Author: Melissa Sanchez
Melissa is a student employee with Technology Services and is a senior at Illinois majoring in Communications.
This time of year is both incredibly exciting and incredibly nerve-racking. This is the end of your Illinois journey and the beginning of the next stage in your life. For some of you, this will be the first time in your memory that you will not be in a school of some kind. For others, this is only the first part of a longer educational journey.
Regardless, it is normal to be feeling all sorts of emotions. Excitement. Anxiety. Relief. Even fear. Change can be difficult for all of us. The most important thing is to allow yourself to process everything at your own pace.
One of the last things you want to worry about during the graduation rush is managing your Illinois account and figuring out what will happen to it post-grad. Luckily, in this time of uncertainty, Technology Services has resources to make part of your graduation process run smoother.
What happens to my Illinois accounts after graduation? Around one year after graduation, your student account will be unlinked from your NetID, meaning that you will lose access to services and some of your stored data may be deleted. You have until that time to download important information and set up alumni accounts, but it is best to do this sooner rather than later.
What will I lose access to after one year?
- Your university email and inbox.
- Course materials such as Canvas and Moodle.
- The Webstore and all of the software keys/codes on it.
- Cloud storage such as U of I Box, Google Apps @ Illinois and Microsoft OneDrive.
- Off-campus access to library databases and services.
- LinkedIn Learning.
- Any student discounts for software and other subscriptions.
What do I keep access to even after one year?
- Email forwarding: if you set up a forwarding email address you can continue to receive emails from your illinois.edu account for life.
- Handshake: while your student account will be deleted, you can set up an alumni account using the Handshake @ Illinois request form.
- Some library services: you can access all public research resources, can access online databases from public computers in on-campus libraries as well as being able to apply for a courtesy library card to borrow from the main library.
As you are preparing to leave the university it is important to remember one thing: no matter what you face, you are capable of overcoming it.
You did it, you graduated. That is already an incredible and difficult accomplishment, and you deserve to be proud of it. By nature of attending this institution, you have already proven yourself to be one of the best and brightest. As you graduate, you will be joining a network of incredible alumni and professionals to help guide you into the next phase of your life.
Forever and always, you are an Illini.