HillConnect Resources

Hamilton's e-mail system is HillConnect, powered by Google.

The information provided below is designed to address some of the more common questions related to using your e-mail account at Hamilton College.  If you have specific questions regarding the functionality or your account (e.g. how to create "groups"), please try using the Help feature  built-in to your HillConnect account (click on the "gear" icon in the upper right corner of your HillConnect e-mail screen).  If you find that to be insufficient, please contact the LITS Help Desk at 315-859-4181.

Requesting an email account

New Student Accounts: LITS automatically creates e-mail accounts for students when they are admitted.  Consequently, there should never be a need for a student to request an e-mail account for their own personal use.

New Employee Accounts: LITS automatically creates e-mail accounts for employees when we receive official notification from Human Resources.  New faculty accounts are created when we receive official notification from the Dean of Faculty office.

Temporary Employee Accounts:  To request a temporary employee account, please complete the form found at: https://my.hamilton.edu/survey-manager/survey?id=1304.  Please notify LITS as far in advance as possible when requesting an account as there are several processes that must take place to ensure your temp has access to all the resources he/she will need.

Departmental Accounts: Accounts for departmental use can be requested by contacting the helpdesk at x4181 or by e-mail at helpdesk@hamilton.edu

Organizational Accounts: Student organizations can request accounts when they register on the Student Activities website.  If the organization elects not to register, they must have an employee/faculty sponsor.

Activating Your HillConnect Account

Your Hamilton e-mail account must be activated before it can be used. Instructions can be found at: https://my.hamilton.edu/youraccount

Accessing your email via the web

Regardless of whether you are off campus or on campus you can check your e-mail from any computer as long as it has access to the Internet (World Wide Web). Once you are connected to the Internet, point your browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, etc.) to http://hillconnect.hamilton.edu.
You can also access your e-mail via the e-mail channel in My Hamilton at http://my.hamilton.edu.

Using Your HillConnect Account

• About the HillConnect Environment

Mac/Windows

• Understanding conversations
• How to set up forwarding in HillConnect

From Google

• How to Configure Filters
• How to set up Account Delegation - This is used for an email account that is shared with multiple users without needing to share an account password. The owner of the account can delegate and manage account access for the email account.

From LinkedIn Learning

• Gmail Essentials Video
• Calendar Essentials Video

Changing your existing password

Current students and employees can change or reset their existing password by visiting the Hamilton Password Manager

Forgotten Password

Forgotten passwords can be reset by going to the Password Manager

Additional Services

Core services consisting of email, calendar, contacts, Google Drive and Hangouts are available to everyone with an account by default and are covered by an agreement between Google and Hamilton which stipulates important privacy safeguards, data security features and an uptime guarantee.

A curated group of additional services is also available within HillConnect on an “opt in” basis, that falls outside of this agreement. With these additional services, the contract is between Google and the end user, may change at any time, and does not include the same safeguards as above.

More information can be found in the following Resource Center article.

Accessing your email via an e-mail software application

You can access your Hamilton e-mail account using e-mail client software that supports the IMAP mail protocol. Of the numerous clients available, LITS supports the use of Mozilla Thunderbird. College-owned computers for employees have Thunderbird installed. If you want to install and configure Thunderbird on your personal computer, please refer to the link below.

Thunderbird

• Installing & Configuring for HillConnect Email

Other clients

If you are comfortable using another e-mail program without support from LITS, you can use the generic settings below as a rough guide.

If you need further assistance, use the Help feature in the program or refer to the product's support website.

• Settings for any client

Configuring Your Mobile Devices

• Configuring my mobile device for mail, calendar, and contacts

Mass mailing lists (ListServ)

The Hamilton ListServ system allows you to quickly send an e-mail to a group of individuals, such as a club or organization, the entire campus community, or certain class year of students. The ListServ groups for the entire campus, all students, all faculty, all employees, or a particular class year are mass mailing lists which are subject to certain policies. For more information on mass mailing policies and how to use ListServ, see the information on our ListServ web page:

ListServ Mailing List Info