Aquinas College and the Aquinas Alumni Association provide multiple alumni benefits, one of which will soon be changing.

Beginning on July 31, 2023 (or approximately six months after you graduate), access to Aquinas email and other IT systems will be limited to current faculty, staff, and students. After July 31, alumni and former students will no longer have access to their Aquinas email account and will need to make other arrangements for email services. Going forward, AQ email accounts will close approximately one semester after a student graduates or leaves Aquinas College. 

Why is Aquinas making this change?

Our research has shown that only a small percentage of alumni accessed their email accounts over the last several years. With the many email providers available, AQ email is not being used significantly by our alumni anymore.

We have experienced increased cyber security threats originating from our email system resulting in additional costs and a need to limit the opportunities for bad actors to access rarely used accounts. You have probably noticed an increase in fake phishing emails asking for your username, password, or other credentials. Several Aquinas community members have fallen for these predatory attacks causing even more cyber threats for the college community.

What happens when the change occurs?

Alumni will no longer be able to send, receive or forward messages from their AQ email after the accounts have been closed. All emails and contacts stored in the account will be deleted. Alumni or former students who are not currently using their @aquinas.edu email do not need to take any action. Inactive alumni email accounts will also be closed on July 31, 2023.  

If you are a current student and have received this communication in error, please contact the Aquinas helpdesk at techhelp@aquinas.edu.

What should you do next?

We understand this is unwelcome news for those who use their alumni email accounts. We have gathered several resources that we hope will make your email transition easier.

  • Make sure you change any financial accounts, online accounts, or subscriptions (Spotify, Netflix, etc.) to your new email account before your AQ account is disabled on July 31, 2023 (or approximately six months after you graduate).
  • Please use this Alumni Class Notes link to update your alumni record with your preferred email address and phone number.
  • Here are several helpful resources to create a new Gmail account and move your data if you so desire:

Here are several helpful resources to create a new Gmail account and to move your data if you so desire:

Thank you for your understanding as we navigate through new online security realities.

 

AnchorExport, back-up, or restore contacts

To add your contacts to another Google email account

  1. Go to Google Contacts
  2. Select one of the following:
    1. A single contact: Hover over the circular letter or picture to the left of the contacts name and a selection box will appear. Click that box to select that contact.
    2. Multiple contacts: Using the steps for selecting a single contact select the contacts you want to copy.
    3. All contacts: After using the steps above to select the first contact, locate the blue box directly above the first contact in your list. Click the small down arrow to the right and select “All” from the menu. 
  3. In the upper right corner of the screen (next to the Mail icon), click the three vertical dots, then click the “Export” button.
  4. To back up your contacts, select Google CSV.
  5. To save your file, click Export.