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Faculty, staff and students should always activate their name.# (also referred to as the OSU Internet Username or osu.edu ID), even if they retain a commercial Internet Service Provider. Here's why.

For faculty and staff, your name.#@.edu e-mail address is the only one you ever have to remember or publicize. It remains constant if you change your Internet Service Provider (ISP), if your department's server name changes, if you move to a different OSU department or college, or if you decide to read your e-mail on the OIT-managed central server.

For students, the name.#@osu.edu is used for official OSU communications. Associate Registrar Michael George notes that the Registrar's office uses only the name.#@osu.edu e-mail address to send students registration and financial aid materials, grades, statements of accounts, and general university correspondence.

The whole process is simple. First, activate your OSU Internet Username at oit.osu.edu/userpass.html. This step sets up your e-mail on the central OSU e-mail system. Then go to the Web page at 8help.ohio-state.edu/mail_forwarding.html or call 688-HELP to have your OSU e-mail forwarded to the ISP where you prefer to read your mail.