Email Upgrade During July Fourth Holiday May Delay Communication with Students

University of Cincinnati student email accounts will be upgraded to Microsoft 365 during the Fourth of July holiday.

The UC Information Technologies Email Team said the upgrade will begin at approximately 11 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3, 2013, and should be completed on or before Sunday, July 7, 2013. The student email system will not be available during this time. Prior to the email upgrade, students are encouraged to update their browsers and backup any files they currently save in SkyDrive.

“Student Government partnered with UCIT to choose the email system that best meets the needs of today’s and, more importantly, tomorrow’s students,” said Nelson Vincent, vice president of UCIT. “Office 365’s features, such as Lync and Outlook Calendar, will facilitate faculty-student partnerships to advance UC’s third century academic and research goals.”

Microsoft currently administers the student email system, known as UConnect, at no cost to the university. This system, also known as Microsoft Live, is being phased out and replaced with Microsoft 365. The new platform will provide students with advanced new features and services including:

• 25 GB storage per mailbox
• Mobile access to email, calendar and contacts
• Microsoft Lync—the central instant messaging and conferencing service already used by faculty and staff
• Office Web Apps—create and edit Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft OneNote documents using your favorite web browser
• SkyDrive Pro—store, organize and share important documents in the cloud
  

UCIT will post regular status updates on the student email login page (https://mail.uc.edu) while the upgrade is in process. Learn more at the Office 365 information page: http://www.uc.edu/ucit/email/office365.html. The UCIT Helpdesk is available to answer any additional questions or concerns at (513) 556-HELP, or at helpdesk@uc.edu.