Getting Started: Alumni and Retirees

As a Queen's alumni or retiree, you retain access to your Queen's-provisioned email and calendar. Take a read through our guide below as you prepare to leave Queen's.

To learn more about when your other Queen's services will be deprovisioned, please consult the Service Termination Timelines page.

Before You Leave Queen's

As of June 1, 2023, compliance to Microsoft licensing for retirees will be enforced. This affects the Microsoft services that retirees have access to via their Queen’s account. Note: this change does not affect Professor Emeritus.

Retirees retain access to their Queen's email and Outlook Online ONLY, provided they maintain a current password as per Queen's Authentication and Access Control Standard.

If you would like to continue using Microsoft 365 services on your personal device(s), you have several options: 

  • You can access Microsoft 365 Online at no cost
  • You can purchase an individual license (yearly or monthly) for the desktop client directly through Microsoft. 
    • Retirees who purchase using their Queen’s email address prior to June 1, 2023, will be subscribed through the Microsoft Workplace Discount Program. 
    • See the chart below for a comparison of services.
      • IMPORTANT WARNING: Do not use your queensu.ca email address as your username for your personal Microsoft account. Create a new personal Microsoft account with an outlook.com email address to manage your Microsoft account and to make purchases. 

Summary of Available Services

Active Staff and Faculty Retiree (Staff and Faculty) Microsoft 365 (free Online or paid Desktop)
A screenshot of the Microsoft services available to active staff and faculty.

 

A screenshot of the services available to retired staff and faculty.

 

A screenshot of the services available with Microsoft 365 Online or the paid desktop client.

 

 

When you leave Queen's, you will no longer be able to access the Teams, Outlook groups, or Viva Engage Communities that you created. To ensure that your colleagues can continue to work after you've left, take a moment to transfer ownership.

Once you leave Queen's, you will no longer have access to your OneDrive, OneNote, Teams, or other Queen's-based cloud services. Any documents or data you wish to save for personal use must be downloaded and backed up on a private drive. See below for tutorials on how to back up your data:

You can also consider purchasing a personal subscription to Office 365 if you would like to continue using Microsoft 365.

If you’re running Windows 10, you’re probably already set. Windows 10 comes with Windows Defender built-in.

If you have an older version of Windows or a Mac, you should investigate the best antivirus solution for your operating system. Check out the Antivirus page for more information about antivirus and your system.

Phishing emails attempt to defraud users of their personal information. View tips on how to identify phishing emails

Learn the steps you can take in response to suspicious emails. IT Services strongly recommends reporting phishing, spam, and abusive emails.  

NetID

During your time at Queen's, you were assigned a NetID – a unique network identification that allows you to access many of Queen's online services. Your NetID and associated password will continue to be the credentials required to access Queen's services.

You will retain access to your Queen's-provisioned email provided that you update your NetID password on a yearly basis.

You can manage your NetID and password using Queen's Identity Platform. Note that Queen’s will never ask you for your NetID and password via email or phone.

It is important to never share your NetID and password with anyone.

Manage Your NetID

Email Access

Retirees and alumni retain access to their Queen's email account in Office 365. 

Retirees and alumni can access their Queen's email by signing in from the web and logging in (with NetID and password) at least once per year. Further information for retirees is available on the Retirees Association of Queen's website. Further information for alumni is available on the Alumni Relations site under Email for Alumni Service.

Sign in to Office 365 email