Office of Information Technology

All UT students are required to have a UT e-mail address. Incoming freshmen, are given an account upon acceptance to the university. The university is in the process of moving to one e-mail system. If you were accepted to the university before March 13, 2006, you were given a WebMail account. You will want to upgrade to all the features and functionality of Tmail as soon as possible (http://oit.utk.edu/exchange/newstudent). If you have already upgraded, or were accepted to the university after March 13th you are ready to check your account. Go to Tmail (http://tmail.utk.edu) and log in using your NetID and Password.

As part of your official record, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) assigns every student an individual electronic identification, called NetID (Network ID), and an e-mail account, which is based on the student’s NetID plus the extension @utk.edu. For example, if your name is Jane Doe, the University might assign jdoe as your NetID, then your e-mail account would be jdoe@utk.edu. If you prefer a more formal address, you can also use the extension @tennessee.edu, (jdoe@tennessee.edu). Either will work.

The address will operate under the same set of assumptions as an official postal address. Should you desire, you can forward e-mail from your official university e-mail address to any e-mail account (if, for example, if you would prefer to read your UT e-mail in Yahoo, AOL, or any other e-mail package, you can). If you select to forward your mail and that process fails, you will still be held accountable for reading and responding to any official information sent to your official university e-mail address.

Your NetID allows you to check e-mail, use OIT lab computers, access Blackboard, utilize library services, interact with parking services, and access many other Web-based features at the university.

Most people think of NetID as the first part of their e-mail address—(whatever your NetID is) @utk.edu. It certainly is that, and so much more. NetID (Network ID) also provides a unique logon profile used to identify a person requesting access to university resources over the university’s network. The online directory, using the NetID profile and password, provides the means to confidently authenticate you before allowing you to access to any application or to see any information. It is also your secure passport for new Web-based services that give you much more control over your personal data, course management, parking, library services, registration, and fee payment. For a demonstration on NetID, go to http://oit.utk.edu/showme. Information associated with you, including your NetID, is kept in the online directory. If you do not want information such as your name or local phone number to be made public, you should contact Student Data Resources (974-2108) to learn about your privacy options.

Recommendation: Regardless of where you read your e-mail, for a professional (rather than personal) e-mail address, it is suggested that you use your NetID e-mail account for job interviews and other professional correspondences.

There are several e-mail options on the Tmail home page at http://tmail.utk.edu. See the next section UT's E-mail Software--Tmail beginning on page 7.

You can change your e-mail options by going to the Tmail account management page at http://webmail.utk.edu Select “Manage your Exchange Account,” then log in. You will see how much space you are using and how much you have left; it also allows you to set mail forwarding and filters and to create a vacation message.

To access the online directory, go to the UT Directory Services home page at http://directory.utk.edu. This allows you to look up information about students, faculty, and staff at UT. You will be able to change certain fields about yourself; other fields are pulled from Student Records. If the information that you cannot change is incorrect, you should change that in the registrar’s office, 209 Student Services Building, (974-2101). Information on address changes can also be found at the registrar’s home page (http://registrar.tennessee.edu).