Northwest Email FAQ

Email has great importance in business and education and its impact on daily communication practices is undeniable and far-reaching. Every day, millions of emails are sent from companies to customers, employees to other employees and students to faculty. Northwest provides each member of its campus community, including its recognized organizations, with University email accounts via Office 365 (Outlook).

You & Northwest Email

Northwest Missouri State University provides email services to faculty, staff and students, as well as, misc. organizational and departmental accounts.

Faculty, staff and students can use the pre-loaded Microsoft Outlook software. which provides calendar and note-taking features, on their campus-issued notebook computers to manage their campus email and Northwest's Information Technology department encourages faculty, staff and students to use Outlook.

Note: You can not change your Northwest email password within email.

While Northwest does not routinely monitor email, email should never be considered entirely private for the following reasons:

Email is easily misdirected due to misspellings, therefore, be careful to ensure an email address is correct before sending a message.
If you receive a message that you do not understand, keep in mind it might not be directed to you or it might be trying to get you to respond for "phishing" purposes.
Never read another person’s email messages. Email is no different than mail received through the post office.
Avoid using threatening and hateful terminology in your email messages.
While messages are in transit, they may pass through several systems where people can read them or print them.
Always avoid giving out sensitive information about yourself or others via email unless you know for sure who is asking the information.
Email may be used in litigation or by employers who monitor the internal communications on their company’s network. Thus, if you would not want someone else other than the recipient to read the message, then do not send it by email.
Avoid opening questionable email attachments due to viruses!
- Call before you click! 660.562.1634

BEWARE OF PHISHING SCAMS! THEY WANT YOUR INFORMATION!

How do I change my Northwest Email password?

You cannot change your Northwest Email password through Office 365. See Understanding Your Northwest Login Credentials.

How do I login to Northwest Email?

Northwest Email can be accessed online through the Bearcat Login.

You can also set-up and use Microsoft Outlook on your campus-issued laptop computer or desktop rather than going out to the web. Outlook is available on all campus-issued laptops and desktops and you are encouraged to use this software.

You will login to your Northwest email with your Northwest Network Account username and password. Off-campus you may need to use your full Northwest email address for the username.

How do I set up Microsoft Outlook on my campus-issued laptop?

If you set-up your email on Outlook, please do so the first time on campus (if at all possible) for ease of set-up. Once set-up, you can use Outlook to receive your Northwest email on your campus-issued laptop without having to use a web browser and going out on the Internet. However, you will need a live wired or wireless connection to receive email through Outlook just as you would to get onto the Internet.

Click Start
Click on Outlook 2016
- You can also type Outlook 2016 in the Search text box to locate
If this is the first time you are logging into Outlook a Wizard will launch.
If on-campus for setup and you are logged into the campus-issued laptop as yourself, you should not have to fill out any information, you will simply click the Next options and then Finish at the end. Outlook will do all the work for you!
If you get into any difficulty during set-up, contact the Northwest Technology Service Center at 660-562-1634 for help!

To setup Outlook to work successfully with your Student Email on a non-university provided computer, please the Microsoft Outlook/Office 365 help page.

How do I set-up my Northwest Email on my Smartphone?

Accessing your email settings on smart phones can vary depending on the operating system (OS) and phone model, so please view your phone’s instruction manual or its manufacturer’s web site instructions before attempting to set up your email on your smart phone.

Example of Exchange (ActiveSync) account on an iPhone (also applicable for iPad and iPod touch):

Select Settings
Select Mail, Contacts, Calendars
Select Add Account
Select Microsoft Exchange
Enter your Northwest Network Account and server information in the displayed fields, typically these fields are: Email, Server (m.outlook.com), Username, Password and Domain (optional)
Your iOS device will now try to locate your Exchange Server.
Choose which content you would like to synchronize: Mail, Contacts, and Calendars
Select Save when finished and your Northwest email should be set up on your smart phone

Here is another example with an Android smartphone (with built-in Android app):

Select Settings
Select Accounts
Select Add account
Select Email
Select Accounts
Type your Northwest Network Account email address and password where indicated
- Example of Northwest email address for a student: s500500@nwmissouri.edu
- Typically you will not be asked for the server name. However, if you are asked type in m.outlook.com
Select Next

You may receive a message about additional security features such as a Remote Security Administration pop-up

Select OK to continue
Once the device verifies the server settings, the Account Options page will open.
- Accept the defaults or select the options for how you want to receive and send your email
Select Next
- You may need to scroll down to see Next
On the Set-up email page you can change the name of your account if you want
Select Done when finished

If the above examples do not help you set-up email on your smartphone successfully, go out to Google and research to see how to set-up your particular phone or stop by the Technology Support Assistant (TSA) Desk on the first floor of Owens Library for hands-on, in-person assistance.

How can I email someone at Northwest if I don't know their email address?

The university's "global address list" is available within Northwest Email accounts so that faculty, staff and students may look up and email other Northwest students, faculty and staff without having to know the person's full email address.

Once you start a new email message in Outlook, you can simply click on the To: and Northwest's entire, scrollable "global address list" will appear. You can also click To: in Office 365 Outlook and type a person's full name in the Search People textbox. Then double-click the name of the person you want to put them in the To: field and click Save.

Do I have personal file storage through my Northwest Email?

Yes, you do have personal file storage, which you can access by logging into your Northwest Email. File storage is typically at least 7 gigabytes or more (depends on what Microsoft allocates). To access OneDrive, login into your Northwest Email and click on the apps icon (located top left corner).

Office 365 app icons

How long do I get to keep my Northwest Email Account?

Northwest students get to keep active Northwest Network Account login credentials, which allows access to Northwest Email, for one full year after withdrawing or graduating from the University. The exception to this rule is for students who are expelled from the University due to disciplinary action.

Northwest faculty and staff get to keep active Northwest Network Account login credentials, which allows access to Northwest Email, for 30 days from the last date of their employment. The exception to this rule is for faculty and staff who lost their employment from the University due to disciplinary reasons.

Information Technology | 660.562.1634 | help@nwmissouri.edu