Accounts & Eligibility - Employees

 

Features

Eligible employees are automatically provisioned with the following IT services.

 

Who Can Get It

New and current employees with the following job classifications are eligible for these services:

  • Faculty
  • Research faculty
  • Emeritus
  • University staff
  • Classified staff
  • Working retirees (faculty, staff or research faculty)
  • People with a POI Type D designation
  • Non-CU student staff

How to Get It

OIT automatically provisions these services to eligible employees approximately one business day after their IdentiKey is created.

If you already have an IdentiKey from a previous role but not a CU Boulder email account, your supervisor will need to request a new primary mailbox for you.

 

What to Expect If Your Eligibility Changes

OIT will adjust your access to IT services when your primary role changes or your eligibility is reevaluated based on a previous role change or an OIT policy change.

If the adjustment will result in a loss of services, you'll receive an automated email notifying you of the change and providing a grace period.

Changes to Your Primary Role

If your primary role changes in a way that affects your eligibility for IT services, OIT will automatically adjust your access to align with your new eligibility.

If you enroll in CU Boulder classes

As long as your employee eligibility doesn't change, you won't lose access to any services.

Depending on your field of study, you may gain access to software that's specific to your college or school for the duration of your enrollment.

If you move to an affiliate position

If your role changes from an employee position to an affiliate position (e.g., unpaid faculty, POI Type C designation), your eligibility will change as follows:

Original RoleNew RoleServices RetainedServices AdjustedServices Discontinued
EmployeeAffiliateIdentiKey, Microsoft 365 Online, Google Workspace, Google Drive, VPN serviceCU Boulder email storage reduced to 50GB, Microsoft OneDrive storage reduced to 100GBMicrosoft 365 desktop apps, Microsoft Teams Calls, phone extension

To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Affiliates.

If your employment ends but you're an active CU Boulder student

If you lose eligibility for IT services as an employee but are still an active student, you'll lose access to employee-only services, including:

To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Students.

If your employment ends but you're a CU Boulder alum

If you graduated on or before Jan. 14, 2026, you will no longer be eligible for any campus-provided IT services. To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Former Employees & Affiliates.

If you graduated after Jan. 14, 2026, you will have three months to save any important files from your CU Boulder Google and Microsoft accounts before your IT access changes to temporary alumni services:

Original RoleTemporary RoleServices RetainedServices AdjustedServices Discontinued
EmployeeAlumIdentiKey, Buff PortalCU Boulder email storage reduced to 50GBMicrosoft 365 Online, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft 365 desktop apps, Google Workspace, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams Calls, phone extension, VPN service

After one year, you will lose access to your CU Boulder email account, as well. To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Alumni.

If your employment ends and you have no other campus role

You will no longer be eligible for any campus-provided IT services.

Original RoleNew RoleServices RetainedServices Discontinued
EmployeeFormer EmployeeIdentiKeyCU Boulder email, employee portal, Microsoft 365 Online, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Workspace, Google Drive, VPN service

To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Former Employees & Affiliates.

If you retire from CU Boulder

When you retire from CU Boulder, you'll have approximately 90 days to save any important files before your IT access is downgraded to email-only services.

Original RoleNew RoleServices RetainedServices AdjustedServices Discontinued
EmployeeRetireeIdentiKey, employee portal*CU Boulder email storage reduced to 50GBMicrosoft 365 Online, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft 365 desktop apps, Google Workspace, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams Calls, phone extension, VPN service

*Retirees who select their annual benefits through CU's open enrollment process will retain access to the employee portal as long as their IdentiKey credentials remain active.

To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Retirees.

Reevaluations of Your Eligibility

If OIT reevaluates your eligibility for IT services, you'll receive an email indicating that your Microsoft license is being adjusted from one role-based license (e.g., employee) to another (e.g., affiliate).

This reevaluation may be due to a previous role change that OIT didn't fully address at the time or to recent changes to OIT's eligibility policies.

If you're changing to a student license

If the email from OIT states that your Microsoft license is changing to a student license, then you'll lose access to employee-only services, including:

To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Students.

If you're changing to an affiliate license

If the email from OIT states that your Microsoft license is changing to an affiliate license, then you can expect your access to IT services to change as follows:

Original LicenseNew LicenseServices RetainedServices AdjustedServices Discontinued
EmployeeAffiliateIdentiKey, Microsoft 365 Online, Google Workspace, Google Drive, VPN serviceCU Boulder email storage reduced to 50GB, Microsoft OneDrive storage reduced to 100GBMicrosoft 365 desktop apps, Microsoft Teams Calls, phone extension

To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Affiliates.

If you're changing to a retiree license

If the email from OIT states that your Microsoft license is changing to a retiree license, then you can expect your access to IT services to change as follows:

Original LicenseNew LicenseServices RetainedServices AdjustedServices Discontinued
EmployeeRetireeIdentiKey, employee portal*CU Boulder email storage reduced to 50GBMicrosoft 365 Online, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft 365 desktop apps, Google Workspace, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams Calls, phone extension, VPN service

*Retirees who select their annual benefits through CU's open enrollment process will retain access to the employee portal as long as their IdentiKey credentials remain active.

To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Retirees.

If you're changing to a temporary alumni license

If the email from OIT states that your Microsoft license is changing to a temporary alumni license, then you can expect your access to IT services to change as follows:

Original LicenseTemporary LicenseServices RetainedServices AdjustedServices Discontinued
EmployeeAlumIdentiKey, Buff PortalCU Boulder email storage reduced to 50GBEmployee portal, Microsoft 365 Online, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft 365 desktop apps, Google Workspace, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams Calls, phone extension, VPN service

After one year, you will lose access to your CU Boulder email account, as well. To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Alumni.

If you're not currently eligible for a Microsoft license

If the email from OIT states that you're not currently eligible for Microsoft services, then you can expect to lose access to all other IT services as well.

Original LicenseNew LicenseServices RetainedServices Discontinued
AffiliateNoneIdentiKeyCU Boulder email, employee portal, Microsoft 365 Online, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Workspace, Google Drive, VPN service

To learn more, see Accounts & Eligibility - Former Employees & Affiliates.

 

What to Do Before You Lose Access

During your final weeks of employment, complete the recommended digital offboarding tasks for departing employees and affiliates linked below.

These steps will help you preserve important OneDrive data and email messages; transfer ownership of shared documents, calendars and accounts; update your login, MFA and account recovery email for external services; and close out your CU Boulder email account.

 Digital Offboarding & Data Preservation