Details
Every Dartmouth account can receive mail sent to their primary email address. In some cases, people are commonly known by an alternate name. These names can be set up as an alias for their primary email address so that email sent to that alias is delivered to the same location as mail sent to the primary email address.
All Dartmouth account holders can manage their email aliases via the Dartmouth Directory Manager.
Terminology
Primary Address: The "primary address" appears in the "From" field when email is sent. It is your full name, and, if a student or alumni, your class designation (e.g. john.a.doe.25@dartmouth.edu).
Alias: Email addresses, other than your primary address, are referred to as aliases. Alias addresses are only used for receiving email; they are never used for sending email.
Reserved Alias: Reserved aliases are addresses at which email had been received by the account under the old BlitzMail system. These were created automatically by that system.
- These will automatically be deleted when an employee account expires or when a student account transitions to an alumni account.
Reserved aliases are also created when there is a name change. The email address with the former name automatically becomes a "reserved" alias.
Secondary Alias: A "secondary" alias is one that is created by the user. Dartmouth account holders can create up to two (2) "secondary" aliases. These additional email addresses must be unique within the Dartmouth domain.
- All student and alumni aliases will automatically have their class designation appended to any secondary alias. (i.e. 25@dartmouth.edu)
Chosen Name: An email alias is not the same as chosen name. For more information on Chosen Name please see the article Dartmouth Chosen Name.
- Changing your chosen name will change your primary email address.
Nickname: Nicknames were from the old BlitzMail system. Each user could specify up to 8 nicknames at which they could receive email messages, or by which others could look them up. The nickname functionality for receiving email has been migrated to the "alias" functionality in the current Email system. Nicknames can still be specified to make it easier for people to find you by adding them at the Dartmouth Directory Manager (DartDM). Any nicknames you specify in DartDM will be searchable via the Lookup.dartmouth.edu.
Address Examples
All student and alumni aliases will automatically have their class designation appended to any secondary alias. (i.e. 25@dartmouth.edu)
Retention
An account holder can delete secondary or reserved aliases, but not their primary email address. Once an email alias has been deleted, the user will no longer receive email sent to that address.
Students, alumni and emeriti will retain their primary email address, and up to two secondary aliases, for life. With the exception of emeriti, all staff and faculty primary email addresses will be relinquished upon retirement or separation from Dartmouth.
Reserved addresses will cease to function for students upon graduation and for emeriti, upon their retirement date. For these reasons it is recommended that, for all external and other important communications, you always promote the use of your primary email address.
A deleted address can be reactivated within twelve months of deletion for the same user (e.g., rehire of employee within period of time). After this timeframe, deleted addresses are available for use by another Dartmouth account holder.
Relinquished addresses may not be re-used until a waiting period of twelve months has passed.