Managing Your Digital Files and Information When You Leave U-M

If you are leaving the university, you will lose access to some or all of your computing services depending on your university affiliation(s). See What Happens to Your Uniqname, Directory Profile, and Computing Services After You Leave U-M for details.

If you will lose access to U-M computing services, here is information to help you transition files, messages, and other digital data that you want to keep. You may want to delete those things you no longer need.

@umich.edu Address
M+Google Apps
IFS Space
Directory Groups
Group Websites
Getting Help

@umich.edu Address

As long as you have a profile in the MCommunity Directory, your @umich.edu email address will continue to work.

To learn about forwarding your U-M email to a new address, see Forwarding or Redirecting Your U-M Email Using the MCommunity Directory.
Whether or not you have an MCommunity Directory profile depends on your relationship with the university. See What Happens to Your Uniqname, Directory Profile, and Computing Services After You Leave U-M for details.

M+Google Apps

You will continue to have access to your UMICH Google Apps account as long as you have a profile in the MCommunity Directory.

If you own Google Docs that are needed for the work of the university, transfer ownership of them, and of any other such information stored in an M+Google App, to someone at the university so the information will remain accessible after you leave.

If you lose all affiliations with U-M, your access to M+Google Apps will end 30 days after your affiliation is removed from your MCommunity Directory profile. You will receive an email notice letting you know when the 30 days will end. Export, save, or forward messages, documents, and other data that you wish to keep from your M+Google Apps account.

Your IFS Space

If you have files in your IFS space that you want to keep, please download copies to your computer. There are several ways to download your files.

You can download your files from IFS using MFile over the web.
If you have a lot of files and folders to download, you may find it easier to use the file transfer software available from the Blue Disc website: SSH SFTP for Windows and Fugu for Macintosh.
Another option is to use a computer at a Campus Computing Site. These computers are set up such that they display your IFS home directory as an icon on the desktop. You can put a blank CD into the sites computer, then drag the icon of your home directory to the icon for the CD to burn your files to the CD. If you have a lot of files, you may need more than one CD.

If you have a website. If you have a personal website for which the pages are stored in IFS, please be aware that your website will no longer be published when your IFS directory is removed from the system. If you want to keep your site, you will need to arrange for a new web host and transfer your files. If you will maintain your M+Google account, you can use Google Sites.

Your Directory Groups

Delete Obsolete Groups to Reduce Spam

If you own groups in the MCommunity Directory that are no longer needed, please delete them before you leave. If you don't, the unfortunate members of those groups are likely to continue to receive spam through them.

Transfer Ownership for Groups that Are Needed by Others

If a group you own is needed by people at U-M, please make someone who is still at the university is an owner of that group. Do this by making changes to your group so as to add the new owner(s) and remove yourself as owner.

Renew Groups that You Want to Keep

Directory groups must be renewed on a yearly basis or they will expire. Be sure to renew groups that you expect to keep using after you leave the university.

Group Websites

If you maintain a website for a student organization, a university program, or anything else associated with the university that must continue after you leave U-M, please assign the appropriate IFS permissions for the new people who will maintain the website.

Instructions are provided in this documentation:

Managing Access to IFS Group Directories for Websites (S4349)

Getting Help

For help with your ITS computing services, contact the ITS Service Center at 764-HELP (734-764-4357) or 4HELP@umich.edu.