Ohio State maintains distinct email systems for academic, business, and clinical communications to uphold security, compliance, regulatory, and operational clarity.
- BuckeyeMail is used by students for academic and university communication. Students also have a lastname.#@osu.edu account that is automatically forwarded to their BuckeyeMail. If the student is also an employee, their lastname.#@osu.edu is not forwarded and is instead used for business purposes.
- Faculty and staff lastname.#@osu.edu accounts are used for university business.
- Wexner Medical Center email accounts also have a lastname.#@osu.edu account that some may forward to their firstname.lastname@osumc.edu email. These accounts are used by OSUMC employees for clinical and business purposes.
This distinction protects sensitive information, complies with data regulations, and preserves the integrity of university records.
BuckeyeMail: Student and Academic Use
If you have BuckeyeMail (lastname.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu), it is your official student email account. It’s used for:
- Course-related communication
- Registration, billing, and financial aid notifications
- Academic advising and university-wide announcements
All students—even if they work, learn, or conduct research within the Medical Center—should monitor this account regularly to stay connected with Ohio State’s academic systems and records.
Email for Work-Related Use
Employees of the university use lastname.#@osu.edu accounts for university business and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center employees use firstname.lastname@osumc.edu or lastname.#@osu.edu email for medical center business.
In addition, the medical center follows different and sometimes stricter security and compliance protocols, especially around health information and clinical operations. OSUMC email:
- Meets HIPAA and institutional data security standards
- Is monitored and managed according to appropriate health record retention policies
- Is restricted from account forwarding outside of a secure environment
Forwarding university records or student academic information from BuckeyeMail to a medical center email account risks noncompliance with data protection requirements because the accounts have different privacy and retention policies designed for clinical and business use. In addition, if you lose access to your mailbox do to a change in your employment status, we are unable to retrieve your data after access to the OSUMC mailbox is removed.
Key Takeaways
In summary, as a student it is important to monitor both your BuckeyeMail for academic and student-related updates. If you are an employee, monitor your university and/or medical center email for work communications. If you are both a student and an employee, please use these accounts for their intended purpose to ensure compliance and to protect institutional data.