The CIRES Leadership Team is recommending that all CIRES employees at NOAA transition to using your @colorado.edu email address for official CIRES business in lieu of your @noaa.gov email address. This is to ensure CIRES employees are not representing themselves as NOAA employees.
In order to facilitate this change, CIRES IT in conjunction with OIT will turn off all email forwarding from @colorado.edu accounts to @noaa.gov accounts on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025.
- CIRES IT will also change your InsideCIRES account login email address to your @colorado.edu account. Your password will remain the same.
- If you are impacted by this you will receive an email from ciresit@colorado.edu with what to expect and who to contact if you have issues.
- Please reach out to ciresithelp@colorado.edu with any questions.
Going forward, use your @colorado.edu email to register for conferences and book travel.
Additionally we ask you to AVOID using a personal or unofficial email account for CIRES business. Using an unofficial email account can end up in a FOIA or CORA request, exposing that email as a personal legal risk.
Forwarding calendar items to a personal account is fine in moderation, but avoid using a personal email regularly for CIRES work.
Using your University Provided @colorado.edu account
You are able to login to view your @colorado.edu email by going to https://outlook.office.com/ and logging in with your [Identikey]@colorado.edu username and IdentiKey password.
You can also use the Microsoft Outlook application to view your email on both your computer and your phone.
More information on how to do this can be found here: https://oit.colorado.edu/services/messaging-collaboration/microsoft-365/applications/outlook
As always, please feel free to reach out to ciresithelp@colorado.edu if you have an questions or run into any problems.
FAQs
When will this transition need to be completed?
We request you complete this by April 2nd, 2025 at 4pm.
Why do I need to separate my NOAA.gov and colorado.edu emails?
To ensure CIRES employees are not representing themselves as NOAA employees and are able to utilize their University emails for international engagements, proposals, publications and presentations. Additionally, using the correct email allows for a more directed response to a CORA or FOIA request.
Can I forward my calendar events?
Forwarding calendar items to a personal account is fine in moderation, but avoid using a personal email regularly for CIRES work.
Where do I access my @colorado.edu email account?
You can login with your IdentiKey@colorado.edu here: https://outlook.office.com/.
You can also use the Outlook Application on your computer or phone. For more information visit: https://oit.colorado.edu/services/messaging-collaboration/microsoft-365/applications/outlook
When should I be using my @colorado.edu account instead of my @noaa.gov account?
It is recommended you use your @colorado.edu email as your preferred method of communication, especially for:
- International Engagements
- Proposals
- Publication
- Presentations
Does this impact my use of Google Drive?
No, you can continue to use Google Drive and Google Chat features as needed.
Any information about using Slack?
It is ok to use Slack as a communication method if it has been provided by a business partner, NOAA or has undergone an ICT review if being used on-campus.
Is our personal email going to be subject to FOI or CORA because we used it during the hiring phase?
It would depend on the request, but most likely not as most FOI or CORA requests are specific and limited to certain time periods.
Several of us have our primary email set to colorado.edu. But we still forward our colorado.edu email to our noaa.gov email to more immediately know when we get important @colorado.edu email. Is that practice a liability?
Yes, this practice can become a liability as it incorporates your University affiliation as part of the NOAA affiliation opening up both communications to FOI or CORA requests.
I am a CU Alumni and my @colorado.edu account forwards to a personal account. How do I unlink those.
Please use the “Forwarding your email to your @noaa.gov email address and how to disable it” instructions above. If this does not appear to work for your situation, please reach out to ciresithelp@colorado.edu
How do I change my primary/login email to InsideCIRES?
Please email ciresithelp@colorado.edu with this request and we will get this updated for you.
Can I use an email client for my email?
Official guidance recommends you use Outlook for your @colorado.edu account and Gmail for your @noaa.gov account.
More information on how to do this can be found here: https://oit.colorado.edu/services/messaging-collaboration/microsoft-365/applications/outlook
Is there a CU alternative to NOAA Google Chat?
Yes, the University uses Teams. More info can be found here: https://oit.colorado.edu/services/messaging-collaboration/microsoft-365/applications/teams
Can we use our colorado email account in Outlook on a NOAA Laptop?
Please contact your NOAA IT team who provided the laptop to verify you are allowed to use the Outlook Client on your Government Issued laptop.
If you are not allowed to use the Outlook Application you can always view your @colorado.edu email via https://outlook.office.com/ in any browser.
Does this impact how I use Google Meet vs Zoom?
No, you can continue to use Google Meet as needed.