E-Mail

• E-mail clients
• Web access
• Limitations
• Addresses
• Carleton Directory
• Spam
• Lists
• Frequently Asked Questions:
  • Where did all the messages in my inbox go?
  • I'm faculty or staff--why won't GroupWise account work?
  • How do I create or join an email list?
  • How do I restore deleted email?
  • What makes an e-mail account get disabled?
  • How do I email an alum?
  • How do I forward my email to another address?
  • I'm trying to send an email, why is it being rejected?

This category is devoted to e-mail at Carleton.

Carleton uses an IMAP server (What is a client? What is a server?), located at imap.carleton.edu, for receiving incoming mail. Unlike POP servers, which delete e-mail when it is download by an e-mail client, an IMAP server will only delete e-mail when explicitly told to do so by an e-mail client. This is a critical difference. If, for example, you download your e-mail from a POP server onto your home computer and then try to access your e-mail at a lab computer, you will find that it has all been deleted. The e-mail only exists on the first computer that downloaded it. Therefore, because Carleton students frequently access their e-mail from multiple computers, Carleton only uses an IMAP server. The disadvantage is that it is easy to use up your limited space (15,000 KB) in your inbox. For this reason, the SCIC recommends frequent movement of old messages through the creation and use of new mailboxes. This advice especially holds for messages with attachments.

The Carleton SMTP server (used for outgoing mail) is located at smtp.carleton.edu. SMTP is the server that sends mail. Both the IMAP and SMTP servers require your NetID.

E-mail clients

Carleton purchases Mulberry for use by its students, faculty, and staff, both on lab and personal computers. Mulberry can be downloaded at the software page. There are versions for both Windows and MacOS. The maker of Mulberry, Cyrusoft, also makes a Linux version, but Carleton does not currently purchase it.

Because Mulberry is installed on all public lab computers, many, if not most, Carleton students use it.

However, there are a number of alternatives available for use on non-lab computers. You should be able to use the same program (e.g. Mulbery, Eudora, or Mozilla Mail) that you are currently using to read Carleton email. This will likely involve changing some of the settings in your mail program. We have included instructions below for the most commonly used mail applications on campus. Faculty and staff who would like help making these changes on a college owned computer, just call your Computing Coordinator. We are happy to make the changes for you or to walk you through the process. These guides may also prove helpful when making changes to the settings of your personally owned computer.

• OS X comes with a light e-mail client called Mail. It is generally faster than Mulberry and includes some unique features, such as automatic address look-up through the online directory (for instructions, see the CarlMUG site). The SCIC approves the use of Mail.
• The Mozilla suite comes with an e-mail client. Additionally, the Mozilla Foundation makes a stand-alone browser called Thunderbird. The SCIC approves the use of both Mozilla Mail and Thunderbird.
• Windows comes with Outlook Express, a richly featured e-mail client. Due to security problems in this software (which make it easier to be affected by malware), the SCIC does not recommend or support it. If you wish to use OutlookExpress nonetheless, remember to run Windows Update and anti-virus software very frequently.
• Microsoft Office on both Windows and OS X comes with Outlook and Entourage, respectively, e-mail clients that also have a built-in address book, calendar, and other organization features. However, for the same reasons as Outlook Express, the SCIC does not recommend the use of Outlook. Outlook has been crucial to the spread of many major worms and macro-viruses in recent years. Entourage, on the other hand, is fine to use

Web access

Your Carleton e-mail can be accessed on the web using CarlMail (previously known as WebMail). Many students use CarlMail exclusively, making a separate e-mail client unnecessary. The SCIC provides full support for CarlMail.

Limitations

Your Carleton e-mail INBOX has 15MB of space. If your inbox fills this quota, please create new mailboxes and move messages to them.

You can check the size of your inbox by visiting the following page:

https://webapps.acs.carleton.edu/its/netid_only/mailsize/

You can send attachments of up to 2MB.

Addresses

A person's e-mail address can be found by searching for them in the directory. Their user name will be indicated in the upper-right corner of their information. If you add the suffix @carleton.edu to their user name, that is their e-mail address.

You can also send mail to Firstname.Lastname@carleton.edu

Carleton Directory

Here are the settings you need:

• Name: Carleton
• Server: ldap.its.carleton.edu
• Base Context: ou=people,dc=carleton,dc=edu
• Port: 389
• SSL: this should not be selected

Spam

Carleton will never give out your e-mail address. Therefore, it is possible to never receive a spam e-mail at your Carleton address. Unfortunately, it is very easy for your e-mail address to fall into the hands of spammers. Unlike a Hotmail address, your Carleton address cannot easily be changed. Therefore, the SCIC recommends you use a separate e-mail address for any activity that is likely to generate spam, such as filling out a form on a non-Carleton website. For more information, see the spam topic.

Lists

Go to https://lists.carleton.edu

Frequently Asked Questions:

Where did all the messages in my inbox go?

If your email inbox has been larger than 15 MB for the last three weeks, creating performance problems for all users of our mail system, messages in your Inbox will be automatically moved to another mailbox if you do not take action immediately.

This inbox will likely be called inbox(DateOfMovement). In Mulberry, this mailbox will need to be subscribed to.

If we create a new mailbox for you, be assured that all the email messages that used to be in your inbox have only been moved and have not been lost or deleted. They are available for you to read and respond to, just as before.

All new, incoming email will go to your familiar Inbox, just as before. The only thing new is that your Inbox will have many fewer messages, because the old ones will have been moved to the newly created mailbox.

If you wish to avoid having us create this new email mailbox for you, then please keep your inbox under 15 MB.

You can check the size of your inbox by visiting the following page:

https://webapps.acs.carleton.edu/its/netid_only/mailsize/

I'm faculty or staff--why won't GroupWise account work?

For assistance with your GroupWise mail, contact the Administrative Help Desk at x4547 or the Faculty Help line at x5999.

How do I create or join an email list?

Go to https://lists.carleton.edu

How do I restore deleted email?

SCIC Workers: HEAT the problem to Kevin.

What makes an e-mail account get disabled?

Email accounts do not get disabled. Try to check your email in the labs--if this works, something is wrong with the connection with your computer. If the problem persists in the lab, contact the SCIC.

How do I email an alum?

Alumni forwarding addresses have the form: FirstName.LastName@alumni.carleton.edu or FirstName.MI.LastName@alumni.carleton.edu

How do I forward my email to another address?

Go to http://www.carleton.edu/campus/ITS/email/ for this info. If you are an alum try to create an alumni forwarding addresses by logging in to the Forwarding Address Form at https://webapps.acs.carleton.edu/its/alumni/forwards/netid_only/index.php. If they have trouble using the form, tell them write to forwards@alumni.carleton.edu

I'm trying to send an email, why is it being rejected?

Although we subscribe to reputable subscription services, there is still a chance for false positives. Most typically an otherwise legitimate mail site has misconfigured a server and bulk e-mailers have found a way to exploit it to your advantage. If this happens, you will have your messages bounced back to you with additional information from us as to why it was rejected. The best thing for you to do is to talk to you local mail administrator and have the problem corrected. The services we subscribe to have many subscribers internationally; we aren't the only ones rejecting their mail.

__Back to: WebHome