Permission to send to the campus distribution lists requires an approval process. The campus distribution lists are faculty, staff, students, and retirees. Each of these lists have an owner that will approve or deny the request. Distribution lists are also sometimes called distribution groups or listservs.
Access to distribution lists is only granted to resource email accounts/departmental email accounts. Resource account owners manage the use of the distribution list privilege amongst the employees of that area. This means determining who in the department is allowed to send to the distribution list, how often, what content, etc. User access will be reviewed annually by the owner to determine the need for continuation and/or revision of access during the next fiscal year.
Approved Uses:
- Large-scale emailing is intended for use when the message is of common importance to the receiving community and is not easily conveyed via other media, including the university calendar, mobile app, etc.
- The content and formatting of the resource emails within your respective unit are the responsibility of the resource account owner. Verifying accurate content, including but not limited to fact-checking, spelling and grammar, must occur before scheduling the email. Best practices include:
- Distribution list(s) will be added as a BCC option only
- A valid signature from an individual is seen at the end of the resource account email message to help the receiver acknowledge not only the department, but the individual they can contact for questions.
- If a department does not have access to send to a distribution list(s) and would like an announcement to be sent, the best practice would be to contact the applicable VP for guidance and direction. Departments, when asked, should not send to a distribution list if the message is not specific to its area, i.e., HR or Safety & Risk Management sending on behalf of a college, as the message may be misconstrued.
- Sending ‘food in the breakroom’ emails to a distribution list is not allowed.
- Emails in conflict with A&M–Central Texas regulations or applicable laws are not permitted. All communications must demonstrate a direct relationship to university business or be within the scope of the university’s mission.
- Examples of resource emails output not within the scope of the university’s business or mission include but are not limited to:
- The promotion of illegal activities, support of commercial activities not associated with the university or offers of personal financial gain.
- Content, material or links that do not support a positive learning or working environment.
- Unsolicited messages
❗❗ Overuse or abuse of the distribution list will result in access being revoked.
Request Process:
- Submit a ticket via the Step 1 button to the right.
- The ticket number is required in the Distribution List Access request form. Having an open ticket helps with tracking the progress of the request.
- In the 'description' field of the ticket, please include a brief description of what distribution list access is being requested for which resource account. All detailed information will be contained within the Distribution List Access request form; having a brief description in the ticket will ensure that the correct ticket is being paired with the correct request form.
- Make note of the assigned ticket number.
- Submit the Distribution List Access request form via the Step 2 button to the right.
- Once the Distribution List Access request form is approved, attach a PDF copy to the ticket you initially created in Step 1.
- You must include a comment on the ticket to ensure that IT is notified that the form has been attached. If you only attach the form, the system will not send a notification.