Introduction
A person who returns to Oxford after a period away will be allocated the same username that they had originally (unless the gap is more than 5 years, in which case a new username will be issued). If the gap between leaving and returning is less than two months, the original mailbox will be restored. After this a new empty mailbox will be created.
There is special provision for students who are due to finish but have an offer on a course in the next academic year.
Returning students
The accounts of students who will potentially be starting a new course in the next academic year are extended until the end of week 2 of Michaelmas term.
Please note that University card finish dates are not changed. If a returning student needs a current card over the summer, they should be issued with a College Staff or Academic Visitor card (if a Cardholder status card is issued, their mailbox will be deleted).
The process is as follows:
- IT Services receives student records with an offer (conditional or unconditional) for the next academic year from the Student System.
- Before the end of June, the project times of SSO, Nexus365 and Remote Access accounts belonging to returners will be set to the end of week 2 of Michaelmas term. This prevents account expiry warning and card expiry warning messages being sent to returning students.
- An email message is sent to potential returners informing them of what was done - see below for the text.
- When students return their contract, their records will be automatically updated.
- Students who don't take up their offer will be warned in the usual way that their accounts will expire. As with all leavers, their SSO accounts will be extended to eleven months after card expiry. Their email accounts will be disabled on at the end of week 2, but messages will continue to be delivered for 2 months.
Text of email sent to returning students
Dear !*NAME*! (!USERNAME!),
We have been informed by Student Records that you have been offered a place on a course at Oxford for the next academic year.
As your Nexus mailbox (!USERNAME!) and other accounts are due to expire shortly, they have been automatically extended until <day-Oct-year>. If you take up the offer, your accounts will be further extended to the end date on your new University Card.
If you are changing college, you will be assigned a new email address once your University Card is updated. If you are starting a postgraduate course you will also be assigned a departmental email address.
NB: YOU WILL NOT BE ISSUED WITH A NEW USERNAME. You should continue to use your existing username (!USERNAME!).
For details of your accounts and email addresses, go to the IT Services home page (https://help.it.ox.ac.uk), go to ’Accounts and passwords’, scroll down and select ’Your information’ to view the data held about you in the Registration database.
If you don’t take up the course, you will not be able to access your Nexus mailbox after <day-Oct-year>. Any email forwarding or out-of-office message on your Nexus account will be maintained for two months after this date.
If you have any questions, please contact the Service Desk.
