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| You Are Here: | Home > E-mail & Calendaring > VT Mail > VT Mail Mailbox Management |
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VT Mail Mailbox ManagementThe following topics in this document will help you manage the messages you receive through your VT Mail account. Contents:
Mail Storage and RetentionThe VT Mail server stores messages for up to 32 days. In order to keep copies of your messages for longer than 32 days, you need to check your VT Mail account frequently using a desktop e-mail client such as Eudora, Outlook, or Outlook Express. If you do not download your messages from the server, they will be lost. Using only WebMail to check your mail does not remove messages from the server; messages viewed in WebMail will disappear after the server time limit expires or when you check your e-mail with another client. In order to keep your messages, please refer to Configuring Your Mail Client to Not Leave Mail on the VT Mail Server. Unwanted E-mailUnsolicted e-mail, junk mail, or "spam", has become one of the biggest headaches of using e-mail both in receiving messages, as well as sending them. For detailed documentation on how to stop and prevent unwanted e-mail, refer to Unwanted E-mail at Virginia Tech. VirusesE-mail has provided a medium through which viruses can spread efficiently and can infect a person's system with little or no warning. In recent years, the number of viruses spread through e-mail has grown tremendously. To curb this problem, Virginia Tech is offering two solutions:
Caution: Despite these measures, some viruses spread rapidly before antivirus updates are available to detect them. Please use caution when opening attachments, particularly when they arrive unexpectedly (even from apparently familiar senders) or from people you do not know.
Using Rules or FiltersRules, also known as filters, enable your client to automatically perform actions on your incoming messages based on criteria such as who sent the message, the subject of the message, or the importance of the message. These actions can include sorting messages into folders, deleting them, or changing their importance. See your client's documentation for instructions on using rules to automatically process your messages. Checking Mail While Away (WebMail)If you are away from your personal computer and would like to check your e-mail, refer to Checking Your VT Mail While Traveling or Away from Campus. Monitoring E-mailPlease be aware that Virginia Tech does not monitor e-mail. However, if asked to do so by a law enforcement agency by warrant, the system administrators do have the ability. For more information on acceptable use of information systems, refer to the Acceptable Use Policy. Additionally, the Student Life Office, the Office of Judicial Affairs, and the Virginia Tech Women's Center all handle questions of abuse of the Information Systems Acceptable Use Policy. Student Life and the Women's Center can assist students by asking the postmaster to monitor the e-mail of a student who has been accused of harassing another individual over e-mail. In these cases the VT Mail administrators do not actually read the mail but, instead, watch for mail sent to the individual they are accused of harassing. The e-mail is then sent to the Student Life Office or the Women's Center who can send it to the Office of Judicial Affairs for adjudication at the student's request, if the harasser is a Virginia Tech student. You can contact the staff in the Student Life Office at (540) 231-3787 or the Virginia Tech Women's Center at (540) 231-7806 for assistance and options for addressing the situation. The Office of Judicial Affairs also has staff that can provide confidential information as to how they adjudicate such cases. You can contact the staff in the Office of Judicial Affairs at (540) 231-3790. Sending E-mail to Random Sample of VT AddressesIn general, unsolicited e-mailings are prohibited at Virginia Tech. For more information, refer to the Acceptable Use Guidelines (http://www.policies.vt.edu/acceptableuse.html). Specifically pay attention to the sections about not using e-mail or messaging services to harass or intimidate another person, and about not wasting computing resources. If you feel that your use is acceptable, send an e-mail message to postmaster@vt.edu describing what you want to do and the specific reason for the request.
Note: If you are planning research that involves humans as research subjects, you must have approval from the Institutional Review Board for Research Involving Human Subjects (IRB). Keep in mind that this applies to surveys as well. For more information, refer to the Institutional Review Board for Research Involving Human Subjects Web page (http://www.irb.vt.edu/).
QuotasCurrently, the VT Mail system runs POP (Post Office Protocol) for connections to the mail server. By default under POP, most e-mail clients (such as Eudora and Outlook Express) remove your e-mail from the server when you check your messages. Since the messages are only stored on your personal computer, storage space on the server is usually not a big issue. In addition, any VT Mail messages left on the server are deleted every 32 days in order to control storage space. In the future, the VT Mail system will offer both POP and IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), two different ways to connect to the VT Mail server. By default under IMAP, most e-mail clients leave a copy of your messages on the server when you check your messages. In order to take full advantage of IMAP's capabilites, we will switch from a 32 day mail deletion cycle to a quota system. Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines quota as follows: Quota: a proportional part of a share; esp. the share or proportion assigned to each in a division or to each member of a body. In the context of your e-mail, a quota refers to how much disk or storage space you are allowed to use for storing your e-mail messages on the server, either old or new. This includes not only the message text, but any attachments (JPG, MP3, WAV files, etc.) that may have been sent with the messages. By enforcing a quota system, we will also be able to more easily monitor disk space utilization by individual account and notify you when you are reaching your assigned “proportional part of a share.” Depending on the volume of e-mail you receive, as well as how you manage your e-mail, you may or may not ever reach your quota limit. |
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