Student Email
On December 15th, 2008, all eligible student email accounts were activated for ODU Gmail. As of 12/18/2008, 38,057 accounts have been activated. If you have not yet logged into your ODU Gmail account and verified it, here is how you do it:
Agree to the Gmail terms
- Continue to Gmail to agree to the Google terms
- You will be directed to a "Shibboleth" Login page, enter you MIDAS ID and Password and click login
- Enter the word verification.
- Agree and finalize your account (you should see the gmail interface, if you get placed back at the same verification screen, you probably typed the word verification incorrectly, try again.)
- Logout of Gmail and close the window.
Once Activated you can access your email by logging into http://my.odu.edu. Please remember that all new mail will now be delivered to your Gmail account just created, but older mail will remain in Notes (season.odu.edu). The portal, my.odu.edu, will display a login button for both systems. For help with access or account creation, please contact the Help Desk at 757 683-3192. For assistance with Gmail, please visit http://google.com/support/a/users/?hl=en
What will happen next?
All email sent to your ODU email address will be delivered to Google. You will also have access to Google Apps. Your Notes account will continue to exist for a while, so that you can log in and manage your existing mail.
Will my email address change?
No. Your email address will continue to be student-id@odu.edu.
What about the email in the portal?
At first, you will continue to see your Notes email in the portal. This will allow you to log in and manage your mail. The portal will also have a button for single sign-on to your Google mail. Ultimately, we plan to replace the mailbox view currently available for Notes with Google.
What about mail I receive from other applications, such as Banner or Blackboard?
They will be delivered to your Google account.
What if I don't activate my Google Account?
Students can choose to migrate starting 10.9.8, but ultimately, Notes will be going away, so sooner or later, your Notes email account will have to go away. Sooner will meet Later on December 15, 2008, when all accounts not already migrated to Google will be migrated automatically. Logging into season.odu.edu will forward you to your Google login page. This date, which is after Fall Commencement, was selected so as to minimize disruption to student during the end of semester and exam periods.
What will happen to my Notes account?
Once your Google account has been activated, all mail sent to student-id.odu.edu will be delivered to your new account. You will still be able to log into your Notes account, and you can delete old messages or forward them to yourself. You can even send email from that account, though we do not recommend it. Remember that all replies, as well as messages that you forward to yourself, will be delivered to Google.
How long will Notes be around?
The Notes email account will be available until March 15, 2009. This date, which is at the end of Spring Break, was selected so as to provide students ample time to forward or print any information they would need from their Notes accounts.
What if I'm already forwarding my email to another account?
Student-id.odu.edu is your official university account and with the migration, all mail to this address will be sent to the new Google email account. If you are already forwarding your email in Notes, when the new account is activated, your forwarding address in Notes will be to the new Google account. This will be the case regardless of if you choose to migrate or were automatically switched on December 15th. We hope that you like the Google email account and additional services offered. But if you still wish to forward your email, you will have to log into Google and set the forwarding from there.
How long can I keep this account?
These accounts will be "forever" email accounts for ODU students and alumni, starting with those who graduated in Spring, 2008. So for as long as you're a student (undergrad, grad, etc.) and once you become an alumni, you will maintain this email account.
Will there be a cost once I graduate?
No, there will be no cost for this service. As an alumni you may see advertisements as with a normal gmail account. The advertisements will not be in the form of an email, but part of the GUI. ODU students will not see these advertisements.