ATUS offers solutions to student issues with email upgrade

Western Washington University students can now be part of the same Office 365 environment as faculty and staff. All students will be migrated in July, but until then students are allowed to upgrade at their convenience. So far, more than 4,000 students have upgraded to their new @wwu.edu mailbox and Office 365 account.

Most students have not encountered any issues making this transition, and there have been no instances of lost mail or mail delayed by more than a few minutes. The two most common issues reported to the Help Desk have been:

  • Students upgrade to their new @wwu.edu mailboxes and can't find their new email messages. If students see only their old email, and no new messages, their Web browser may be redirecting them to their old mailbox. Unfortunately, in some circumstances their Web browser might automatically redirect them to their old @students.wwu.edu mailbox, especially if they have allowed the browser to save their password. When students click the “Student Email” icon in myWestern they will see a page that provides instructions on how to avoid this behavior along with other useful information. This page also allows them to access both their old email and their new email.
  • Outlook reads: "You don't have permission to send to username@wwu.edu." This message means you are trying to contact a student at their @wwu.edu address before that student has clicked the "Upgrade Now" button. You can still send to the student's username@students.wwu.edu mailbox. The official email address for students that is listed in Banner will not change from username@students.wwu.edu to username@wwu.edu until after all students have been migrated in early July. 

If you hear from a student who is experiencing difficulty with these changes to student email, please urge them to contact the ATUS Help Desk so we can show them how to access their new mailbox.

More Information on this Transition:

For more information, contact the ATUS Help Desk at 360-650-3333 or helpdesk@wwu.edu.