Embedded Files
After consultation between the Office of Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) and the Office of Smith IT (Smith IT) a list of impacted alumni accounts was drawn up and a plan created to manage the process. This included specific notifications to the Alumni to draw their attention to this transition and a time frame of nearly five months for Alumni to provide a forwarding address and to retrieve any information this wished to save before the account was closed and their data permanently deleted. Below is a time frame and screenshots of the emails that were sent.
The first message regarding the closure of MarylandSmith accounts was sent on Wednesday September 21st, 2022 at approximately 7am to every impacted Alumni, and had a subject line of "[Important Notice] Changes to Alumni Email Address".
This email was sent to the MarylandSmith account (user@marylandsmith.umd.edu) plus every other alternative email address that DAR had on record.
The second message regarding the closure of MarylandSmith accounts was sent on Thursday November 10th, 2022 at approximately 7am to every impacted Alumni., and had a subject line of "Reminder: Changes to Alumni Email Address".
This email was also sent to the MarylandSmith account identified (user@marylandsmith.umd.edu) plus every other alternative email address that DAR had on record.
For the third communication a calendar event was programatically created in each Alumni's MarylandSmith calendar. Not only would this calender event provide a "pop-up" at the specified time and date, it also sent an email to the MarylandSmith mailbox for the user to see when they logged in to their Inbox.
This email was sent to the MarylandSmith account on Tuesday 6th December, 2022 at 11:30am and had a subject line of "Notification: Your MarylandSmith Account Removal is SOON!"
For the fourth communication a calendar event was again programmatically created in each Alumni's MarylandSmith calendar. Not only would this calender event provide a "pop-up" at the specified time and date, it also sent an email to the MarylandSmith mailbox for the user to see when they logged in to their Inbox.
This email was sent to the MarylandSmith account on Tuesday 6th December, 2022 at 9:00am and had a subject line of "Notification: REMINDER: Your MarylandSmith Account Removal is SOON!"
The content varied slightly:
if the alumni had already provided a forwarding address using the form as described on this website and in the emails, then they were thanked for providing such and reminded to backup, transfer or otherwise download their data if they wished to keep it.
if the alumni had not provided an address but we had an alternative one on file then they were notified that starting January 11th we would begin forwarding their email to that address on file, and also directing them how to give us a different address and again reminding them to retrieve their data.
if the alumni had not provided an address and we had no alternative one on file then they were warned that when the account was closed on January 31st not only would their old data be deleted but any new email sent to them would bounce. They were directed to provide a forwarding address and to backup, transfer or download their data if they wished to keep it.
Records of the above emails being sent to each impact MarylandSmith Alumni account have been preserved and can be provided upon request. If you have not yet provided us with a forwarding address please use the form on this website if it is currently before January 31st, otherwise after January 31st 2023 you will need to contact the Office of Development and Alumni Relations via alumni@rhsmith.umd.edu. They will verify your identity and collect the desired personal destination address and pass that onto the internal team at Smith IT for actioning. Please do not reach out directly to the Office of Smith IT, as they do not have access to your records to be able to appropriately verify your identity and will direct you to DAR to perform the steps in the prior sentence.
Note that after January 31st 2023 we will be deleting the accounts and the data associated with them, so you must take action prior to that date if you wish to backup, transfer or download your data.
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