Project Pages & Information

Vanity Email Conversion and Schedule

Texas A&M University Technology Services has successfully streamlined email systems across the Division of Student Affairs. The initiative standardized vanity email addresses into a unified format, improving consistency and efficiency for staff, student employees, and shared mailboxes. This transformation, completed in October 2025, followed a structured schedule and phased approach to ensure a smooth transition across all units.

March 31, 2025 By Christopher Jordan, Technology Services - Student Affairs

1 min. read

Overview

We created a timeline to guide our transition from vanity email addresses to standardized formats across the Division of Student Affairs. Between January and September 2025, we moved through phases covering staff, student employees, and shared mailboxes to streamline our email system.

Introduction

Howdy!

We would like to inform you of upcoming changes to email addressing and delivery. We will soon be changing Sent From email addresses to reflect [email protected] instead of vanity email addresses (e.g., [email protected]).

What is Vanity Email Address?
An email such as [email protected]​ where the email address is set up based on the following nomenclature: [email protected].​

What is Non-Vanity Email Address?
An email such as [email protected]​ where the email address is set up based on the following nomenclature: [email protected].

​Why are we moving away from Vanity Email Addresses? ​
This is an initiative across Technology Services that promotes alignment with university standards and addresses technical challenges, such as scripting issues.​

How will this impact me?
You will not be impacted. Vanity emails will continue to function as usual after the conversion. Our process will change your “Sent From” email to your non-vanity address.​

Student employee email boxes and shared email boxes will be addressed at a later date.

What should I do?
The Service Desk will notify each department about the vanity emails that will be converted. Once this information is received, each department should update all communication platforms—such as publications, websites, and email signatures—to replace the vanity email addresses with the new non-vanity email addresses.​

Conversion Schedule
Tentative Conversion Schedule What To Expect
Week of January 20th, 2025  An email will be sent to everyone in the division to announce this conversion.
Week of January 27th, 2025 Each director and IT liaison will receive an email containing a list of vanity email addresses within their department, along with the corresponding non-vanity email addresses they will be converted to.
Week of February 3rd, 2025 We will collaborate with the Exchange team to complete the conversions and initiate the process of planning and converting shared mailboxes, distribution groups, and resource group vanity email addresses to non-vanity email addresses.
Timeline
Vanity Email Conversion Timeline from January 2025 to September 2025.

📧 DSA Vanity Email Conversion Timeline Texas A&M University Technology Services outlines the phased transition from vanity email addresses to standardized formats. Key milestones span from January to September 2023, covering staff, student employees, and shared mailboxes.

Credit: Christopher Jordan – Division of Student Affairs

📅 Key Dates & Milestones

  • Jan 20, 2023: Initial email sent to all DSA.
  • Jan 27, 2023: Directors and IT Liaisons received conversion details.
  • Feb 6 – May 1, 2023 (Phase I): Staff email conversions began with Music Activities and ended with University Center.
  • May 3 – Aug 2023 (Phase II): Conversion of student employee (SPM) accounts and shared mailboxes (~4,000 total).
  • June 15, 2023: Deadline for feedback on proposed non-vanity shared mailbox addresses.
  • August 2023: Cleanup phase begins—reminder emails sent, mailbox deletions initiated.
  • September 2023: Tentative project completion.

🧭 Phases Overview

  • Phase I (Feb–May): Staff email conversions.
  • Phase II (May–Aug): Student employee emails, shared mailboxes, and resources.
Conversion Dates
Scheduled Date Department Converted
April 15th, 2024 UHS Counseling
April 15th, 2024 UHS Medical
February 6th, 2025 Music Activities
February 6th, 2025 Student Affairs Planning Assessment and Research
February 6th, 2025 University Art Galleries
April 15th, 2025 Student Conduct
April 15th, 2025 Recreational Sports
April 17th, 2025 Office of the Vice President
April 17th, 2025 Don & Ellie Knause VRSC
April 17th, 2025 Student Activities
April 22nd, 2025 Disability Resources
April 22nd, 2025 Student Life
April 24th, 2025 Multicultural Services
April 24th, 2025 Residence Life
April 29th, 2025 Corps of Cadets
April 29th, 2025 Memorial Student Center
May 1st, 2025 University Center and Special Events
F.A.Q.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I change my Published Address in Texas A&M exchange?
A: Please follow the steps listed below:

  1. Log into Aggie Account Gateway.
  2. Select “Email Settings”.
  3. Select “Change or Add Email” on the right-hand side.
  4. Look at your email address under the “Published Address in Texas A&M Exchange Email”.
  5. If your email address has [email protected], please select this field and change it to [email protected] or your [email protected].
  6. Once changed, click the “Change published email” button just below the drop box.
Q: Am I still able to change my email alias without any issues, and if so, how can I make that change?
A: Yes, you can still change your email address alias without worrying about it conflicting with the conversion. To change your alias:

  1. Log into Aggie Account Gateway.
  2. Select “Email Settings”.
  3. Select “Change or Add Email” on the right-hand side.
  4. Select ” Add a New Email Address” at the bottom.
  5. Type in your new name and click “Add.”
  6. You should see a green confirmation of the successful change.

All email sent to your published and additional email addresses will be sent to the same mailbox designated in your forwarding settings.
Q: How do I change the email address that appears to recipients?
A: Yes, you are still able to change your alias for your email address without the worry of it conflicting with the conversion. To change your alias:

  1. Access your email account through Gmail.
  2. Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner and click Settings.
  3. Under the “Accounts and import” tab, find the section labeled “Send mail as:” and click “Add another email address”.
  4. Enter the new address and click “Next Step”.
  5. Click “make default” to the right of the new alias.
Q: What will I need to do on my end to ensure my conversion is successful?
A: No action from you will be required for this conversion. Everything will be handled by us in the background.
Q: Once the conversion is complete, what should I do?
A: Once the conversion has been completed, each department should update all communication platforms, such as publications, websites, and email signatures, to replace the vanity email addresses with the new non-vanity email addresses.
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