UPPS 04.01.12 - Email Account Management

POLICY STATEMENT

Texas State University is committed to the proper management of email accounts to enhance the efficiency of educational and administrative processes.

1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

   1. Texas State University considers email a significant information resource and an appropriate mechanism for official university communication. The university provides official university email addresses and services to its students, faculty, staff, retirees, and organizational units for this purpose and to enhance the efficiency of educational and administrative processes.

   2. This policy applies to all individuals whose affiliation with Texas State requires or permits their access to university email resources without regard to the manner, form, or location of access.

2. RELATED DOCUMENTS

   1. UPPS No. 01.04.32, University Records Management

   2. UPPS No. 04.01.01, Security of Texas State Information Resources

   3. UPPS No. 04.01.02, Information Resources Identity and Access Management

   4. UPPS No. 04.01.05, Network Use Policy

   5. UPPS No. 04.01.11, Risk Management of Information Resources

3. DEFINITIONS

   1. Affiliation – an association between an individual and the university (e.g., student, faculty, staff, guest). Affiliations are classified as active during the period an individual maintains a business relationship with the university (i.e., a staff member remains employed, or a student enrolled in courses).

   2. Email – an electronic method of communication.

   3. Email Account – an arrangement between the university and an individual which provides the individual access to a system for sending and receiving messages electronically over a computer network. Email accounts that are not accessed by the account owner for more than 180 days will be considered inactive.

   4. Email Message – an individual communication sent or received by the account owner.

4. PROCEDURES FOR MANAGEMENT OF EMAIL ACCOUNTS

   1. The university shall afford an individual access to email in a manner consistent with the individual’s institutional affiliations and roles.

   2. As long as an individual holds an active affiliation entitling them to an email account, no email messages stored within the account will be administratively removed based on the age of the message.

   3. It is the individual responsibility of the account owner to manage the contents of their email account in compliance with university policies.

   4. The university shall revoke a person’s access to their email account when the person no longer holds an active affiliation.

   5. Email accounts for individuals who no longer hold an active university affiliation will be disabled and retained by Information Technology for purposes of disaster recovery and continuity of operations. Email account retention periods will vary based on the individual’s former primary university affiliation.

   6. Email accounts for individuals who no longer hold an active university affiliation and have reached their affiliation-based retention period are deleted.

   7. University email accounts are not an authorized electronic repository for university records. This policy and any administrative actions performed in the execution of the requirements therein are not a substitute for compliance with the university records retention schedule (RRS) or use of appropriate authorized electronic repositories. Consistent with UPPS No. 01.04.32, University Records Management, emails that contain content governed by the university RRS should be copied to an appropriate authorized electronic repository or added to hard copy records series, as appropriate.

5. EMAIL ACCOUNT RETENTION PERIODS

   1. Account Retention Period

      Affiliation	Email Account Retention Period
      Applicants (Email Enabled)	30 days from account deactivation
      Students	30 days from account deactivation
      Retired Staff	30 days from account deactivation
      Retired Faculty	30 days from account deactivation
      Faculty	395 days from separation date
      Staff	30 days from separation date
      Guests (Email Enabled)	30 days from account deactivation

   2. Student applicants receive university email accounts upon acceptance. The email accounts of accepted applicants who do not enroll are deactivated when the last opportunity to register for the term of acceptance has passed.

   3. UPPS No. 04.01.02, Information Resources Identity and Access Management, Section 05.01 c. allows student accounts to remain active for three consecutive semesters after the last semester of enrollment.

   4. UPPS No. 04.04.53, Honors and Benefits for Retired Faculty and Staff, Section 03.02 j. allows retired faculty and staff to retain their email account after retirement upon request. These email accounts remain active as long as the retired individual actively uses them. Inactive email accounts of retired faculty or staff are deactivated.

   5. Separated faculty email accounts are retained for longer periods to support continuity for faculty whose appointments are not continuous throughout a given year (e.g., adjunct professors that only teach in fall semesters).

   6. In certain exceptional situations a guest may be provided an email account if there is sufficient and legitimate business justification. Guest email accounts require sponsorship and are deactivated once the sponsorship period expires.

6. REVIEWERS OF THIS UPPS

   1. Reviewers of this UPPS include the following:

      Position	Date
      Chief Information Security Officer	April E5Y
      Associate Vice President for Technology Resources	April E5Y
      University Records Manager	April E5Y

7. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

   This UPPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities and represents Texas State policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

   Chief Information Security Officer; senior reviewer of this UPPS

   Vice President for Information Technology

   President