Changes in UT’s Email Forwarding Policy

Starting on December 15, 2021, the University of Tennessee will restrict automatic mail forwarding to non-UT personal email accounts for the following groups: 

• Faculty and staff 
• Retirees and Emeritus Faculty 
• Sponsored Accounts
• Departmental Email Accounts 

UT Knoxville students and alumni can continue to forward their email from their UT Gmail account.  Any student who is currently forwarding email from their Microsoft 365 account should switch to Gmail to prevent an interruption in service.  Once your account is updated, you can set up mail forwarding with Gmail.   

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the University making this change? 

We are making this change to protect the University’s information. Forwarding your email to an external email address presents an unnecessary risk to the University and does not relieve the University or employee from the Tennessee Public Records Act, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), or other types of discovery.  

Can I forward individual emails? 

Yes, you can continue to forward individual messages to an external email address; this initiative only limits automated email forwarding.  

What other options do I have? 

• UT Faculty, staff, retirees, and emeritus faculty can use their university-provided email account.
  UT’s Microsoft 365 Outlook is available for all of these groups, and UTK’s Gmail is available for UTK faculty and staff. Learn more about your UT email account.  
• Departmental accounts must use Microsoft 365 Outlook for university email.  You may forward email from your departmental email address to another UT email address such as NetID@utk.edu or NetID@tennessee.edu; only forwarding outside of the university is restricted. 

Can I get an exemption? 

Forwarding to a non-UT personal email address is not eligible; however, faculty and staff may request an exemption for qualifying email domains for work-related purposes. University Chief Information Officers for each campus will review each request and determine if the domain is eligible. 

• Check to see if the email domain you want to use is available. Select View Forwarding Domains to see if a specific domain has been approved (or denied).
• For domains that are not available and have not been previously denied, submit your exemption request online:
  • Knoxville-area, including UTK, UTIA, UTSA, UTSI, and IPS
  • UT Chattanooga
  • UT Health Science Center
  • UT Martin
  • UT Southern

Instructions: Sign up for a UT email account

Some employees, retirees, and sponsored accounts do not automatically receive an email account. In the past, we passed on any email sent to their UT email address to their personal email address. With these changes, we can no longer provide this service. If you do not have a UT email account, follow these directions to create and begin using your UT email account.

• Step 1: Create your UT email account online
• Step 2: Choose your Email Provider
  • To begin using UT Microsoft 365 Outlook, sign in online at office365.utk.edu.
  • (UTK only) To begin using your UTK Gmail, visit the Email for Faculty and Staff site and choose to Change your UT email provider.  Sign in to select Gmail as your UT email provider.