Discontinuation of Retiree and Emeritus Email Access

Wright State University will be discontinuing Retiree and Emeritus email accounts for those who are no longer actively affiliated with the University, effective November 3, 2025.

This decision supports our ongoing efforts to strengthen cybersecurity and improve how we manage university data. Retiree and emeritus accounts, while intended to maintain connection with our community, pose increasing risks due to their extended lifecycle and the potential to store sensitive university information. These accounts are more vulnerable to cyber threats and have become a growing concern across higher education institutions.

On this page:

• Set Up an Auto-Forward
• What You Need to Do
• Migrating Your Emails to a Personal Account
• Access to Online Library Resources
• FAQs

Set Up an Auto-Forward

For those retirees/emeriti whose email accounts will be affected on November 3; an email forwarding service will be provided for one year, through November 3, 2026. You are responsible for setting up the auto-forward on your own account BEFORE November 3, 2025. You will NOT be able to set up a forward on your account on, and/or after, this date. 

How to Set Up an Auto-Forward:

1. Login to WINGS with your Campus 'w' username and password
2. Click on the Email/Calendar button under Your Launchpad
3. In the top right corner, click on the Gear icon to open the Settings menu
   
4. Under Mail, click on Forwarding
   
5. Toggle Enable forwarding to the right, and enter the personal email address you want to forward your mail to
6. Click Save
   

What You Need to Do

To prepare for this change, we recommend taking the following steps:

1. Set up a personal email account if you don’t already have one. Common, free options include:
   • Gmail
   • Outlook
   • Yahoo Mail
2. Update your contact information with any organizations, services, or contacts that currently use your Wright State email address.
   • Update contacts: Provide any contacts with your new non-Wright State email address.
   • Transfer Subscriptions: Update your email address in any subscriptions that may be using your Wright State email.
   • Update Services: Update accounts that may be using your Wright State email address for logins or notifications.
   • Update Profiles: Update any social media or online profiles that may contain your Wright State email address.
3. Transfer any personal emails or files from your Wright State account that you wish to keep. Please do not retain or move any university-sensitive or confidential data.
4. Set an automatic reply (out-of-office message) on your Wright State email account to inform people of the change and direct them to your new personal email address.

The CaTS Help Desk is available to assist Retirees and Emeriti to the best of our abilities as needed during this transition. This includes answering questions related to this change, as well as providing guidance on setting up a new, personal email account.

Migrating Your Emails to a Personal Account

The instructions below can be used to transfer email folders from your Wright State email address to a personal email address of your choosing such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.

A personal email address of your choosing is required to complete these steps (see Step 1 in 'What You Need to Do' above). 

1. Download and install Thunderbird: https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/download/
2. Setup your Wright State email address in Thunderbird.
   
3. Click Work or school account
   
4. Sign in with your Campus credentials
5. Select IMAP for the configuration, and select Done
   
   *Note*: You may need to subscribe to your email folders within Thunderbird. To do this, right click on your email address in the main Thunderbird page and click Subscribe. Check the box next to the folders you wish to transfer to your new personal email address and click OK.
   
6. Add your new personal email address:
   1. Click the gear icon in the bottom left corner 
   2. Click Account Settings
   3. Click New Account > Mail Account
   4. Enter your new personal email information
   5. Select IMAP for the configuration and click Done
   6. Authenticate to your new email service and allow access to Mozilla Thunderbird
7. Begin to drag folders (or right click – Move to) from your Wright State Account down to your new personal email account. Make sure to watch the bottom status bar in Thunderbird to verify that you allow for enough time for all messages to be transferred when moving large folders.

Access to Online Library Resources

Due to licensing agreements and restrictions, online Library resources require a Wright State email account to access. If you are not eligible for a Wright State email through an active affiliation or volunteer agreement, then you will no longer be able to access online Library resources and databases.

Any Emeritus Faculty or Retiree, regardless of account status or University affiliation, is welcome to visit the Dunbar Library in person to access online resources by obtaining a guest login. Additionally, you are welcome to borrow physical Library materials from the University Libraries, regardless of your current status. 

For more information, please visit https://libraries.wright.edu.

Frequently Asked Questions