Cedar Crest College utilized the Microsoft Office 365 platform for electronic mail and digital collaboration services. As such, no e-mail or e-mail related data is stored on campus at Cedar Crest College’s physical location, including e-mail backups.
This policy is designed to clarify the configuration of the services that backup e-mail, and how long specific e-mails are kept within the Office 365 system.
This policy applies to all Cedar Crest College employees, students and their e-mail data.
Backup
As a part of the Office 365 service, the @cedarcrest.edu mail domain is backed up according to Microsoft’s terms and conditions. This backup serves to ensure that no data will be lost in the event of a large scale failure of Microsoft’s servers. In addition, the data exists across multiple servers at multiple locations in the United States. This backup and redundancy is not meant to serve as a mechanism by which to restore one or more deleted e-mail items (e-mails, folders, attachments).
The only mechanism built in to the system that enables that is the Deleted Items folder, and the Recover Deleted Items from the deleted archive feature. Instructions on how to use these are available on the Information Technology Support Center website.
E-Mail Retention
As a part of the Office 365 service there are specific policies configured to ensure that data is kept for a reasonable amount of time, without allowing for an overwhelming number of unnecessary e-mails.
- Inbox: 5 Years
- Folders: Never Delete
- Deleted Items: 180 Days then pushed to deleted archive
- Deleted Archive: 30-45 Days then deleted (as per Microsoft's schedule)
If a situation arises that requires an electronic hold on e-mails or e-mail accounts and not allow for deletion of those messages, a request must be made of the Office of Information Technology.
Cloud Data Retention
As a part of the Office 365 service there are specific policies configured to ensure that data is kept for a reasonable amount of time, without allowing for an overwhelming number of unnecessary data.
- OneDrive: 1 Year after College separation
- Sharepoint: 1 Year after College separation/Site removal
- Teams: 1 Year after College seperation/Team removal
If a situation arises that requires an electronic hold on cloud-based data and not allow for deletion of those messages, a request must be made of the Office of Information Technology.