Student and Alumni Email FAQ

CWL and Student Information | Student and Alumni Email Service | Using the Student and Alumni Email Service


CWL and Student Information

All UBC students can sign up for a Standard Campus Wide Login account online at our CWL website. You must have a valid UBC student number in order to sign up for a Student CWL account.

If you have forgotten your CWL password, you can reset it if you know the answers to the Password Recovery Questions that you answered when you created your account.

To reset your password:

  • Go to https://www.myaccount.ubc.ca/myAccount/
  • Click on "Forgot Your Password?" link below the login box
  • Type in your CWL username and click "Continue".
  • Enter in the answers to the three questions listed.
    • Note: If your secret question is not displayed, it is because your account was created before the password reset procedure was revised. Please contact the UBC IT Service Centre to go over the question(s) or seek assistance.

If you have forgotten your CWL username, please contact the UBC IT Service Centre for assistance.

If you do not know your UBC student number or are having trouble signing up for a CWL online, contact an Enrolment Services Professional to get help with retrieving your UBC student information.

Students and alumni who already have a name@alumni.ubc.ca email forwarding address do not have to do anything. If you wish to change your destination to the new UBC hosted mailbox, you need to reconfigure the email forwarding settings at https://id.ubc.ca

Student and Alumni Email Service

Only current students are eligible for the UBC-hosted mailbox service. If a current student graduates from or leaves the university, he/she retains the mailbox. "Student" is defined in section 1 of the University Act and includes those enrolled for undergraduate or graduate studies, enrolled in a course for academic credit, and Medical Residents.

"Student" means a person who is presently enrolled at a university in a credit course or who is designated by resolution of the senate as a student:

http://universitycounsel.ubc.ca/files/2017/01/Consolidation_Univ-Act_9-Jan-2017.pdf

Current and past students are eligible for this service. "Student" is defined in section 1 of the University Act and includes those enrolled for undergraduate or graduate studies, enrolled in a course for academic credit, and Medical Residents.

"Student" means a person who is presently enrolled at a university in a credit course or who is designated by resolution of the senate as a student:

http://universitycounsel.ubc.ca/files/2017/01/Consolidation_Univ-Act_9-Jan-2017.pdf

The security of any email, including UBC aliasing, depends on the level of encryption adopted by both the sender and the recipient. While UBC aliasing service uses the mail relays located on the Vancouver Campus, email travels across the Internet, which is an open channel.

Email is, by nature, not secure. While in transit, email is often unencrypted and could be intercepted. Recipients may not have secure storage, or show proper discretion in forwarding email. You should always assume email is not private. This is true for all email services.

If you are using the UBC email forwarding service, your email is only as secure as your destination email account.

UBC hosted mailboxes are subject to FIPPA (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act) legislation. Content never leaves Canadian soil and nobody can gain access to your email unless the law allows for it.

Using the Student and Alumni Email Service

You get to keep your @alumni.ubc.ca email address and UBC-hosted mailbox (if selected) even after you graduate or leave UBC.

You get to keep your @alumni.ubc.ca email address and UBC-hosted mailbox (if selected) even if you don't graduate. We encourage you to share your affiliation with UBC with pride.

Most students graduate after only a few years and a @student.ubc.ca email address becomes obsolete. We wanted to provide you with an address that would be useful to you, not only while you are at UBC, but long after you have graduated. Your @alumni.ubc.ca address represents your lifelong relationship with UBC.

@ubc.ca is an email address that indicates someone is speaking with the authority of a UBC employee. It is a temporary address that exists only while employed at the university. Mail sent to @ubc.ca can be managed to different retention and destruction levels than personal email.

@alumni.ubc.ca indicates a personal email. As a subdomain of ".ubc.ca" it demonstrates a clear affiliation with the university without speaking on behalf of the university. It is a lifelong address for all students and alumni of UBC. "alumni" data is personal and is managed as the user sees fit.

Yes. You can choose from a short list of suggested email addresses, or create your own as long it complies with the basic format and acceptable use policy. If you choose to create your own email address, or if the email address you wish to create is already in use, it is recommended that you try and follow the name@alumni.ubc.ca naming convention as best as you can. You can also try adding a number such as your graduation year to the end of your address, e.g. name2012@alumni.ubc.ca.

You may also change your UBC email address at any time after you have verified your email address and destination.

No. Users are limited to one @alumni.ubc.ca email address at a time.

Some webmail and desktop/mobile email clients allow you to change your Reply-To email address. Some common email clients are below. Please check with your service provider or email client software supplier for further information:

Client User can set Reply-To
Desktop and Mobile Clients
Microsoft Outlook Y
Apple Mac Mail Y
Mozilla Thunderbird Y
iOS (iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch) N
Android N

While a few email service providers ignore 'dots' in email addresses so that first.last@service.com is the same address as firstlast@service.com, the UBC Student and Alumni Email Forwarding Service follows the more standard practice of recognising dots. In cases where users have similar email addresses differing only by dots, email addresses will be treated differently, e.g., first.last@alumni.ubc.ca will be an entirely separate email address from firstlast@alumni.ubc.ca.

Your UBC Hosted Mailbox includes 1GB of space.

No, IMAP/POP and SMTP access is not available for the Student & Alumni Email Service. You can access your UBC hosted mailbox via the Student and Alumni Email Web Access or by using Activesync for mobile devices. For instructions on accessing your UBC hosted mailbox, please visit our Setup Documentation.