Alumni Email Transition - M365@UBC

UBC is streamlining its Microsoft 365 licensing to strengthen security, ensure compliance, enhance scalability, and align with both fiscal responsibilities and strategic goals. This change involves decommissioning legacy mail servers and associated mailboxes belonging to Alumni who are not eligible for Microsoft 365 services. As part of this initiative, UBC will retire email mailboxes and Microsoft 365 services for alumni.

Decommissioning Date: August 11, 2025

What's Changing?

If you graduated before 2024 and you currently have a UBC Student Email (cwl@student.ubc.ca and cwl@alum.ubc.ca) hosted mailbox and Microsoft 365 access, the following will happen on August 11, 2025:

• Your UBC Student Email mailbox and associated email aliases will be decommissioned
• All stored emails will be permanently deleted
• Access to Microsoft 365 services (Teams, OneDrive) will be revoked
• All OneDrive content will be permanently deleted

If you graduated in 2024 or later and currently have a UBC Student Email (cwl@student.ubc.ca and cwl@alum.ubc.ca) hosted mailbox and Microsoft 365 access, the following will happen 18 months after graduation:

• Your UBC Student Email mailbox and associated email aliases will be decommissioned 18 months after graduation
• All stored emails will be permanently deleted
• Access to Microsoft 365 services (Teams, OneDrive) will be revoked
• All OneDrive content will be permanently deleted

If you currently have a legacy Alumni Hosted Mailbox (name@alumni.ubc.ca), the following will happen on August 11, 2025:

• Your Legacy Hosted Mailbox (name@alumni.ubc.ca) will be decommissioned
• All stored emails will be permanently deleted
• You may sign up to convert your name@alumni.ubc.ca address to a forwarding address via this form

If you currently have a legacy Alumni Email Forwarding address (name@alumni.ubc.ca):

• Email forwarding will continue to work
• No changes expected for existing name@alumni.ubc.ca addresses that are set to forward externally

Why is this Changing?

• UBC aims to enhance security by reducing risks in access controls.
• UBC is decommissioning legacy mail servers and shifting toward centrally managed, cloud-based collaboration tools for active students.
• UBC is ensuring licensing compliance in alignment with Microsoft agreements.

What You Need to Do Before August 11, 2025

1. Back Up Your Email Data

• Back up all emails by forwarding them to a personal email address.
• If you want to retain more than just a few emails by forwarding, you can request temporary access to connect a different email application to your mailbox to back up your email. Submit a ticket to the IT Service Centre to initiate this request by July 31, 2025, at the latest as you will need time to back up your email before your mailbox is decommissioned. Currently it is only possible to access Student & Alumni Email via Webmail, Mobile device or Exchange Web Services (Mac Mail) without requesting additional access.

For Web-based Email Users

• Download important emails and attachments
• Export contacts and calendar info
• Forward critical messages to another account

2. Back Up Microsoft 365 Data (if applicable)

• Download any files stored in OneDrive
• Save any files from Teams that you need to keep
• Export any other collaborative content in M365 apps that you wish to keep

3. Update Your Contact Information

• Update your email with alumniUBC via the Address Update Form
• Notify contacts of your new email address
• Update your email with:
  • Financial institutions and banking services
  • Professional organizations and subscriptions
  • Government services
  • Healthcare providers
  • Others as needed

4. Sign Up for Email Forwarding (if desired)

Please note that this is not an official email forwarding solution. This is a one-time opportunity to set up email forwarding and preserve your name@alumni.ubc.ca address. This is only available for those who signed up for a legacy hosted mailbox (name@alumni.ubc.ca) prior to 2020.
 

If you wish to retain your @alumni.ubc.ca address as a forwarding address, complete the opt-in form. This will allow emails sent to your @alumni.ubc.ca address to automatically forward to another email address of your choice.
 

Email Forwarding Service

How It Works

• Emails sent to your @alumni.ubc.ca address will be automatically forwarded to another email address after your mailbox is decommissioned
• No mailbox storage is provided (emails are only forwarded, not stored)
• You will need to maintain an active external email account to receive forwarded messages

Who Is Eligible?

• Alumni that signed up for a name@alumni.ubc.ca hosted mailbox prior to 2020 can request a legacy email forwarding address
• You must complete the request form before August 11, 2025

How to Sign Up

• Complete the opt-in form available through an authenticated Qualtrics
• Provide a valid external email address where you want messages forwarded
• After August 11, 2025, Email forwarding will be configured for those who signed up
• Once set up, test your forwarding by sending a message to your @alumni.ubc.ca address

Timeline

• May 15, 2025: Initial communications and information launch
• June/July 2025: Reminder emails to affected accounts
• August 11, 2025: Legacy services decommissioned

Frequently Asked Questions

Support Resources

Technical Support

• UBC IT Service Centre: 604-822-2008
• Online support: it.ubc.ca/selfservice
• Email backup guides and tutorials available on this page.

How to Back Up Your Email Data
 

Outlook (Windows)

1. Outlook (Mac)
2. Export to OLM file:
   • Click on File > Export
   • Select the items you want to export (mail, contacts, calendar)
   • Choose a location to save the file
   • Click Save

Outlook Web Access

1. Download attachments:
   • Open each important email
   • Right-click on attachments and select "Save As"
   • Choose a location on your computer
2. Export contacts:
   • Go to the Contacts/People section
   • Select "Manage" > "Export contacts"
   • Save the CSV file to your computer

Backing Up OneDrive Files

1. Go to portal.office.com
2. Sign in with your UBC credentials
3. Select the OneDrive app from the App list
4. Select all files and folders you wish to keep
5. Click "Download" from the top menu
6. Save the files to your computer

Backing Up Teams Files

1. Open Microsoft Teams
2. Go to each Team you participate in
3. Select the Files tab
4. Download important files to your computer