Your UMD account
Your can access your UMD account and all associated services with a Directory ID and Passphrase. An Identity Verification needs to be completed before creating a Directory ID and passphrase. You can then activate your UMD account at the New Account Activation page.
There are two official University of Maryland email systems: Email for Faculty and Staff (UMD Gmail) and Email for Students (TERPmail).
University of Maryland provides one institutional email platform for employees and graduate students (UMD Gmail) in order to securely promote communication and collaboration, allow for business continuity and maintain effective handling of institutional data. Staff, faculty and graduate students receive UMD Gmail accounts.
In addition to UMD Gmail, the University of Maryland provides TERPmail, an email platform that all registered students may use. If a student becomes an employee, the email address may be set to @umd.edu only if you have a Sponsored Student Account.
Employees
University employees must use a UMD Gmail account to send and receive business emails. University personnel are prohibited from transferring, forwarding or sending UMD business email to or from a TERPmail or personal email account. For more information, read IT Standard Institutional Email (IT-14) and UMD Email Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) in the IT Library.
Students
Undergraduate Student email is automatically set to @terpmail.umd.edu. Graduate Student email is automatically set to @umd.edu. Students who wish to forward university email messages to a third-party provider must set up forwarding from the TERPmail settings. Students can also use the TERPmail to Send email as your TERPmail account using your personal Gmail account.
Student employees
Student employees must use a UMD Gmail account sponsored by their supervisor. As university employees, you are prohibited from transferring, forwarding or sending UMD business email to or from a TERPmail or personal email account. For more information, read IT Standard Institutional Email (IT-14) and UMD Email Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) in the IT Library.
NOTE: These restrictions do not apply to other UMD campuses (i.e. UMES, et al.).