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4-6 Listserv and Announcements for Faculty and Staff

About CMU's "Guidance on the use of mass emails to faculty and staff policy"

This policy defines the procedure for mass emailing faculty and staff, and the criteria used to determine whether such an email is allowed.

NOTE ABOUT PDF VERSION: The PDF is the official text of the policy. If there are any incongruities between the text of the HTML version and the text within the PDF file, the PDF will be considered accurate and overriding.

POLICY

Moderated, electronic mailing lists of employees have been established primarily for messages “from the employer” generally in regard to wages, benefits, and other employment-related issues. Other matters of university business, which are not merely “news items,” may also be approved for distribution. Employees may also use other means of electronic communication for university purposes; those are governed by the master policy on Digital Communication and the Acceptable Use Policy.

BACKGROUND

CMU recognizes the efficiency of employing digital communications among its students and employees. Digital communication saves time, saves money, and is often the fastest, most effective method of communication among members of the CMU community. At the same time, digital communications can easily be abused, and an email that seems useful and pertinent to one student or employee might easily appear as “spam” to another. While email from individual to individual is sometimes troublesome, the real issue emerges with regard to bulk or group communications, and it is this type of communication to which this policy specifically refers.

DEFINITIONS

Moderated means that all messages are reviewed prior to being distributed to assure they meet the criteria of this policy.

PROCEDURE

A. Listserv Messages

Electronic email distribution lists are automatically populated and updated daily with current faculty and staff CMU email addresses through our HR/Finance system (SAP) and individuals cannot unsubscribe from these lists. The lists are moderated by either Human Resources (HR) or Faculty Personnel Services (FPS). View the current distribution lists by accessing this link: CMU Faculty/Staff Email Lists (sharepoint.com)

University Communications can send messages directly to the “All Faculty and Staff” list without requiring approval of HR or FPS.

Messages meeting the criteria noted below may be distributed on the list:

1. Messages may only be submitted by university employees and must relate to official university business.

2. Solicitation messages will not be approved for these lists except for messages relating to solicitations approved by the university (i.e., University Campaign, United Way Fund Drive, Special Olympics).

3. Non-university related notices and notices of personal events (retirement parties, open houses, etc.) will not be approved for these lists. These items may be sent to CMU- Today – see link at the end of this policy.

4. HR & FPS reserve the right to edit or reject messages submitted for distribution on these listservs

5. After the message is reviewed, the message will be authorized for distribution to the employee group, or the sender will be contacted.

6. One short reminder notice will be allowed, provided it has been at least 5 days since the original notice.

7. Review of messages will typically occur within two hours (during normal business hours) from when the moderators receive the message. Messages received after normal business hours will be reviewed the following business day for distribution.

8. Time-sensitive messages may be sent on rare occasions.

a. Send a time-sensitive message to the address of the group you are trying to reach.

b. Immediately call the list moderator [Human Resources (x2264 or x2010) or Faculty Personnel Services (x3368)] to notify the office that you have sent a time-sensitive email.

9. Emergency announcements are approved by University Communications (x3197).

To send a message to a distribution list:

1. Identify the intended group to which the message is to be sent by referencing the current distribution list (by accessing this link: CMU Faculty/Staff Email Lists (sharepoint.com).

2. Send message directly to the appropriate email address of the intended group. Send the email, exactly the way you want it to read. Do not ask the moderator to edit, cut and paste, or suggest they forward it to the list.

3. The subject of the message should clearly identify the nature of the message and should be in the subject line of the message.

4. Attachments are not recommended. Suggested alternatives to an attachment include: 1) copying the contents of the attachment directly into the body of the list message; or 2) creating an HTML version of the document and placing it on an appropriate website and including the link in the list message.

5. Messages must include the following information for the person submitting the message: name, department or office name, campus phone number, and email address. A signature file may be used as a substitute for the submission information if it contains all the required information listed above.

6. Double-check all links, dates, times, and locations in your message.

7. Ensure any embedded links in the message are operating correctly.

8. Change the "direct replies to” function by specifying an email address to receive replies so replies are not sent back to the electronic mailing lists.

9. You will receive an email from Listserv to confirm that you intended to send the message (to help eliminate spam) before the moderators will receive the message.

Remember: Not all employees access their email regularly.

B. CentralLink (CMU Internal Web Portal)

CentralLink is an internal web platform designed for the integrated delivery of information and on-line services to the university community. CentralLink content on the CMU home page is the responsibility of University Communications. A feature of CentralLink is the ability to post general announcements on the CMU home page.

C. CMU Today

CMU Today is an email list for all university employees with email accounts to which daily announcements are emailed every weekday. Messages are submitted via the CMU Today website by faculty and staff, reviewed by University Communications, and sent once per day.

General news items for CMU Today for faculty and staff should be submitted at https://www2.cmich.edu/ourcmu/announcements/Pages/default.aspx. For message guidelines and instructions, see https://www2.cmich.edu/ourcmu/announcements/Pages/cmu-today-guidelines.aspx.

All faculty and staff members are automatically included on the CMU Today list, but they may unsubscribe to the list by accessing this link: https://ls2.cmich.edu/cgi-bin/alloff.pl.

D. Our CMU

Our CMU is an e-newsletter containing campus and community news. It is published weekly with stories about the people, projects and events that define CMU. Our CMU is delivered via email to faculty and staff, as well as others who subscribe to it.

Produced by University Communications, CMU faculty, staff, students, retirees, alumni, friends and community members may subscribe to Our CMU at https://ls2.cmich.edu:444/list/subscribe.html?lui=fk2xetyk&mContainer=137&mOwner=G3339362r3139&mListId=HL%23 206.


Central Michigan University reserves the right to make exceptions, modify or eliminate this policy and or its content. This document supersedes all previous policies, procedures or guidelines relative to this subject.