There are some important things to know about student email accounts, both in terms of the correct procedures for your classroom and to provide your students with appropriate support.

It is City Tech policy that all email communication with students take place using their City Tech email address ONLY. This is to eliminate potential breaches of the student’s privacy and to encourage students to access their accounts regularly, among other reasons. You will encounter students who have not yet set up their email accounts, especially if you are teaching first-year students. If a student has not yet set up their email account and you are having trouble reaching them, you may use an alternate account for initial contact. Please make every effort to encourage your student to set up their college account, and make every effort to switch to using the student’s official City Tech account within the first two weeks of the semester.

Many students do not use or check their email accounts as frequently as they should. Here is some guidance so you can best support your students in getting themselves connected:

• Inform students of the school policy on email communication.
• Encourage students to check their school email accounts daily, and emphasize to them that this is the primary mode of communication the school will use to get in touch or keep them informed. They will receive everything from announcements and invitations to official, time-sensitive notifications on registration, etc. through their school email. Of course, they will receive important information from their professors as well! 
• It’s helpful to ask students to send you an email from their school address as an element of a start-of-term assignment.
• The general pattern for student email addresses is firstname.lastname@mail.citytech.cuny.edu. Please note that this differs from the faculty and staff addresses, which do not include the “mail.” at the beginning of the domain name. Also, student email addresses do not include the last two digits of their EMPLID after the name. (Many students, when setting up their accounts, mistake their CUNY login for their email address, so it’s a good idea to clarify the difference.) A small percentage of students also have a one-digit number after their name in their address, particularly if they have a more common name. Students who have not begun using their email account can follow this link to find their correct email address before initializing their accounts.
• Please click here for the full instructions for initializing student email accounts, and please share this information with your students if needed.
• For tech support, students can visit the Student Help Desk, which is in the Welcome Center on the first floor of the Library Building (L-114). They can also get help by emailing StudentHelpDesk@citytech.cuny.edu  or by calling 718-260-4900.

For information on faculty email accounts, click here.