New policy for campus e-mail now in effect

BY DONNA MEEKS

A new Web-based application that enables faculty and staff to send announcements to the university community has been developed and went into effect Oct. 1. The application enables users to post announcements to the university community as part of one e-mail sent daily to all faculty and staff. Each announcement has a headline with a link directing the reader, at his or her option, to more specific information about the subject.

This initiative is in response to the growing number of faculty and staff e-mails that have been sent in violation of university policy and addresses concerns that a number of individuals have expressed regarding the receipt of unwanted messages. This new procedure reduces the number of such e-mails to only one per day. Exceptions will be made when the president or vice presidents need to send a separate announcement (e.g., inclement weather or other emergency notifications, important budget updates, etc.).

This Web-based application is available to employees via the Faculty and Staff Web page under "Online Resources." To post an announcement, individuals must click on the link to "University Wide Announcement System" and sign in using their Lotus Notes ID and Internet password (the password used when accessing Notes from the Web). Users will have the option of posting an announcement for up to three consecutive days, and will be able to include links to related Web pages as well as add attachments and graphics to their messages. With the implementation of this new system, the "Faculty & Staff" e-mail address directory is no longer available.

Announcements posted in accordance this new procedure should be relevant to the university community and not of a personal nature.

University Policy 3505, "Use of Electronic Mail for Campuswide Announcements," is being revised to reflect the implementation of this new system.

For questions or comments, call the Office of Administration and Finance at 683-3072 or the Office of Institutional Advancement at 683-3152.