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Guidelines

 

Rules For The Use of Electronic Distribution Lists

1. Introduction

This document outlines the rules governing the use of general electronic distribution lists by UMIST staff. A distribution list is a set of Email addresses used for bulk mailing to a group of people, for example all staff or all students. It should be noted that the messages only go to staff and/or students registered for Email. Currently only around 75% of staff are registered for Email.

The following general lists exist at present:

Other lists will be created in the future.

Control of the use of distribution lists is necessary because:

(a) inappropriate use will cause a negative reaction from those who receive the mail;

(b) excessive and extravagant use could impose heavy strains on network and filestore resources, etc.

(c) there are significant time costs in reading irrelevant electronic mail.

2. Allowable Use of Distribution Lists

2.1 Content of Messages

In order to address the control points made in section 1,and in particular 1(c), Email messages sent to lists should be restricted to a few lines maximum. The message should include a pointer to a Web page where the full information can be found, simply by clicking on the URL in the message. Thus recipients of the message only need to read a couple of lines if the message is not relevant to them and then delete it.

2.2 Communications / Letters / Circulars / Announcements / News

Messages will only be permitted if the information they refer to is likely to be of interest to at least 400 recipients. (Note: the full staff list is about 2,000). The messages can be generated by:

  1. Heads of Departments, or those with delegated authority;

  2. service providers.

2.3 Other Categories

  1. job adverts (University jobs originating from the Personnel Office);
  2. details of seminars and courses (if of interest to over 400 recipients);
  3. items initiated by individual members of staff of general interest to at least 400 recipients.

The definition of 'general interest' in the last item will rest with the list moderator. The arbitrators are Mrs. J.M. Clayton, Director of Personnel, for the UMIST-STAFF list and Ms. R.J. Halstead, Deputy Registrar, for the UMIST-STUDENTS list.

3. Disallowed Use of General Email Lists

Messages relating to the following will not be allowed:

  1. Personal items: e.g. for sale, advertising, births, messages, farewells, etc.
  2. Student initiated items except those restricted to the student list and approved by the Students Union and the moderator.
  3. Items initiated by individual members of staff of a non-general nature.
  4. Anything prohibited by the JANET Acceptable Use Policy (e.g. commercial advertising), and the University Regulations.

4.Mechanism for Distribution

Access to the distribution lists will be via the External Relations and Communications Registrar's Department. Messages sent to the UMIST-STAFF or UMIST-STUDENTS lists are received by the group and checked for conformance before distribution. The sender is contacted if the message contravenes the rules. Please bear in mind that UMIST staff are not allowed to edit the messages and the message should only contain ASCII text.

Approvals or rejection of messages can take up to 8 working hours, although often this is done faster. Messages which are close to the borderline of acceptance/rejection can take longer.

If you require advice on the acceptability or the format of your message you can Email listman@listserv.umist.ac.uk.

5.Consideration of Other Large Distribution Lists

The following distribution lists are being considered:

The establishment and use of any department lists or sub-lists will rest with the department. It will be the responsibility of the Head of Department, or his delegate, to monitor the use of such lists. However, it is recommended that departments adopt similar rules to those outlined in this paper in the management of their own internal Email lists.