e-communications policy

e-mail as an official form of communication

 
  1. Purpose of this Policy
    There is an expanding reliance on electronic communication among students, faculty, and staff at Dominican University motivated by the convenience, speed, cost-effectiveness, and environmental advantages of using email rather than printed communication. Because of this increasing reliance and acceptance of electronic communication, email will from this point forward, be considered an official means for communication within the university.
  2. Scope
    This email policy is not inclusive of all aspects of email, rather it provides guidelines regarding email as an official means of communication including:
    • University use of email;
    • Assignment of email addresses;
    • Use of and responsibilities associated with assigned email addresses; and
    • Expectations of email communication between faculty and student and staff and student.
  3. Policy

1.    University use of email
E-mail is an official means for communication within Dominican University. Therefore, the University has the right to send communications to students, staff, and faculty via email and the right to expect that those communications will be received and read in a timely fashion.

2.    Assignment of email addresses
The Department of Information Technology will assign everyone an official University email address. It is to this official address that the University will send email communications. This official address will be the address listed in the University's Global Address List found in the Exchange/Outlook Address Directory and will be the official email address included with personal information within the administrative computing system.

3.    Redirecting of email
It is permissible to have email electronically redirected to another email address. However, those persons who use email redirection from their official address to another email address (e.g., @aol.com, @hotmail.com) do so at their own risk. The University will not be responsible for the handling of email by outside vendors. It is up to the individual to take whatever steps may be necessary with their personal email account to allow for the receiving of email forwarded from their dom.edu email account. These steps may include, but are not necessarily limited to adding the dom.edu address to a ‘safe-senders’ list and/or adjustment of any spam filters. Having email redirected does not absolve anyone of the responsibilities associated with communication sent to his or her official email address.

4.    Expectations regarding student use of email
Staff, faculty and students are expected to check their official email address on a frequent and consistent basis in order to stay current with University communications. For students and faculty we recommend checking email at least as often as your most frequent class meets in a week, in recognition that certain communications may be time-critical. Staff should check their email regularly during the normal work day.

5.    Educational uses of email
Faculty may determine how email will be used in their classes. It is highly recommended that if faculty have email requirements and expectations they specify these requirements in their course syllabus. Faculty may expect that students' official email addresses are being accessed and faculty may use email for their courses accordingly.

6.    Appropriate use of email
In general, email is not appropriate for transmitting sensitive or confidential information unless an appropriate level of security matches its use for such purposes.

      • Confidentiality regarding student records is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). All use of email, including use for sensitive or confidential information, will be consistent with FERPA.
      • E-mail shall not be the sole method for notification of any legal action.

D. Procedures
The Director of Information Technology will review this policy as needed. The President’s Cabinet, as appropriate, will authorize changes. Students, staff, and faculty with questions or comments about this policy should contact the Director of Information Technology.

E. Responsible Organization
The Director of Information Technology will be responsible for this policy.