Owner: Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Author: Information Technologies Department, servicedesk@css.edu
Effective Date:
Revised: 06/25/2025
Next Review Date:
Applicable laws, regulations, compliance: FERPA, GLBA, NIST guidelines
I. Purpose
To protect The College of St. Scholastica’s information resources and reduce the risk of unauthorized access, the College is implementing this policy for managing alumni Gmail and Google Workspace accounts.
II. Definitions
● Alumni: Individuals who have completed an academic program at The College of St. Scholastica and have been formally awarded a credential by the College, including degrees, certificates, or other recognized qualifications as recorded by the College.
● Degree Conferral Date: The official date recorded by the College on which a student’s credential (degree, certificate, or other recognized award) is conferred.
● Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): A security measure that requires two or more methods of verifying a user’s identity before granting access to an account. MFA typically combines something the user knows (e.g., a password) with something the user has (e.g., a mobile device or verification code).
● Account Deactivation: The permanent disabling of access to College-provided accounts and associated services. Once deactivated, alumni accounts cannot be accessed or recovered, and associated data may be deleted in accordance with College policy.
● Alumni Engagement: Responsible for communicating with alumni, providing ongoing engagement and support, and coordinating outreach related to alumni accounts and services.
● Information Technology (IT): Responsible for managing technology systems and infrastructure, including account provisioning, system access, and technical support.
● Information Security: Responsible for maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of College information systems.
III. Policy:
Alumni with a Degree Conferral Date Before September 1, 2024
These alumni may retain access to their College of St. Scholastica email accounts following their conferral date, provided they remain enrolled in MFA and comply with all relevant College technology use policies.
Alumni with a Degree Conferral Date On or After September 1, 2024
These alumni may retain access to their College of St. Scholastica email accounts for 365 days following their conferral date, provided they remain enrolled in MFA and comply with all relevant College technology use policies.
Access is contingent upon continued compliance with these requirements. After the access period ends, or if the requirements are not met, the associated accounts will be permanently deactivated. It is the graduate’s responsibility to retrieve any needed content before the account’s deactivation date.
Responsibilities:
Alumni
● Understand the account retention period that applies to them based on their degree conferral date.
● Ensure continued compliance with multi-factor authentication (MFA) requirements.
● Follow all relevant College technology use policies.
● Retrieve or back up any needed content before the account deactivation date.
Alumni Engagement
● Communicate changes in account status and policy expectations to alumni.
● Ensure the implementation of this policy is timely and consistent.
● Provide alumni with guidance and resources to retrieve or migrate data before account deactivation.
Information Technology (IT) and Information Security
● Monitor compliance with MFA enrollment and College technology use policies for alumni accounts.
● Disable or deactivate alumni accounts that are out of compliance with any College policy, including this one.
● Ensure account deactivation occurs at the end of the designated access period.
IV. Individuals and entities affected by this policy
The following individuals and departments are governed by or directly affected by this policy:
● Alumni
● Alumni Engagement
● Information Technology
● Information Security
V. History and updates
The College reserves the right to modify policies at any time, ensuring the involvement of relevant committees and constituents in the decision-making process (e.g., policy committee, faculty assembly, staff council, student government association, etc).