On Mar 6, 2024, alumni who have an active @berkeley.edu Google account were sent the following notification about the changes coming to email services they receive as a Berkeley alum including the steps they will need to take to retain uninterrupted access to their @berkeley.edu Google account.
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Dear UC Berkeley Alum,
We are writing to notify you about a few changes to the email services you receive as a Cal alum. Please follow the steps below to retain your berkeley.edu email address.
Next Steps
To ensure uninterrupted access to your Berkeley-provided email:
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By April 15, 2024: Renew your alumni email account
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By July 15, 2024: Reduce your total storage to below 5 GB
Learn more and get additional information about Alumni Email Changes
Why are changes to alumni email accounts needed?
Effective Nov. 1, 2024, Google will no longer provide unlimited storage to its education customers. In preparation for this change, Berkeley is undertaking an extensive effort to manage new costs associated with storing data across all its Google accounts.
Unlike many other universities that are retiring alumni email services in response to this change, campus leadership has decided to continue offering email services to existing alumni account holders and future graduates. This decision was informed by feedback from alumni and students.
Key Considerations
After conducting an extensive review that included feedback from alumni, students, faculty, and staff three considerations emerged:
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Retain alumni connections: Many alumni value continued access to their berkeley.edu email address as one way they identify themselves as Berkeley graduates.
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Control costs: Berkeley needs to manage the additional costs associated with the new storage pricing model offered to Google Workspace Education customers.
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Manage risks and threats: Berkeley needs to manage the security and reputational risks and threats posed by unattended and possibly compromised alumni email accounts.
What is changing?
In response to these considerations, Berkeley’s alumni email service will continue but with some changes:
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Annual renewals: Alumni will be required to review and accept terms of service annually.
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Storage Limits: Alumni accounts will be limited to 5 GB of total storage. This limit was set to help manage the limited storage provided to Berkeley by Google and ensure adequate storage availability for current students, faculty, and staff.
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Security Controls: Additional security measures and protections will be necessary to protect Berkeley’s Google Workspace environment. These include stricter policies to protect against spam, phishing attacks, and the requirement to utilize two-factor authentication for access.
We are committed to maintaining ways for you to stay engaged with Berkeley. We’ll continue to evaluate whether this service is an effective way of achieving that goal. Please note that the email service for alumni is provided as a privilege and subject to additional changes.
Thank you for taking action to retain your berkeley.edu email address.
Best wishes, and Go Bears!
Gabriel Gonzalez, Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer
Wes Johnson, Executive Director of Campus IT Experience, Berkeley IT