Currently, University email service to a student or staff will be stopped when the student/staff leaves the University. For students properly graduated from the University, they will be provided with a set of alumni services which include free email. The email address is in the format of EID@alumni.cityu.edu.hk, and the email quota is 2MB. Currently there are about 40,000 alumni enjoying this service.

Long serving staff (i.e., those who have served the University full-time for 10 or more years on regular terms of appointment) are also given Courtesy Identity Cards allowing them access to certain campus facilities after they have left the University and email service is one of them. The email address is in the same format as that for alumni and the email quota is also 2MB. Currently there are over 150 former staff who are using this service.

There are lots of free email services nowadays available from the commercial sector. This shows the value that is attached to a mailing list. For the University, it is of strategic importance to continue to communicate regularly with our former students and staff, for they are all potential donors, parents of prospective students and even potential students. However, since the University is not intending to compete with business email service providers, free email service, with a reasonable online storage quota, will be provided only to those who have had long-term relationships with the University. The Committee on Information Services and Technology, at its 8th meeting, endorsed the following provision of free email service to alumni and former staff:

For Alumni

Email services will be provided to former students who had graduated from a programme, i.e. alumni as defined by the Development and Alumni Office (DAO). Details of the service are:

Email address: EID@alumni.cityu.edu.hk
Email quota: 10MB

For Former Staff

Email services will be offered to those who were employed on full-time, regular term service continuously for more than 6 years before they leave the University. The length of service is set by taking into consideration that a staff normally will have served for 6 years or more before being substantiated. Details of the service are:

Email address: EID@exstaff.cityu.edu.hk
Email quota: retaining the existing quota allocated to the staff at the time of departure.

The email quota for the existing courtesy email holders will be extended to 200MB which is the default email quota for existing staff.