Email Troubleshooting - Helping Wellesley Emails Reach Your Inbox

Every email platform has different parameters for where it delivers messages, including your inbox, promotions, and spam folders. Some are based on algorithms across users and some are based on your own interactions with content from senders. It’s possible that your email provider (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, AOL, etc.) has automatically sorted messages into a folder other than your inbox without you ever having seen them. 

Check to see if messages are being filtered into folders such as:

• Spam

• Trash

• Promotions

• Social

• Phishing

• Updates

Search for the word “Wellesley,” “class,” “club,” or a specific address, if you know the group you are missing emails from.

If you find any messages, move them back to your inbox to “train” your provider to recognize these as legitimate messages that you want to receive. You may be able to drag and drop, or you may need to manually label these messages, depending on your specific email platform. 

Add Wellesley addresses to your Contacts 

By adding Wellesley email addresses to your contacts, you can help teach your email carrier which addresses are safe to receive mail from and increase the likelihood that Wellesley emails will end up in your inbox. 

Some email clients have “Safe Sender” or “Approved Sender” filters that you can populate with email addresses or domain names you want to hear from. Two to “safelist” are:

@wellesley.edu

@wellesleyedu.myenotice.com

For specific tips tailored to your email provider, consider these resource articles: 

Instructions for all platforms
Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo
Instructions for multiple providers

Confirm that the College has your current email address on file. Follow these instructions to check your profile.

1. Visit alum.wellesley.edu. 
    

2. Scroll midway down the page and select the Update Your Profile button. If you have already logged in, the button will appear blue. Skip to step #6.
    

3. If you have not yet logged in, the button will appear gray. You will need to log in with your MyWellesley username and password. 

• Need to reset your MyWellesley password? Click here. 

• Don’t know your username or your password? Contact the Help Desk at 781-283-7777 or email helpdesk@wellesley.edu 

• For more on the MyWellesley login, visit our login guide. 

4. Once you are logged in, return to the home page by clicking WELLESLEY COLLEGE ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION at the top of the page. 
    

5. Return to the Update your Profile button, which should now be blue. Click the button.
    

6. You should now be on the Profile Information page. Scroll down to the section titled Contact Information.

• You will see several email fields. There are spaces for you to enter a personal email address, a business email address, and an “other” if you wish. Your “Wellesley email” is the wellesley.edu email that the College has provided to each alum.

• The top field is where you can indicate your preferred address to receive Wellesley emails. Use the drop down to select which of the email addresses (personal, business, wellesley.edu) you would like to be your primary contact.

• The Show/Hide buttons indicate whether or not each email address will be listed in the alumnae directory for other alumnae to view. 

7. Once you have filled in all applicable email fields, and selected a preferred email address, scroll down to the bottom of the page and select Review and Confirm.

8. You will be asked to review your information. Confirm that everything is entered correctly, and scroll down to the bottom of the page to select Confirm. Please note that these changes can take up to two business days to take effect. 

If you are not receiving messages from a class, club, or Shared Identity Group, the next step is to confirm that you are subscribed to that group. Follow these steps to manage your subscriptions: 

1. Return to the alum.wellesley.edu homepage

2. If you are not logged in, click the LOG IN button in the upper right corner of the page. If you need help logging in, revisit steps 3-4 above. 

3. If you are already logged in, click on the My Class, Clubs, and SIGs button in the upper right corner of the page. 

4. A black side menu will pop up from the right. Click MANAGE MY SUBSCRIPTIONS. 

5. You will see two columns: Email Notifications and Group Membership. 

6. Locate 2. Subscribe to Group Emails and click on the blue Manage Preferences button. 

7. A pop-up window will appear. All group subscriptions will be listed. If a group you belong to is not listed, this means you are not subscribed to, or are not on, the mailing list. 

8. To subscribe to additional groups, locate 1. Join a Group under the Group Membership column and click on the blue JOIN A CLASS, CLUB, OR SIG HERE button. 

9. Select the additional group(s) you would like to join by selecting the checkbox next to your desired group’s name. When you have selected all desired groups, scroll down to the bottom to confirm your First and Last Name. The email field will automatically be filled in with your preferred email on file.

• Please note: if you have just changed your preferred email address by following the first section of this guide, your information may not reflect these recent changes. If this is the case, simply indicate that your email address has changed, and enter the new preferred email address you selected under Update My Profile. 

10. Click the blue SUBMIT button. 

11. You will receive a confirmation email indicating your new subscriptions.

There have been alumnae who seem to be having a problem receiving emails from the Wellesley College Alumnae Association (WCAA) and Wellesley College to their Gmail accounts. Due to the nature of the way the WCAA sends out email, Gmail often classifies our emails as "promotional" and places it in a promotional folder. At the top of the Gmail page, there are three tabs: Primary, Social and Promotions (see image below). Gmail tries to categorize emails as they come in and, since the primary tab contains the personal email of the user, most people don't check the other tabs. If you haven't received an email to your Gmail account, please check the promotional tab in your account. If it is still not there, please email the help desk at helpdesk@wellesley.edu.

If you have worked through all aforementioned options, and you are still having trouble receiving messages, please contact alumnae@wellesley.edu for further assistance. It is possible that you have previously asked not to be contacted via email or have unsubscribed from other Wellesley email lists.