TO: FIU Faculty & Staff
FROM: University Technology Services (UTS)
SUBJECT: Implementation of Alias E-mail Addresses
DATE: December 12, 2001

University Technology Services (UTS) is pleased to announce
that, effective December 13, 2001, it is establishing a new
E-mail convention where each holder of an FIU E-mail
account will have an alternative (alias) E-mail address
of the form Firstname.Lastname@fiu.edu. This applies
to students, faculty, and staff.

The following questions and answers are intended to inform
faculty and staff about the details of this new convention.

Q. What is an alias E-mail address?
A.

An alias E-mail address is an alternative address to the original
FIU E-mail address you were assigned when you applied for an
FIU E-mail account. Alias E-mail addresses are of the form:
yourfirstname.yourlastname@fiu.edu.

Original E-mail addresses are of the form: USERNAME@fiu.edu,
where USERNAME is a special, unique 1-8 character code that will
allow you to access various University computing facilities:
Solix/Unix, WebCT, FIU WebMail, etc.

Q. Why have an alias E-mail address? What advantages does it have?
A. An alias E-mail address can have more than eight characters preceding the @fiu.edu, so you can have an address that is usually much more sensible and memorable than your original E-mail address. This sort of explicit address is being used more and more in government, large corporations, etc.
Q. When will the alias addresses be available?
A. We are currently generating alias E-mail addresses. Almost all faculty and staff members already have initial values of their alias addresses. Students' alias addresses should all be available by December 31.
Q. How is the alias E-mail address chosen?
A. The alias address is of the form Firstname.Lastname@fiu.edu.
If this results in a duplication, a unique number will be appended
to the Lastname, e.g., john.smith1, john.smith2, john.smith3, etc.
Initially, standard alias addresses will be automatically formed
from employee and student registration records.

Q.

What if I do not like my new alias address?

A.

If you do not care for the alias address as formed by University
records, faculty and staff members will be given an opportunity to
request that it be changed to something more to their liking.
The first part of the alias address MUST at least resemble your
firstname.lastname. For example, if your formed alias address is
specified as christopher.columbiano@fiu.edu, you could shorten it to
chris.columbiano@fiu.edu, or perhaps c.columbiano@fiu.edu. UTS
will have final discretion in approving all change requests,
but we will work with you to find a suitable alias address.

Also, if your alias address is just too long, or you find it
otherwise inconvenient, you can continue to use your original
E-mail address, for example, columbia@fiu.edu.

Q.

Where can I find out what my E-mail alias address is, and how can I get it changed if I don't like it?

A.

Faculty and staff can find the initial value of their alias
E-mail address by using the on-line FIU Phonebook at
http://www.fiu.edu/phonebook.html .

On the left side of the Phonebook search page, make sure that "Employee Information" is selected with a dot inside its button, type your last or full name into the search form, and click on SEARCH. Your new alias E-mail address should be the last value in your Phonebook entry. If you have no Phonebook entry at all, or your E-mail address is reported as "unavailable," please call the UTS Support Center at 305-348-2284.

If you are happy with the initial alias address assigned to you,
you needn't do anything-- except to jot down the alias.
If you are not happy with the initial assignment of the alias,
click on the "Alias Change Request" button. The Phonebook will
direct you to an on-line change request form.

Q.

How can I find out the correct alias addresses of my associates
if they are in the process of changing them?
A.

The FIU Phonebook at the web site above will always contain the
most current value of each FIU employee's alias E-mail address.
You may also use it to look up any employee's title, department,
location, phone number, etc. If you forget the Phonebook web
site location, you can link on "FIU Phonebook" from the new
FIU Home Page.

Q.

When I go to see what my alias E-mail address is, I see capital letters in the address. Do I have to use them?

A.

Your alias E-mail address is not case-sensitive. You may use any
combination of capital and lower case letters so long as they spell
out your alias address.

Q.

Do I have to change all the FIU entries in my E-mail address book?

A.

No. We will be using both the original and alias addresses for the
foreseeable future, so you do not have to change FIU addresses already in your book.

Q.

Why do you need both an original E-mail address AND an alias?.

A.

At present, some of our mail server equipment will not work with
addresses longer than eight characters [your alias address is actually
translated into your original address before access is granted].
Q. In trying some of the new alias addresses, we found that we were having troubles communicating with list servers to which we are subscribed. What's wrong?
A. If you change your "Reply To:" address to your new alias address, and you do not make a corresponding change to your address in the list server(s), this can cause various problems. If you have unresolved list server problems, please call the Support Center at 305-348-2284 for special help.
Q. What if I have E-mail address problems or questions not answered by the above?
A. Please call the UTS Support Center at 305-348-2284 or E-mail to
utssc@fiu.edu.