Article URL: http://www.bc.edu/helpdocs/EM-about001.shtml

Summary:  Learn how to get an email account at BC, what your email address is, how to keep your email address from being published, and what happens to your email when you leave BC.

On this page:

• Get an email account at BC
• About your BC email address
• Suppress your email address from publication
• What happens to my email when I leave BC?

Getting an email account at BC

Boston College provides email services for all affiliated students, faculty, and staff (including part-time and visiting faculty and staff). These email services require a BC username and password.

New students: You receive a letter containing your BC username and password as soon as you are formally transferred to 'student' status. If you lost or did not receive the letter containing this information, contact or visit the the  Campus Technology Resource Center (CTRC) in the O'Neill Library at help.center@bc.edu or 617-552-HELP(4357).

Faculty and Staff: You receive a letter containing your BC username and password from your department. If you lost or did not receive the letter containing this information, contact your Technology Consultant (TC):  www.bc.edu/tc

About your BC email address

Your email address at Boston College has two forms:

• "friendly" - firstname.lastname.#@bc.edu
• "short" - username@bc.edu

"Friendly" email address

Your "friendly" address is firstname.lastname.#@bc.edu. If your full name is not unique at BC, you must use the appropriate number after your name (for example, John.Doe.3@bc.edu). To learn what your number is, check the   Electronic Communications Directory and search for your name to find your directory record and to confirm your "friendly address."

Note: If you are the first or only person with that name, and you have a 1 after your name, you do not need to use the number 1 in the address. If another person with the same name is added to the system in the future, this new person will be assigned firstname.lastname.2@bc.edu.

"Short" email address

Your "short address" is username@bc.edu. Your "short address" is unique within Boston College. It is useful for people with long names or common names. Learn more about your BC username.

Important: Boston College recommends that you keep the short version of your address private and only use it to log into your BC accounts. Give people the "friendly" version of your email address instead. If you make the short version public, your BC accounts may be somewhat more vulnerable to hackers.

Suppressing your email address from publication

You can control whether your email address is published within the Boston College community and/or to the public at large.

To suppress your email address from publication:

1.  Log in to Agora.
2. Under My Services, click U-View - Your Personal Records.
3. Select Privacy Preferences, then click Submit Request.
   A table of current privacy settings for your account appears.
4. If you want to make changes, click Update Privacy Preferences at the bottom of the page.
   Important: Be sure to read the information about changing your email address availability before making changes.
5. On the Update Privacy Preferences page, make any desired changes, then submit them by entering your password and clicking Update preferences at the bottom of the page.

Related Help Links

• Access your BC email from anywhere using the Web
• Configure your email application to get your BC email (BC sign-in required)