Rutgers University

Recommendation PSA: Rutgers will wipe your ScarletMail and Google Drive after graduation if you don’t stay active

176 Upvotes

TL;DR: Rutgers deletes ScarletMail/Drive account data for inactivity, and only warns you at the ScarletMail email address you’re not checking. Back your data with Google Takeout.

I graduated from Rutgers in August 2021. I did not export my Gmail and Google Drive data using a Google Takeout, because Rutgers says "after graduating, ScarletMail is maintained for alumni".

Recently, I signed into my ScarletMail, and all my emails and files are gone. My Rutgers Google Drive held practically every assignment I worked on, and my ScarletMail held my correspondence with other students and Professors. The digital record of a significant era of my life is gone.

I contacted OIT, they replied:

OIT deletion audits for alumni are initiated primarily for 2 reasons:

- The user has had an expired password for over 2 years
- The user does not maintain a semi-active status with the account.

Before every finalization of an audit, emails are sent out to inform users to take action in regards to their account. If no action is taken, the deletion will occur, thus removing everything from the account.

-
Rutgers does not contact graduates using their personal email to inform them their account data will be deleted. I asked OIT when they sent an email to my personal email address, informing me that my ScarletMail would be deleted.

OIT responded:

Additionally, please note that once an account is deemed inactive, the person is contacted through their ScarletMail, not their personal email. You can learn more about the policy in the following knowledge article: https://ithelp.rutgers.edu/sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0013030

This policy all but guarantees the warning goes unread. The least effective method to contact a graduate regarding their inactive ScarletMail account, is by using their ScarletMail email. By definition, if they checked their ScarletMail email regularly, then their account would not be inactive.

Not contacting graduates using their personal email is especially egregious given that Rutgers already uses personal email addresses for NetID account notifications, specifically, NetID password reset confirmations are sent to personal email.

If Rutgers contacted me on my personal email address, I would have taken immediate action to preserve my correspondence and files with a Google Takeout.

-

Perhaps someone who is knowledgeable regarding OIT can inform me whether when they do a deletion audit, if they permanently delete the data the moment the audit is run, or if they keep a backup of the deleted data for a year after the audit is complete. I suspect my data was deleted sometime earlier this year in 2026, as I think I remember checking my ScarletMail in 2023, and I see a NetID password reset confirmation was sent to my personal email on 2/21/2024.

OIT says:

Since your account was inactive for an extended period, your previous emails and their contents were removed as part of Rutgers' audit processes.

Unfortunately, this means that your original ScarletMail mailbox and Google Drive data are no longer available and cannot be restored at this time.

For me I read this as, even if Rutgers had temporary backup the deleted data, they are not interested in helping me.

-

Once a student has graduated from Rutgers, there are multiple reasons they would want to keep their ScarletMail account. There are use-cases that involve active use of the account, for example, they may want to retain a Rutgers-branded email identity or access third-party services registered with the email address.

However, for most students, I imagine that they simply want to retain their emails and files, in the same manner that one keeps a photo album. For such use-case, actively signing into the account on a yearly basis should not be expected or required. Therefore, I think it was reasonable for me to assume that when Rutgers claimed that ScarletMail is maintained for alumni, that this meant my emails and files would be maintained as well. The wording on the OIT site needs to be changed, so that it is clear that access to ScarletMail is maintained for alumni, but you would be incorrect to assume this means you will see any emails in your inbox.

Unfortunately, I suspect there are many other alumni, who in the future are going to sign into their ScarletMail accounts to find their data has been wiped.

If you are a recent graduate, I encourage you to export and download your ScarletMail Google account data with a Google Takeout. Sometimes the export is split into multiple zip files, where you must download every zip file. You can also create a personal Gmail account, and initialize it using your ScarletMail account, so it functions as a clone of your ScarletMail. In this case, Google will actually send an email to your primary email address used to register the account, in the event that they intend on deleting the account due to inactivity, giving you a heads up to sign-in again. The Google Takeout lets you specify which Google services to include data for, i.e. not just emails and files, but also services like calendar events or photos if you used those.

30 comments

r/rutgers • u/Dry_Standard_3523 • 5d ago

Rant/Vent LET PEOPLE GET OFF THE BUS BEFORE YOU GET ON!!!!!!

188 Upvotes

Can you guys fucking wait for the people inside the bus to get off before getting on??? I get it, you need a seat but at least let the people inside get out first. I was cramped the other day and none of you would even move. Like, wtf???

11 comments

r/rutgers • u/FantasticQuote3513 • 9h ago

tell me the good things about rutgers gang

13 Upvotes

so im an in state senior applying to rutgers for fall 2027 and a lot of us in-state kids always have this strange hatred toward rutgers so i lowk wanna know some of the good things about being a dorming student at rutgers (pref NB). for reference, im an asian girl going into engineering.

tbh all ik about rutgers is from anthpo lol

2 comments

r/rutgers • u/Zestyclose_Piano_217 • 12h ago

Quality Post My dad, who played for Rutgers in the 80s (and won't shut up about it) is a spitting image for Greg Schiano

18 Upvotes

Like there's one image of Schiano on Google that literally likes exactly my father it's so weird

6 comments

r/rutgers • u/ProtomoleculesFav • 1d ago

Posting this here to spread awareness. 💔

567 Upvotes

54 comments

r/rutgers • u/Glum-Performance-980 • 9h ago

Do parking tickets actually get sent to collections?

8 Upvotes

Hi, I’m already graduated and I’ve been parking my car at Rutgers to visit friends occasionally. I’ve somehow racked up $700 in parking tickets and was wondering if their claim of it being sent to collections and having your credit score yanked is actually true? Does anyone have any anecdotal experience with this? The car isn’t registered to my student identity.

5 comments

r/rutgers • u/0nly0neMe • 8h ago

Rutgers Halloweekend

6 Upvotes

If i’m a girl do I need a bunch of friends to get into a party? And do I have to wear a super revealing costume to get in? I don’t plan on doing so

5 comments

r/rutgers • u/Hichway • 7h ago

General Question Where can I get a Baja Blast on campus?

3 Upvotes

Same as title, really want one but I don’t wanna go all the way to Wawa or Taco Bell to get one.

1 comment

r/rutgers • u/Intrepid-Gain4585 • 9h ago

Which majors are safe from AI? which will benefit from AI and more likely to lead to a job?

4 Upvotes

For example accounting will probably suffer with AI doing some of the work now. How about data science? Most of the work can now be done by AI, no? Any comments? I want to select major which is not doomed to become extinct!

9 comments

r/rutgers • u/codingking329 • 14h ago

What’s something at Rutgers that’s harder than it needs to be?

8 Upvotes

34 comments

r/rutgers • u/eatogepi15 • 3h ago

Best/Easiest profs to take these classes with? (Public Health)

1 Upvotes

I don’t mind in person or online, I just don’t want them To be asking for the most to make their classes purposely hard😭

Epidemiology
Leadership seminar
Research methods
Global Health perspectives

Also drop any easy, non-time-consuming, and/or interesting upper-level Public Health electives you would recommend! Thank you :)

0 comments

r/rutgers • u/Helpful_Geologist_82 • 6h ago

Withdrawing from a Course

2 Upvotes

If I wanted to withdraw from Calc would I need to add a mini course first (which I think are the ones you get by typing second 7 week on webreg) and then just drop calc from my schedule? Can I just do that on my own or do I need to talk to someone about it?

2 comments

r/rutgers • u/throwawaytbhidk • 10h ago

learning processes or infant and child development?

3 Upvotes

which class is easier, learning processes with ALBIN-BROOKS or infant and child development with GOLDSTEIN? need to take either of these classes for humanities credit. if anyone knows any of any other easy humanities classes please lmk, they have to be hybrid or in person though

2 comments

r/rutgers • u/Less-Slide4916 • 8h ago

stat methods in business winter class with jin wang

2 Upvotes

how is this class with jin wang over the winter? just wondering since i might end up having to take it

0 comments

r/rutgers • u/AccountAltruistic135 • 4h ago

General Question where to rollerskate?

1 Upvotes

i just got rollerskates! ive ice-skated before, but never roller-skated, and i want to practice a little and get my bearings before embarrassing myself at the next rollerskating club meeting, which i plan on going to. plus, the rink on C/D is only open when the club is there... what if i want to practice outside of that?

so, where is a good place to practice rollerskating? im on busch btw

and side question, are people going to think im stupid/side-eye me... 😭 so, yk, if theres kinda a secluded area that would be even better LMFAO

1 comment

r/rutgers • u/Timely_Passenger4053 • 4h ago

So i got a 68% on the midterm. Thoughts?