About Columbia Email

Faculty, staff and students receive a University Network ID or "UNI" and basic Columbia email account when beginning employment or enrollment in classes. The email address will be in the format of youruni@columbia.edu, where youruni is your individual Columbia UNI (ex: abc1234).
NOTE: If you are looking for information about an Exchange email account (@mail.mc.columbia.edu) with robust features including shared calendars and the ability to manage another's mail or schedule, please see Exchange information linked in the left column.

IMPORTANT: CUMC faculty, staff, students and other affiliates must not set up automatic email forwarding from their Columbia email account.
To prevent accidental release of PHI and other sensitive data, no one at CUMC is allowed to configure automatic email forwarding to an outside provider such as gmail, yahoo, or others. For full policy information please see the Email Use page.

Getting Started
The steps below will help you with activating your email and selecting a password. Keep in mind that your UNI and the password you select will also be your logon to a variety of resources such as the wireless network, VPN, Peoplesoft, and other programs or sites you may need to use.
NOTE: Other applications may assign your UNI as your login ID for convenience, but the password may not be the same and won't synchronize with your UNI account if changed. For details on Exchange email and MC Domain (computer login) accounts and passwords please see this FAQ.

1. Activate your Account - if you have not yet activated your email account, please visit the Manage My UNI website. You will need to know your UNI and will select a password to use for your UNI and email. If you don't know your UNI:
   • Search for it by typing your name in the yellow Forgot UNI? field near the bottom of the Manage My UNI page.
   • If you don't have a UNI yet - Faculty and staff must have their Department Administrator (or other qualified person in their department) request a UNI via their access to Delegated Identity Administration within People@Columbia. Please ask your supervisor if you do not know who this person is; often the person within a department who can post job listings has access to process UNIs. Students must contact their school or Student Administrative Services.
2. Accept the Account Terms - Before you can activate your account you must accept the terms of the the Columbia Computer and Network Use Policy. Be sure that you understand these fully; any violations can result in the immediate suspension of your computer account and network access as well as possible academic, employment and/or legal repercussions.
3. Set Up Security Questions - you will be prompted to select security questions and answers so you can do an immediate self-reset online if you forget your password in the future.
4. Choose a Password - Be sure to follow the instructions on the Activate your UNI page and that what you select meets CUMC strong password requirements:
   • It must be over 8 characters long (UNI passwords cannot be more than 64 characters)
   • It must contain some mixed case letters (upper and lower case), numbers and special characters
   • It should not contain a word that can be found in any dictionary, English or otherwise
   You must keep your password secret. If you share your password with anyone, your account may be suspended or permanently invalidated.

How soon can I use my account?
Your Columbia email account should be active within 24 hours. You can access it via Columbia's web based email, CubMail, but should set up a secure email program such as Outlook on your computer.

UNI and Email Use at CUMC
Medical Center faculty, staff and students have some additional guidelines and requirements:

• Do Not Set Automatic Email Forwarding - as noted above, CUMC affiliates cannot set automatic email forwarding to an outside provider.
• Supported Email Programs - Outlook 2010 for Windows and 2011 for Macintosh are the only programs fully supported by CUMC IT Service Desk and Desktop technicians. It is possible to set up a different email client to connect to your Columbia email, however this is not recommended due to support limitations. Outlook is available for free through Columbia's site license for Microsoft Office.
• Email Use Requirements - be sure you are familiar with Medical Center requirements and are complying with them.

Account Help and Troubleshooting
Columbia's mail servers are managed by CUIT on the Morningside campus, however anyone based at CUMC with questions or issues regarding their email should contact the CUMC IT Service Desk at extension 5-Help. We have the administrative access and the information needed to troubleshoot your email, as well as knowledge that is specific to email use at the Medical Center campus.

If you need help with your password you can use the Manage My UNI website for instant assistance. Please see links in the left column of this page and Email FAQs for additional help and answers with using your Columbia email.