Beginning Monday, June 23, 2025, the University of Southern Mississippi’s iTech department will integrate the university’s @usm.edu email domain with Apple School Manager. The change will affect students, faculty and staff who currently use an Apple ID associated with a @usm.edu email address.
“USM is claiming the @usm.edu domain with Apple so we can better support and manage university-owned Apple devices,” said Keith Hill, Director of Technology Operations and Infrastructure at Southern Miss. “This gives us more tools to help with password resets, device tracking, app distribution, updates, and more. These are things our community will benefit from long-term.”
The change starts immediately on June 23, 2025.
“Apple will begin notifying users with @usm.edu email-based Apple IDs shortly after, prompting them to update their account to a personal email address,” Hill said.
Hill said this update is required to retain access to personal Apple services such as iCloud, iMessage, and FaceTime.
“If you’ve created an Apple ID using your @usm.edu email address, Apple will soon require you to change it to a personal email address (like Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, etc.),” Hill explained. “This is because USM is moving to Apple School Manager and other services to manage school-owned devices and services. Once the transition happens, you’ll still sign in the same way, but any USM-managed Apple services (like iPads or University owned iPhones, and eventually Mac’s) will use a new, school-managed Apple ID that ties into our CampusID.”
Users who do not update their Apple ID within 30 days may lose access to some Apple services. After 60 days, Apple will automatically assign a temporary Apple ID, with additional instructions on how to regain access.
Users who do not use an usm.edu email address for their Apple ID are not required to take any action.
Apple provides guidance on how to determine which email address is linked to an Apple ID at https://support.apple.com/en-us/102627. Instructions for updating an Apple ID email address are available at https://support.apple.com/en-us/109353.
For additional support, the USM iTech Help Desk is available at [email protected] or 601.266.4357.