Duke

An e-mail alias is a convenient e-mail address based on your name (for example, first.last@duke.edu). The alias is not a new mailbox. It's just an address that's easy for people to remember.

E-mail sent to your alias is routed to the Duke mailbox you designate in your request for an alias (in the case of students, it's routed to your DukeMail e-mail account). Mail sent to your alias goes to the same place as mail sent to your non-alias address. You only need to check your regular mailbox to read e-mail sent to your alias.

If you're a student, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) pre-assigned an e-mail alias for you. OIT assigns faculty/staff aliases upon request from an individual, the individual's department, or the individual's Lotus Notes administrator.

To find out if you have an e-mail alias:

• Visit Online@Duke and then follow the "Change your e-mail alias" link in the Directories box in the lower left-hand side of the page
• On the Directory Services page, look for the "Manage e-mail alias & privacy preferences" box on the lower left. Your e-mail alias (if you have one) will be listed, and you'll see a link to a page where you'll be able to change your e-mail alias.

To establish an e-mail alias:

• Visit Online@Duke and then follow the "Change your e-mail alias" link in the Directories box in the lower left-hand side of the page
• On the Directory Services page, look for the "Manage e-mail alias & privacy preferences" box on the lower left. Your e-mail alias (if you have one) will be listed, and you'll see a link to a page where you'll be able to change your e-mail alias.

Rule 1: An e-mail alias must contain a period and end in duke.edu. Also, the e-mail address that the alias is directed to must be a Duke-affiliated address, such as @duke.edu or @mc.duke.edu.

Rule 2: Each user can have only one e-mail alias, and each alias can only represent one user.

Rule 3: Aliases are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. If another person has already been assigned the e-mail alias you've requested, you must choose another one.

Rule 4: An e-mail alias must contain at least one or more separating periods, but never two in a row:

OK	john.doe@duke.edu
OK	john.e.doe@duke.edu
Not OK	john..doe@duke.edu
Not OK	john.doe..@duke.edu

Rule 5: An e-mail alias cannot contain any special characters or spaces. If your name has a hyphen or an apostrophe, use a period instead.

OK	jane.smith.doe@duke.edu
Not OK	jane.smith-doe@duke.edu
Not OK	jane.#doe@duke.edu
Not OK	jane. doe@duke.edu

Rule 6: An e-mail alias is not case-sensitive.

Rule 7: OIT offers name-based aliases only. Your alias should use your given name, preferred name, initial, or some combination of these.

Visit Online@Duke and, under Directories, use Search for a Duke person or department. Use the e-mail address that's listed for the individual. Remember that not everyone has an e-mail alias, and some people choose not to list their e-mail addresses in the directory.

Actually, Notes users must first have a Duke Unique ID and an e-mail alias before their Notes account is created.

NOTE: Before you request a Duke Unique ID or an e-mail alias, contact your Lotus Notes administrator in order to avoid duplicate requests.

To find out if you have a Duke Unique ID:

• Visit Online@Duke and then follow the "Search for Duke person or department" link in the Directories box in the lower left-hand side of the page
• On the Directory Services page, look for the "Search" box on the upper right. Select "Duke Person," type in the person's name, and look through the results for the right match. The unique IDs are listed in the results.

Student e-mail aliases remain valid for a year after graduation, while faculty and staff aliases are deleted on their last day at Duke. To avoid confusion, an alias cannot be used by someone else for six months after it is deleted.