The user admin team will normally send you an email advising you that your account is due for closure 2-4 weeks before the scheduled closure date. Student accounts are normally scheduled for closure a few days after the first University Congregation (at which degrees are awarded) after the end of your studies. Staff and visitor accounts are normally scheduled for closure one or two months after you officially leave the department.

Please see the Extending your account page if you need to keep your account.

Please note it is not possible to keep old accounts on the system indefinitely. Accounts used from remote sites and unused accounts create a security risk, and the department does not have the resources to provide long-term computing facilities to ex-members of the Department.

E-mail continuity

When your account is closed, your e-mail facilities will also be removed.  There isn’t an email forwarding service, but some continuity can be obtained by using the autoreply services telling anyone emailing you of your new email address before and after your accounts are closed.

Engineering users will have a number of different Cambridge e-mail addresses.  Typically your @cam.ac.uk will be your published address and this will go to your Exchange Online account.  You can check this on your lookup page at www.lookup.cam.ac.uk (see “Your page”).

Before you leave you can set up an Automatic Reply (Out of Office message) on Exchange Online webmail, which will reply automatically to any mail sent to your Exchange Online account.  This autoreply will close when your Microsoft account is deleted.

You can also set up a Leaving Email Address on Lookup, and update it after you leave via ‘Raven for life’.  Mail sent to your @cam.ac.uk address will generate a bounce message with the suggested alternative contact address.

Mail to your @eng.cam.ac.uk will be forwarded to your @cam.ac.uk until your account is deleted   If your @cam.ac.uk is sent to your Exchange Online account, and you have put in an auto-reply on your Exchange Online account, anyone emailing your @eng.cam.ac.uk account will get the auto reply service as noted above until your Engineering account is closed.

If you need your @eng.cam.ac.uk to generate an autoreply after your Engineering account is closed, then you will need to ask the helpdesk.  The helpdesk can add a forward for up to 3 months after your Engineering account closure date.  The forward will pick up the Microsoft Outlook autoreply until that is closed, and then the ‘Raven for Life’ autoreply.

If you are a graduate or former postdoc of the University of Cambridge you can apply for the cantab.net email service, see http://cantab.net/ for details.  The UIS provide information about how to move your email to your cantab account.

Backup of your account

Backups of your Engineering Department central system account are taken regularly, and will be kept for up to a year after you leave.   Users with significant research data are encouraged to make backups to take with them when they leave the Department. Your divisional IT staff will be able help with this process, alternatively contact helpdesk@eng.cam.ac.uk

Passing files to someone else

If you need to give a colleague/supervisor access to your files before leaving, please copy them to a shared area. You must never give your password to someone else, and you should not leave shared material in your personal filespace, which will be removed after your departure. If you require help with this please contact your divisional IT support team or helpdesk@eng.cam.ac.uk

Access to e-journals

E-journals are licensed to staff and students at the University of Cambridge. Some e-journals are available to graduates and former postdocs of the University of Cambridge via the cantab.net service. See http://cantab.net for details.