How to Access E-mail

Grinnell College offers Web-based e-mail access mechanisms. Microsoft Outlook Web Access - the current client - allows users to access their e-mail through an interface similar to Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. You can log in to OWA here.

Viruses Sent VIA E-mail

We currently run virus protection on our email server. This means that each piece of email coming in through this server is checked for the most known viruses. We have to update our database of known viruses often so that we can be sure that we have the latest information available.

If you receive email with a virus attached, you will still receive the email, but it will have a text document attached to it telling you this email message was quarantined. You will not be able to receive this message, but you can see who the mail came from so that you can request the person to send another email that is free of the virus.

Still, as a guideline, users should not open attachments from people they are not expecting files from.

Spam (Advertisments)

Spam usually takes the form of advertisements sent in e-mail messages. These messages can be deceiving, appearing to be sent from trusted sources or containing content which does not seem to be an advertisement. Unfortunately, there is no good way to stop spam completely. Grinnell College will begin using spam filtering and prevention software on the e-mail server this fall. This software will help reduce the amount of spam in your inbox by blocking messages marked as unsolicited advertisments. It may also allow classification of messages and routing of "greymail" to specific folders for your review. Whether or not spam filtering software is available, you should always take preventative measures. Below are some suggestions to help you prevent your inbox from becoming cluttered with spam.

• Don't publish your e-mail address on the internet - robots or spiders are designed to scan Web pages and extract e-mail addresses for advertising purposes. If you must publish an e-mail address, consider signing up for a free account at Hotmail or other providers. That way, if the spam becomes too much for you, you can cancel the account.
• Always read the privacy policy or terms of use when signing up for Web services with your e-mail address. Make sure the company will not sell or otherwise distribute your e-mail.
• If the e-mail address contains a link to unsubscribe or remove you from the mailing list, do not click it. Oftentimes, doing so will simply signal to the company that your e-mail address is valid and they may sell your e-mail address to other companies.
• Never send sensitive data such as passwords over e-mail. No department at Grinnell College will ever ask for your password or other information.
• Beware of e-mail originating from official sounding addresses such as admin@grinnell.edu or support@grinnell.edu. These are not valid college addresses.

E-mail Client Applications

Those using e-mail clients produced by Microsoft (Outlook, Outlook Express) can create Microsoft Exchange Server accounts within their client software. Unfortunately, the Exchange server is currently blocked from ResNet, but should become available soon. Therefore, you should create an IMAP account for the time being.