A number of our retirees have experienced the deactivation of their umn.edu-domain access to Zoom when trying to schedule a Zoom meeting. Bill Donohue and I had a discussion with University VP and Chief Information Officer Bernie Gulachek, who is very supportive of UMRA. Here is a summary of our conversation:

1. Access to technology resources (i.e., Zoom) changes quickly as does the associated business model. The University now licenses a majority of its technology services from vendors in the private technology industry.
2. Access to most University technology resources is intended to be conditional on the enrollment or employment (full- or part-time) of students and staff. Upon departure from the University, most of these services (i.e., Zoom) are discontinued.
3. The University routinely removes access to technology services following departure. The timing for this removal varies according to the timing of the entry of an employee’s departure in the PeopleSoft Human Resources Management System.
4. UMRA’s email account and the technology services associated with it (i.e., Zoom) will remain unchanged. The UMRA Zoom account can continue to be used to host UMRA meetings, clubs, and special interest groups. This can be arranged through our webmaster, who will set you up with appropriate access.

The VP acknowledged that this is a change from the days when technologies were developed and/or created solely by the University for its own use and at a time when the legal and regulatory environments were comparatively relaxed. Over time, these changes have been compounded by escalating costs to provide state-of-the-art services in support of the University’s mission.

Gulachek has been, and will continue to be, a proponent of UMRA, but he cannot exclude retirees (and alumni) from the impact of these conditions.

UMRA Webmaster Cathy Lee Gierke and Database Manager Virgil Larson have worked out how you can use the UMRA zoom account to host UMRA functions. Their instructions, “Hosting a Zoom meeting using UMRA Zoom account,” can be found on umra.umn.edu should you need to request this access for UMRA business.

You do not need a Zoom account simply to attend a Zoom event hosted by someone else, and you can obtain a basic Zoom account for free.

Many universities are deactivating technology services for retirees and alumni. We hope this clarification is helpful as UMRA continues to support the University of Minnesota’s mission.

—Frank Cerra, UMRA president, and Bill Donohue, UMRA past-president (2019–20)