CNetID Closure Procedures for Deceased Faculty Members Including Emeriti

In collaboration with the Office of the Provost and Office of Legal Counsel, IT Services developed the following process to close and retain for a limited time the University of Chicago IT account held by faculty members (with tenure or on the tenure track) when they pass away. This process, enumerated below, is necessary for the University to respect the legal rights of the deceased faculty member’s trust or estate and ensures that access is given to persons who are legally authorized to act on behalf of the trust or estate.

After IT Services is notified of a faculty member’s death, IT will arrange for the account to remain open for one week so that those who, contrary to best practices and University policy, may have been assisting the faculty member with account responsibilities and have retained the password may continue to have access. In addition, when the academic unit ends the active affiliation of the faculty member in Workday, IT will not follow the standard account closure (deletion) process of scheduled closure notifications and closure at the end of 45 days that would ordinarily be prompted when an account leaves “active” status. Thereafter:

1. The Provost’s Office provides IT Services with the name of the cognizant dean.
2. IT Services sends official notifications to the account, the University Archivist, and the cognizant dean. The notification directed to the account also describes the process that must be followed if the faculty member’s estate or trust wishes to obtain a copy of the faculty member’s mailbox. (Copies below.)
3. If the faculty member’s University email was set to forward to an outside email account, that forwarding will stop in order not to interfere with the auto-reply function. Any messages then sent to the faculty member will remain in the University email account.
4. IT Services sets up a generic auto-reply (“We regret to inform you that email sent to this address is no longer being read.”) for the deceased faculty member’s email address. The email notification to the cognizant dean provides information about the auto-reply.
   
   If the cognizant dean requests it, a custom message may be substituted for the auto-reply: “Thank you for your message to <NAME>. We regret to inform you that <NAME> recently passed away. You may wish to redirect your inquiry to <CONTACT NAME> at <CONTACT EMAIL>.”
   
   Or, if there should be separate contacts for professional and personal messages: “Please contact <Y> in <DEAN’S DESIGNATED UNIT> at <Y’S EMAIL> regarding University matters and <Z> at <Z’S EMAIL> for personal concerns.”
   
   The auto-reply will remain in effect until the account is fully closed, which will occur six months from the date that the account is locked—unless the individual authorized to act on behalf of the trust or estate requests a shorter period.
5. On Day 7 after IT receives notification of the faculty member’s passing, the Directory listing for the individual is also hidden, preventing the individual from being found in a Directory search.
6. Account is locked on Day 7. This means that while the account may still receive email messages, unless a representative of the faculty member’s trust or estate has completed the process to establish the legal authorization to receive a copy of the email stored in the account, the account is not being accessed and the messages are neither being read nor responded to. Guidance for the family to establish legal authorization to receive a copy of the email stored in the account is sent to the dean to be shared to the family.
7. After obtaining documentation that establishes the legal authority to receive a copy of the email stored in the account on behalf of the trust or estate, the family member or representative contacts IT Services at itservices@uchicago.edu) or calling 773.702.5800.
8. The Office of the University Archives writes directly to the Office of Legal Counsel for approval to obtain a copy of the deceased faculty member’s account, and then works directly with the IT Services Windows team to provide the files in a secure file that the Archivists have established.
9. Six months and one week from when the initial email notifications are sent from IT to the account, University Archivist, and the cognizant dean, the account is closed, meaning deleted. At this point, IT Services removes the account from the closure exceptions group and then closes the account services fully and immediately without further notification.

Template for Letters to Cognizant Dean of School/Division, Archivist, and to the Account

To Cognizant Dean:

Dear Dean <Name of Dean>,

IT Services was sorry to learn that <NAME> passed away. To secure account services until a legally authorized representative of the trust or estate requests access, IT Services must lock <NAME’S> account services (including the CNetID, Office 365 account, listing in Online Directory, etc.) on <DATE + 7 DAYS> and will archive all email stored in this account until <DATE + 6 MONTHS + 7 DAYS>. If the school or division requires access to the email, please contact IT Services Support team at support@uchicago.edu or 773.702.5800 to request access. IT Services will also notify the University Archivist in case email should be preserved beyond the six-month period.

IT Services needs to ask for your assistance in communicating with <NAME’S> family. (If there is someone else in your office who manages this responsibility, please feel free to forward this email for handling.) Upon <NAME’S> passing, personal and other property generally reverts to the deceased faculty member’s estate or trust, including the personal content of the University email account. As such, the University needs to ensure the proper legal processes are followed before we may turn over <NAME’S> property. The University cannot give anyone access to email even for a limited period of time without first ensuring that the person seeking access has the legal right to do so on behalf of the estate or trust.

In situations involving a will, if <NAME’S> survivors have filed a petition with a probate court, the family should secure "letters of office" (also called “letters of administration”) from the court, as this document that will supply legal proof regarding who is authorized to act on behalf of the estate. This legal proof will permit the University to give the designated executor a copy of <NAME’S> email. If <NAME’S> estate is held in trust, the trustee must provide written proof of authority to act on behalf of the trust, thus allowing the University to provide a copy of <NAME’S> email.

If <NAME> did not have a will or trust and their assets fall into the definition of a “small estate” under Illinois law, then the family will need to complete and submit a “small estate affidavit,” which will give the family the authority to take actions for <NAME’S> estate, including the ability to obtain access to personal email.

The University’s Office of Legal Counsel provided this information as well as the following links, which you should feel free to share with the family if they might prove useful:

https://www.illinoislegalaid.org/legal-information/using-small-estate-affidavit
(This web page may be helpful regarding the small estate requirements and what they enable the family to do.)

https://www.illinoislegalaid.org/legal-information/transferring-property-small-estate-affidavit
(This is a link to the Illinois small estate affidavit template, which, if applicable, the family would need to complete, execute, and provide to the Office of Legal Counsel.)

These legal processes are only necessary if the family needs access to <NAME’S> email. IT Services will also reach out to <NAME’S> email account with identical information. However, ITS would be grateful for your assistance in helping to ensure that the family understands how to gain access to <NAME’S> email if they so desire.

Finally, IT Services has set up a generic autoreply to ensure that anyone corresponding with <NAME> is aware that email sent to the account is not being read:

“We regret to inform you that email sent to this address is no longer being read.”

We are happy to replace that autoreply with the following message, which allows you to redirect professional and personal messages, if you provide the name and email address of the appropriate contact:

Thank you for your message to <NAME>. We regret to inform you that <NAME> recently passed away. You may wish to redirect your inquiry to <CONTACT NAME> at <CONTACT EMAIL>

Or, if there should be separate contacts for professional and personal messages:

Please contact <Y> in <DEAN’S DESIGNATED UNIT> at <Y’S EMAIL> regarding University matters and <Z> at <Z’S EMAIL> for personal concerns.

To the Archivist:

Dear University Archivist,

We at the University of Chicago’s IT Services were sorry to learn that <NAME> has passed away. To help maintain the security and privacy of information, IT Services will lock <NAME’S> account services (CNetID, Office 365 account, listing in Online Directory, etc.) on <DATE + 7 DAYS> but will archive all files stored in their email account until <DATE + 6 MONTHS + 7 DAYS>.

If the Archivists require access to the email files, please contact Ted Stamatakos from the Office of Legal Counsel at stamatak@uchicago.edu to request access.

To the Account:

Dear family of <NAME>

We at the University of Chicago’s IT Services were sorry to learn that <NAME> has passed away. We always write to the account as a precaution in case anyone besides <NAME> had access and is reading incoming messages. To comply with Illinois trusts and estates law and to maintain the security and privacy of information, IT Services must lock <NAME’S> account services (including CNetID, Office 365 account, listing in Online Directory, etc.) on <DATE + 7 DAYS> and will archive all files stored in their email account) until <DATE + 6 MONTHS + 7 DAYS>.

If you require access to any of the personal email in <NAME’S> account, please visit Procedure for Obtaining Personal Email from the Account of a Deceased University Community Member to review the steps necessary for the University to provide you with a copy of <NAME’S> personal email in <NAME’S> University email box.