University Mass Email Guidelines
Stockton’s email system is a business tool to communicate and share important institutional updates and information with faculty, staff and students.
It is not the only such tool, nor necessarily the most appropriate tool, for all communications. These guidelines are intended to reduce the number of all-campus unsolicited mass email messages and replies, while preserving the effectiveness of email as a business communication tool and maintaining the free flow of information.
Email is the University’s official means of communicating information to faculty, staff, and students, as well as combinations or subsets of these constituencies. It is intended to facilitate the academic and administrative functions that support the University’s mission of teaching, research, and service. As such, only the following instances are appropriate as mass email communications for transmittal via the Faculty and Staff distribution lists:
- Emergency messages, campus alerts and health and safety messages.
- Campus operations messages about information technology resources, human resources, or facilities that affect the Stockton community.
- Messages related to University policies or procedures.
- Announcements from the Board of Trustees, President, Provost, or other University leadership.
- Employee Union Messaging
- Communications required by law.
The University’s email services are not open to the general public, nor do they provide a forum for expressing personal opinions. They are intended as vehicles to distribute information, rather than as forums for conversation. As such, emails sent as mass communication will not automatically allow reply all. Several other services and technologies allow faculty, staff and students to communicate with appropriate audiences and share announcements of interest to portions of the campus community. It is not the University’s intent to diminish or censor conversation, but rather to facilitate the transmission of permissible business email to the correct list of individuals.
Before submitting a mass email for transmission via the Faculty and Staff distribution lists, please consider the appropriateness of these alternative communication channels:
- A story idea to University Relations & Marketing (URM) for inclusion in one of Stockton’s publications, the campus portal, and/or social media outlets.
- A request to Event Services to add an event to the campus calendar and/or campus billboards.
- An announcement on OspreyHub.
- A verbal announcement at a program, school, senate, or union meeting.
- An announcement to a program, school, senate, or union meeting listserv.
- An email to a smaller, more targeted email listserv or group of people.
- A request to Development and Alumni Relations to share a message with alumni and/or donors.
- A channel or site created via Microsoft Teams or Microsoft SharePoint to disseminate communications and facilitate dialog within your department, among your colleagues, or with members of University organization or groups.
Administrative departments that are required to make periodic announcements to members of the Stockton community can send mass emails to the predetermined mass email lists via the email system, maintained by ITS, for matters of University business and in compliance with all pertinent policies and procedures. These individuals are defined in the table below.
All other individuals intending to send to the predetermined mass email lists may require approval. Once the message is sent to the intended mass email list, the email will be queued for review by the designated mass email moderators, listed in the table below, before being accepted or denied for distribution.
Approval of a mass email message may take up to three (3) business days before delivery to the intended audience. If time sensitive material is being distributed, please contact your divisional executive to request expedited approval from the moderators.
All messages must include the following at the time of submission for approval:
- Clear and accurate subject line.
- Contact information for the person designated to handle follow-up questions and comments.
- Clear and concise messaging, no more than one screen page when possible.
- Limited size of images and attachments to facilitate mobile accessibility.
Additional information may be made available via verified links in the text of the email.
Emails must not include or attach personal, confidential, or sensitive information. The emails must also comply with all University policies and procedures including:
- Policy I-55: Campus Conduct Code
- Procedure 4155: Procedure for Using University Communication Systems/Tools to Disseminate Messages to the Stockton Community
- Procedure 4200: Acceptable Usage Standards of Computing and Communication Technology
University Wide Mass Email Lists
| Email Address | Pre-Approved Sender List | Example Use |
|---|---|---|
Faculty@stockton.eduFaculty Email, used for administrative announcements to faculty. Moderated: Yes Moderated by:
Replies: Not typically, annoucement purposes only Opt-out Possible: No
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Staff@stockton.eduStaff Email, used for administrative announcements to staff. Moderated: Yes Moderated by:
Replies: Not typically, annoucement purposes only Opt-out Possible: No |
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EventPosting@stockton.eduFor Submitting Upcoming Stockton hosted Events, open to all employees to utilize. One annoucement and one reminder per event. Consider Alternatives to Mass Email above for additional notices. Moderated: Yes Replies: Not typically, directly responding to sender permitted Opt-out Possible: Yes (Instructions to Opt-In/Out) |
None |
|
Stocktalk@stockton.eduFor Employee-Employee Communication. Encouraged to reply only to sender, not reply-all. Moderated: Yes Replies: Allowed Opt-out Possible: Yes (Instructions to Opt-In/Out) *Please review "Appropriate Use of University Email" above for information about the permissible use of the Stocktalk mass email list. The University is unique in providing this open-dialog platform and does not seek to limit constructive debate or squelch the often important conversations on issues of the day but does require the civility and respect we should all expect from each other in all of our online (and offline) communications. All Univeristy Policies and Procedures must be adhered to while utilizing the Stocktalk list. Violations may results in disciplinary action and/or modifications to the Stocktalk email system. |
None |
|
Student Email ListsStudent Distribution Email Lists, not open to anyone outside of approved sender list. Consider Student Digest for other purposes. Moderated: No
Opt-out Possible: No To request an email to be sent to Students, please use the Student-Wide Emails Request Form. |
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Terms Used in University Wide Mass Email Lists
Moderated: Designated person(s) will have to approve email before distribution to the list unless sent by pre-approved sender.
Approved Sender List: Approved sender(s)’ email skips moderation process. If email list is not a moderated group, approved senders are the only people who can send to the group.
Opt-out Possible: Allows individuals to opt out of the mass email listserv group.
