E-mail forwarding is available to all alumni. You can use a University server to route electronic mail to your personal or professional e-mail account, as well as to reach classmates and other alumni. All you need to do to obtain this free service is to complete and submit the E-mail Forwarding Enrollment Form electronically or in hard copy.
We will then send you an e-mail notice letting you know that the address has been activated. You can then let your family, friends, and colleagues know they will be able to reach you at that address regardless of whether you later change internet service providers or move to another hospital or academic institution that may be providing your e-mail account to you.
Once we receive this information electronically or in hard copy, our system will create a forwarding address for you using your first initial, last name, and last three digits of your class or GME year at md.northwestern.edu (i.e., jsmith005@md.northwestern.edu). When people send their e-mail messages to you at the md.northwestern.edu address, those messages will come to the University's server which will automatically forward them to whatever may be your current e-mail account address at the time. Please know it is a secure process in which messages are only forwarded and never opened.
You don't need to do anything to your e-mail account for this to happen. Once we set it up, the process is entirely electronic and you will receive your messages as you do now.
You can also use e-mail forwarding to reach other alumni. Just address your message to the individual's first initial, last name, and last three digits of his/her class year @md.northwestern.edu (i.e., jsmith005@md.northwestern.edu) and send it. If that individual has enrolled in this service as well, then your message will come to the University and be forwarded directly to his/her e-mail account.
Please note: for those alumni whose first initial and last name are identical to those of another member of the same class or GME year, our system has to create a unique address using the middle initial. If you want to send a message to someone with the same name as another member of the same class, just contact our office first.
E-mail Defense System Note: On October 3,2005 Northwestern University launched its new E-mail Defense System (EDS) which blocks a significant percentage of junk-mail, thus preventing it from reaching you. However, the new system cannot provide you a list of blocked messages and there may occasionally be false-positives. Because we understand that some of you may be using your e-mail forwarding addresses for mission-critical tasks, Medical Alumni Relations has arranged for medical alumni to have an "opt-out" capability.
- If you do NOT want the EDS with your e-mail forwarding service, when filling out the E-mail Forwarding Enrollment Form, be sure to check the box labeled "Opt out of E-mail Defense System (EDS)"
- If you would like to continue to benefit from the EDS, then you do not need to do anything
You may occasionally receive e-mail messages from the Office of Alumni Relations to let you know when we are upgrading the system or adding other electronic services.
We'll be happy to hear from you.
