Student Employees, Teaching Assistants and Research Assistants Email Guidelines
Overview
All students at Ohio State receive an email ending in @buckeyemail.osu.edu. Students who work for the university canalso receive an email address name.#s@osu.edu. Each email account has a distinct purpose. Using each accountappropriately will provide separation and privacy between a student’s academic life and university business. While it
might seem like an inconvenience to use both accounts, there are very good reasons to do so.
Employee accounts are not given to students automatically. To request an account for your student employee, teachingassistant, or research assistant, follow the instructions in KB03389.

Student Accounts
Student accounts (@buckeyemail.osu.edu) should be used for all activities associated with being a student, such as:
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Corresponding with faculty and advisors
Working with other students on group projects
Communicating with extracurricular groups such as teams, clubs, Greek organizations, etc.
Communicating with other offices of the university (Registrar, Bursar, Student Health, Student Life, Libraries,etc.) as it relates to any aspect of being a student
Applying for internships, scholarships, and opportunities offered as part of your student education

Employee Accounts
Employee accounts (name.#s@osu.edu) should be used when you are conducting business of the university in yourcapacity as an employee of the university, whether a student employee, teaching assistant, or research assistant. Such
activities include, but may not be limited to:••••

Communicating with supervisor or other employees about work projects for the employing unit
Periodic reporting to supervisors about work that has been done
Sending emails on behalf the of employing unit for a business purpose, handling room reservation requests,
fixing AV equipment issues, or any other tasks that a student employee may be assigned by the employing unit
TAs/Ras interacting with students/faculty/staff in their courses or research

Why Accounts Should be Kept Separate
Student Accounts
Could contain FERPA protected communications. Keeping
educational communication in your student account willkeep it better protected.

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Employee Accounts
By Ohio law, University records, including emails, have tobe maintained and disposed of in accordance with theRecords Management Policy, university retention
schedules and Information Security Control Requirement(ISCR) DAT3. There are fines and legal consequences for
non-compliance.
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Ohio’s Public Records Laws are based on thecontent/purpose of the email message, not on theaccount they are sent from. Sending university businessthrough student email accounts could subject the student
email account to inspection by the Public Records Officeor Legal Affairs to look for responsive records.
Business records have the potential to become part oflitigation. Conducting university business through student
email accounts could subject the student email accountto a preservation hold or the discovery process.

Business records could be subject to Ohio’s Public
Records Laws and have to be made available uponrequest within a reasonable period of time.

Business communications may need to be accessed andreferenced by others in the department after a student
employee has left.
ISCR IT12.8.1 requires work-related email and electronic
communications to be done through the Employee
account.
Any business system requiring an email address to log
into should use the Employee email address.

Configuring Both Accounts in Outlook
It is possible to access both your student account and business account through the Outlook desktop application. See
the following Knowledge Base articles for information on configuring Outlook accounts:
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KB03389– University Email Service – Student Accounts
o Instructions for Accessing Student Accounts linked from KB03389
KB03627 – University E-Mail Service: Outlook for Windows Profile/Account Configuration
KB06202 – Office 365 – Outlook for Mobile Devices (Configuration & Technical Help)
Add a Shared/Organization Mailbox in Outlook
Administrative Resource Center (ARC) Outlook guidance

University Records Management
Pari J. Swift
University Records Manager
Swift.102@osu.edu
614-292-4092
Records Management Tip Sheets and Guidance

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