DavisMail, the campus email service for students, is the UC Davis version of Google's free Web-based email service, Gmail. Learn about its features at http://mail.google.com/mail/help/intl/en/about.html .

New students automatically receive a DavisMail account when they become a UC Davis student.

Yes. You must agree to two Terms of Service (TOS) agreements: Google’s and UC Davis’. If you reject the Google TOS, you must redirect your email to an external email provider of your choice. To redirect your email, visit computingaccounts.ucdavis.edu, select “Email forwarding,” and follow the instructions.

Your DavisMail user name and password will work only with the services available within the UC Davis domain. However, the domain includes many services, and more were added in summer 2011. To access other Google services, you will need to open a non-UC Davis account through Google. Your DavisMail account is separate from Google’s other offerings.

The difference is mostly in the look and feel of these applications. The changes include the use of university logos, banners, and some feeds to the start page. Behind the scenes, Google also delegates control of UC Davis’ Google Apps and user accounts to UC Davis system administrators.

No. If you do not want to use a DavisMail account, you may go to computingaccounts.ucdavis.edu to direct your UC Davis email to an external email address of your choice. It is up to you to decide whether or not you would like to use your DavisMail account or direct your email to an outside account at your own risk.  Information and Educational Technology does not offer students an email account on the central campus servers. Some departments maintain local servers and may give their students accounts.

Regularly enrolled undergraduate and graduate students, except for Medical School students, are eligible.

The campus has considered this option, and conducted a pilot for faculty in 2009, but has not determined that DavisMail meets the requirements and needs of faculty and staff.

No.

Yes.

You can go directly through the MyUCDavis Web portal, my.ucdavis.edu.

It is currently 25 gigabytes. Google has increased capacity a few times over the years, most recently in mid-2011.

As long as you are a student, your DavisMail will not have ads. Once you graduate, your email will be handled like a general Gmail account and may contain small text ads.

Google Apps are communication and collaboration tools offered in conjunction with Gmail. You have access to Google Calendar, Talk, Start Page, Chat, Docs, Sites, and more. For a full list of apps available, click on the Google Apps button at the top of your start page. For help with Google Apps, contact Google directly by clicking on the help link at the top right corner of the Google App you are using.

Google supports the latest version of the web browsers listed on this page: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6557

For help regarding your DavisMail account only, contact IT Express at 530-754-HELP (4357). They are open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. For help with Google Apps, contact Google by clicking on the help link at the top right corner of the Google App you are using.

In June 2008, a UC-wide contract was signed by the University of California Office of the President and Google Inc. UC Davis and other campuses worked with UCOP to develop a UC-wide contract that would meet the needs of the campus community. The contract is seven years--the initial contract is four years, and renewal is automatic for three one-year terms. The contract is not exclusive, and there is no cost to the university for using Google’s services. UC Davis may terminate the agreement at any time. If the contract were to end, UC Davis would move all existing accounts back to the central servers.

No.

When someone sends an email to a DavisMail account, the campus system filters and tags the message for viruses and spam, then sends the email to Google, which also filters for viruses and spam before delivering the message. Read about Google's spam filters at http://www.google.com/mail/help/fightspam/spamexplained.html

Google maintains privacy policies for each of its applications. For a list, and access to these policies, please visit http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/terms/user_privacy.html. However, confidential or sensitive information should NEVER be sent through email. For more on this topic, see the next question.

Never send sensitive information by email -- see email.ucdavis.edu/email/Email_Best_Practices_04_16_08_v4.php -- because:

• An unauthorized party could intercept and access your message.
• The recipient might share it in a way you would not want.
• The email could be compromised for as long as you or the recipient keep it.
• You don't control what your recipient keeps.
• Accessing your email over an insecure network (e.g., in an Internet cafe or on an open wireless network) can expose your user account information.
• Encrypted connections reduce the risk that your authentication credentials will be compromised, but email is plain text when traveling between the sender and the recipient, and can still be easily intercepted.
• Regardless of the provider, email is not a secure method of communication. This applies to current campus email systems as well as most third-party email providers.

It includes Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, credit card information, medical/health conditions, etc. None of this information should be sent by email, regardless of the email provider. As a general rule, if you would not want information to appear in public, then do not send it by email. Email, like a postcard, can easily be read en route. It can be kept forever, or shared with unintended readers. Find more at email.ucdavis.edu/email/Email_Best_Practices_04_16_08_v4.php.

By law, some intellectual property should not be stored outside the United States. Individuals handling sensitive materials should not share this information by email regardless of the email provider. Also, an email intended for a domestic user can be easily forwarded elsewhere.

The privacy and security provisions in the agreement with Google state that administration and management of Gmail accounts in the UC Davis domain are under the control of UC Davis email administrators. User authentication is provided by our campus Central Authentication Service (CAS). CAS provides an added level of security, because no password information is sent to Google. Note: CAS authentication is provided only when users employ the Web interface. If users access DavisMail via an IMAP or POP client, CAS is not used.

Do not use email to send sensitive information of any kind. Find more details at email.ucdavis.edu/email/Email_Best_Practices_04_16_08_v4.php

To access your DavisMail account with an email client such as Outlook, Apple Mail or Thunderbird, follow these instructions.

See information about connecting to DavisMail with iOS and Android at http://xbase.ucdavis.edu/2156

You will continue to have access to your DavisMail account. It may start showing small text ads. Also, once you graduate, IT Express will no longer be able to provide support for your DavisMail account.

You will continue to use the same email account.

Yes. To change the “from” address of your messages, follow the instructions at http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=22370.

You can import address books from Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo, and other services into your DavisMail account. See http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=8301 for directions.

Use the Report Spam button to tell Google you received junk email or a spoofed message. Use the Report Phishing link to tell Google you received a phishing message. You will see a red warning message at the top of any emails that are suspected of referencing a phishing site.

ALSO, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT: UC Davis will never ask you to confirm or verify your computing account by providing your password or passphrase via telephone or email. Requests that ask you to reply to an email, or to visit a non-campus affiliated website, to confirm or verify your account by providing your password, are phishing scams. Ignore these requests, even if they seem to come from a “ucdavis.edu” email address. If you think you disclosed your password or other personal information in response to a phishing scam, contact the IT Express Computing Services Help Desk immediately at 530-754-HELP (4357).

The passphrase to access DavisMail is your campus Kerberos passphrase. If you forget your campus Kerberos passphrase, please contact IT Express. If you access your email using an IMAP or POP client, you will need to set up a different passphrase.

To change your passphrase, go to computingaccounts.ucdavis.edu , select “Change your passphrase,” and follow the instructions. Or visit any of these campus passphrase reset locations: 182 Shields, 177 MU (also known as MU Station), 15 Olson, 1101 Hart and 75 Hutchison.

No. This function is not available at this point.

For additional help, please visit google.com/support or call IT Express.

Gmail, unlike other email services, does not use a folder system to organize emails. Instead, it uses filters and labels. To read more, go to http://mail.google.com/support/?hl=en , then find and click on the “Labels and filters” entry.