I. Purpose
The university “Official” mass email lists are powerful tools for the communication of information to specific university constituencies. These guidelines are to clarify the appropriate use of the Official email lists for Students, Faculty, Staff, and for Campus Buildings. The desired outcome is to reduce the number of mass emails to the “Official” lists in order to preserve these lists as viable channels for critical information, reduce the overall amount of mass emails sent, and to promote best practices in mass email communication.
II. Scope and Definitions
University “Official” email lists (Student, Faculty, Staff) are limited to communication of official university academic, administrative, business, personnel, and safety information (“University Information”). Membership in an official list is determined by an individual’s role and responsibilities within the university. Members cannot unsubscribe from these lists. These lists are not intended for discussions, but are limited to dissemination of University information to specific campus constituencies.
Building email lists are limited to the communication of environmental, health and safety, and other critical information relevant to the inhabitants of a particular campus building. Membership in a building list is determined by an individual’s campus office assignment and/or their departmental affiliation(s).
Team (departmental) email lists are created at the request of a University department or program to facilitate communication within that department, program, or team. Membership in a team list may be mandatory or not as determined by the supervisor for that employee, department, or program.
Opt-in email lists are created for groups of individuals to facilitate communications around a particular topic or theme. Membership in an opt-in list is completely elective, Members may unsubscribe from the list at any time. An example of an opt-In email list is the UNC Asheville Forum.
List Members are recipients (and sometimes senders depending on the list) of emails sent to mass email lists.
List Owners/Managers are List Members with the ability to send messages, moderate message queues, add/remove list Members, and change list settings.
III. Policy
Each university official list has a governing office (List Owner) which determines the appropriate uses of the list, moderates messages sent to the list, and determines the appropriate constituency of the list. Each governing office maintains their own set of protocols for the frequency, content, and recipients of messages sent to the lists they manage.
The Student Official list (student_official@unca.edu) consists of all currently enrolled students, full- and part-time. Moderation and appropriate use of the Student Official list is governed by Student Affairs.
The Faculty Official list (faculty_official@unca.edu) consists of all current university faculty members, full- and part-time, as well as administrative staff in key areas (e.g. Academic Affairs, Human Resources, ITS). Moderation and appropriate use of the Faculty Official list is governed by Academic Affairs.
The Staff Official list (staff_official@unca.edu) consists of all current university staff members, for the purpose of disseminating information relevant to their roles and relationships as employees of the university. Moderation and appropriate use of the Staff Official list is governed by Human Resources.
Campus Building lists consist of the occupants of specific campus buildings. Building lists are limited to the dissemination of information to building occupants related to facility accessibility, availability, and environment within a particular campus building. Building lists are governed by Campus Operations and Public Safety.
Team and opt-in email lists are governed and moderated (or not) as determined by the list Owner(s). Members may not be added to opt-in lists without their consent. Opt-in lists must include information and/or links notifying Members how to unsubscribe from the list.
IV. Exceptions
The Chancellor, members of Senior Staff, Office of Public Safety, Chief Information Officer, or designees of the aforementioned may send mass emails or time-critical messages to any campus list at their discretion.
V. Recommendations to List Owners
- Messages to email lists should contain a subject line which clearly and accurately identifies the content and/or purpose of the message.
- Messages should clearly identify the individual or office responsible for sending the message and their relationship to the university, usually in the form of an email signature.
- Attachments should not be included with mass email list sendings unless absolutely necessary. Whenever possible materials should be hosted on the sending department’s web site (or Google Drive) with a link to the materials included in the mass email.
- Information about campus events should also be sent to Communication and Marketing.