❗️Use Your SHSU Email Account❗️


IMPORTANT: Per policy IT-20, your SHSU email account, serving as part of SHSU electronic communication services, is the official means of communication between faculty, staff, and students. 

email at symbol in triangleWhy is this important?

You may have a personal email account (e.g. Gmail, Yahoo, or iCloud ) that you use for personal correspondence as well as IT purposes such as SHSU Computer Account Creation, Password Resets, or even receiving KatSafe Notices.  However, outside of these limited purposes, official University business conducted over email should only use your SHSU email account.  This includes but is not limited to correspondence with other employees or faculty emails to students.

Using your SHSU email account helps our systems keeps your information protected. This helps prevent sensitive information from ending up in the wrong hands due to cyberattacks such as phishing, ransomware, and more. In addition, when you are working through our systems, we have more ability to help you in the event you fall victim to any of these incidents.

exclamation point in triangleSome of the reasons that the use of non-SHSU email accounts for official University business is prohibited are outlined below: 

  1. Official SHSU emails are kept internal to the SHSU email system to ensure confidentiality of the communications. If you must email outside of the SHSU organization, be sure to encrypt messages that contain confidential information.
  2. Cyberattackers regularly impersonate SHSU faculty and staff by using external email accounts. Using an external email account for official University business increases the chances of other Bearkats falling victim to a cyberattack, such as phishing, because they could become accustomed to trusting external email addresses. If you are sending emails to students, faculty, or staff from an external address, the recipient may not think twice before clicking on and answering a similar phishing message.
  3. Personal email addresses become open to Freedom of Information Act requests, potentially increasing your legal liability regarding SHSU open records.

If you receive or fall victim to a cyberattack involving SHSU, please report the incident to abuse@shsu.edu.