwarding Restrictions

Automatic forwarding of emails from the User’s Official College Email Addresses to personal or non-college email addresses or accounts is strictly prohibited.
Manual forwarding of email related to College Business from Official College Email Addresses to the User’s personal or non-college email address or account is strictly prohibited.

Privacy and Monitoring

Gettysburg College owns all Gettysburg College Accounts and Official College Email Addresses. Subject to underlying intellectual property rights under applicable laws and College policies, the College also owns the information transmitted or stored using Gettysburg College Accounts.
Users are permitted to use their Official College Email Addresses for incidental personal purposes on an occasional and de minimus basis only, so long as that use does not interfere with College Business. Personal use of Official College Email Addresses must comply with all applicable Gettysburg College policies at all times.
Users shall have no expectation of privacy with respect to their use of their Gettysburg College Account and Official College Email address, nor to messages and documents sent, received, or otherwise stored or contained within.
Gettysburg College reserves the right to, and Gettysburg College personnel may, from time to time, access, retrieve, and/or disclose messages and contents within a User’s Gettysburg College Account as necessary for the furtherance or protection of College Business or in response to a lawful request or order.

iv. Account Lifecycle Management and Termination

The lifecycle of Gettysburg College Accounts and Official College Email Addresses for students, alumni, faculty, staff, and external sponsored affiliates shall be managed as set forth in Exhibit A (The Lifecycle of Gettysburg College Accounts and Official College Email Address for Users).

v. Disclaimer

Gettysburg College Accounts and all contents therein are the property of Gettysburg College.
The College may exercise full control over Gettysburg College Accounts at any and all times, and may modify, disable, revoke access to, or reinstate Accounts at any time in the College’s sole discretion.
Users are granted access to Gettysburg College Accounts for the purpose of conducting College Business. This access does not convey ownership rights or expectations of privacy to the User.
Email communications may be subject to public record laws and may be disclosed in response to legal requests.
The College is not responsible for (1) the loss or unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of personal information sent via email, or (2) for unauthorized access to a User’s Gettysburg College Account or Official College Email Address due to the User’s willful misconduct or negligence.
The College reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue email services with or without notice as necessary for maintenance, security, or operational reasons.
Misuse of a Gettysburg College Account or Official College Email Address may constitute a violation of other applicable College policies and may subject the User to disciplinary action consistent with applicable College policies and procedures.

vii. Enforcement

Misuse or failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary action in accordance with college policies and procedures.

Policy Management

The Information Technology Department is responsible for the implementation, maintenance, and enforcement of this policy. Questions or concerns should be directed to the IT Help Desk at ithelpdesk@gettysburg.edu.

Exhibit A - (The Lifecycle of Gettysburg College Accounts and Official College Email Address for Users).

User Type	Account Lifecycle
Undergraduate Graduating Students	Students who graduate within the academic year have their accounts terminated on July 1 following May graduation, at which time the account is converted to an alumni.gettysburg.edu account.
Change of Status for Undergraduate Students (e.g. withdrawn)	Students who are officially withdrawn from the College have their accounts terminated 30 days after the official withdrawal date. Student accounts are terminated immediately upon expulsion. Students on an approved leave of absence or suspension retain active student accounts. Guest Students have their accounts terminated 30 days after the semester end date.
Undergraduate Students - Alumni	Terminated after one (1) year of Inactivity.
Graduate Graduating Students	Students who graduate within the academic year have their accounts terminated on July 1 following May graduation, at which time the account is converted to an alumni.gettysburg.edu account.
Change of Status for Graduate Students	Students who are officially withdrawn from the College have their accounts terminated 30 days after the official withdrawal date. Student accounts are terminated immediately upon expulsion. Students on an approved leave of absence or suspension retain active student accounts. Students retain account access until graduation or for a maximum of five (5) years from their enrollment start date, whichever comes first.
Graduate Students - Alumni	Terminated after one (1) year of Inactivity.
Faculty - Emeritus and Retired	Faculty - Emeritus and Retired accounts are terminated after one (1) year of Inactivity or for failure to comply with required trainings by the deadline.
Faculty (Formerly Full-time, Adjunct, and/or Affiliate)	Former Faculty accounts are terminated after one (1) year of Inactivity.
Staff - Retired	Staff - Retired accounts are terminated after one (1) year of inactivity or for failure to comply with required trainings by the deadline.
Staff (Formerly Full-time and/or Part-time)	Staff accounts are terminated on the User’s final day of employment
Sponsored Affiliates (e.g. Volunteers and contractors)	Sponsored Affiliate accounts are terminated on the final day of the User’s contract or engagement.

Email Usage Policy