Email Forwarding

The university, in an effort to increase its security posture and trust in email delivery, has implemented controls to restrict email forwarding. These controls are enforced for employees and guests of the university that have university email accounts (restrictions do NOT affect students, alumni, and those with Lifetime Email Forwarding Service). 

The ability to forward an Ohio State-issued email to a third-party email service (Google, Yahoo!, etc.) will end for all users on Dec. 31, 2024. Details are available here.

Request Process for Email Forwarding

In rare cases, there may be regulatory or business impact that require an exception to allow forwarding. Individual requests for an exception may be submitted for approval. The steps below detail the process for requesting an exception.

  1. A detailed request will be submitted for approval to the Dean or Senior VP of the College or VP area.
    1. The request must contain:
      1. Name.# of the person requesting the exception
      2. Regulatory or business impact that requires the exception
      3. Email address where email would be forwarded if approved
  2. If the Dean or Senior VP approves the request, the employee/guest will forward the approval email and the request to access@osu.edu. The access team will then coordinate a review of the request with the university CISO (Rich Nagle).
  3. The university CISO will perform an assessment and may request more information if needed.  The university CISO will approve or reject the request.
    1. If Approved - The Access Management team will add the exception for the individual and notify the College Dean or Senior VP and the requesting individual.
    2. If Rejected - The Access Management team will notify the College Dean or Senior VP and the requesting individual with the university CISO’s reason for rejection.

 

FAQs

Why did Digital Security and Trust put safeguards in place that block employees from forwarding their osu.edu email accounts to other accounts outside of the university?

Over the past several years, the environment of cybercrime has changed dramatically. First, cybercriminals have realized that they only need to capture one person’s credentials to get a free ticket into our systems. Second, you’ve probably seen news reports about breaches of some very large email providers. If you are sending any information outside of Ohio State, once emails leave our servers we can no longer protect them. Forwarding email creates a risk, and as the environment gets more dangerous, the risk has become too great to continue as we have in the past.

Who is/is not affected by these safeguards?

These changes affect employees and sponsored guests, but do NOT affect students, alumni and those with Lifetime Email Forwarding (LEF) Service. There are a few approved non-osu.edu domains to which employees can still forward. This includes Wexner Medical Center employees forwarding their osu.edu email to osumc.edu, and med center affiliate employees who work for and forward to another hospital. Exceptions may be requested for regulatory requirements or business justification.

Am I allowed to forward If I am…

FacultyNot allowed to forward
StaffNot allowed to forward
Sponsored GuestNot allowed to forward
EmeritiNot allowed to forward
Student*Allowed to forward *if not also Faculty, Staff, Sponsored Guest, or Emeriti.
LEFs Eligible*Allowed to forward *if not also Faculty, Staff, Sponsored Guest, or Emeriti.
Student Employee but not a current studentNot allowed to forward

 

What is the process for requesting exceptions?

In very limited circumstances, exceptions to this policy may be made if there is a legitimate business reason. Learn more above under "Request Process for Email Forwarding".

How do I install Outlook Client?

Unless you are well-versed in technology, you will probably need to contact your college or business unit’s desktop support for assistance. However, basic instruction are as follows:

You can configure your University E-mail Service profile in Outlook 2007,2010, 2013, 2016 using the steps below. If the configuration utility does not work, you can always manually configure your University E-mail Service Account. This utility makes your new University E-mail Service profile your default but it does not delete other profiles.

  1. Save this configuration utility (OSUOutlookProfileConfig.exe) to your desktop.
  2. Close Outlook.
  3. Run OSUOutlookProfileConfig.exe from your desktop.
  4. Type your Ohio State e-mail address (lastname.#@osu.edu).
  5. Click OK.
    ***Wait while Outlook opens.***
  6. Type your Ohio State e-mail address (lastname.#@osu.edu) and your Ohio State Username password.
  7. See my.osu.edu for more information about your Ohio State Username (lastname.#) and password.
  8. Type your Ohio State e-mail address (lastname.#@osu.edu) and your Ohio State Username password.

How do I manually configure my university e-mail service account?

Unless you are well-versed in technology, you will probably need to contact your college or business unit’s desktop support for assistance. However, basic instruction are as follows:

When configuring Outlook to connect to the University E-mail Service, creating a new profile and e-mail account is recommended. Only add a new e-mail account to an existing profile if you have another university e-mail account that is not yet moved to the University E-mail Service.

Add a new Profile and E-mail Account

  1. Open the Mail Setup dialog box (Control Panel > Mail).
  2. Click [Show Profiles…].
  3. Click [Add...].
  4. Create a new profile.
    1. Type a Profile Name (e.g., University E-mail Service).
    2. Click [OK].
  5. Add a new e-mail account.
    1. Your Name = your name.
    2. E-mail Address = your lastname.#@osu.edu e-mail address.
    3. Password and Retype Password = your Ohio State Username Password.
    4. Click [Next].
    5. **Outlook automatically searches for the server settings and configures your account.***
  6. Login to the server.
    1. Confirm the Username is osuad\lastname.# .
    2. When logging in via Outlook, users must preface their username with the domain name: osuad\lastname.# . Alternatively, users can type their full OSU e-mail address (lastname.#@osu.edu) as their Username.
    3. Type the e-mail Password.
    4. Click [OK].
  7. Update Microsoft Exchange proxy settings
    1. This setting confirmation or update is not always necessary but it will improve Outlook performance and is highly recommended.
  8. Open Outlook and confirm Exchange connection.
    1. Open Outlook.
    2. Select the Profile Name.
    3. Click [OK].
    4. Confirm the Username is osuad\lastname.# OR lastname.#@osu.edu .
    5. Type the e-mail Password.
    6. Click [OK] .
  9. Confirm connection to Exchange.

How do I check my email with Outlook Web?

Here's how to login to the Outlook Web App:

  1. Go to email.osu.edu.
  2. Click [Sign in to Outlook for email].
  3. Type your OSU Username (name.#) and Password.
  4. Click [Sign in].

If an unsupported web browser is used, Outlook Web App (OWA) will automatically open in the basic mode, which may alter the appearance or hinder the performance of some features and functions. For Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 systems:

  • Internet Explorer 7 and later versions
  • Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions
  • Chrome 3.0.195.27 and later versions

For Mac OS X systems:

  • Safari 3.1 and later versions
  • Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions

For Linux systems

  • Firefox 3.0.1 and later versions

Who can I contact with questions?

If you have questions about email forwarding, please visit the IT Service Desk Service or call 614-688-4357 (HELP).