The purpose of this policy is to provide rules on how to create, use, and moderate mailing lists using WPI’s IT systems and resources.
This policy applies to all users of WPI dynamic distribution (dl- and adv-) lists, as defined below. All use of these mailing lists must comply with the WPI Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) as well as the guidelines in this policy; any violations of the Mailing List Policy will be treated as a violation of the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
This policy does not govern the usage of third-party software to manage mailing lists, nor does it govern the usage of individually-managed groups (which may often be colloquially referred to as “mailing lists”).
Dynamic distribution list: A dynamic distribution list is a
mailing list that is automatically generated based upon data stored in
WPI’s IT systems (e.g., Workday). This includes mailing lists for
academic units (majors, minors, grads), employee mailing lists, and
advising mailing lists. Dynamic distribution lists are prefixed with
dl-, or-in the case of advising lists-with
adv-. Criteria for membership in the lists is determined by
the list owner, and can include manually added or removed members in
addition to the automatically generated list population. List membership
is managed and maintained by ITS.
Individually-managed groups: An individually-created group is any list created by an individual member of the community, currently through using Outlook 365’s “groups” feature. Membership in these groups is manually managed by the owner(s) of the group. Groups also provide an email address that reaches all group membership, which is prefixed with gr-.
Personal alias: A personal alias is an alternate email ID for an individual.
Shared mailbox: An email mailbox that multiple WPI users have access to.
Guest Recipients: A guest recipient is a member of a WPI mailing list (either dynamic or individually-created) who is not affiliated with WPI and has an email address outside wpi.edu.
Dynamic distribution lists are generated by ITS following a request for creation via a Service Desk ticket. Staff and faculty may request the creation of new dynamic distribution lists; approval for this request should come from a supervisor (staff) or department head/ or their designee (faculty).
Upon request, ITS staff will work with the requester to determine whether an existing dynamic distribution list already meets the purposes of the request. If not, and if the list is judged to meet the guidelines outlined in this policy, ITS will create the list.
The primary purpose of a mailing list should be to facilitate communication among multiple WPI community members. While any community member is welcome to request list creation, they are also encouraged to investigate first to find out if there is an existing mailing list that serves the same purpose. Mailing lists should not be created in lieu of a personal alias; lists with only one individual member are not permitted.
Dynamic distribution lists cannot have guest recipients. Community members who wish to create lists that reach people outside of WPI are encouraged to either create an individually-managed group, or investigate third-party list management options.
Dynamic distribution list ownership records are maintained by ITS and available for the WPI community to view upon request. List ownership is determined in conjunction with the list requester, their supervisor and/or department head/program director, and-when list membership spans multiple WPI divisions-the leaders of these divisions.
Some dynamic distribution lists are permanent (e.g.,
dl-students, dl-staff,
dl-faculty). Records of list ownership are maintained by
CITP in collaboration with ITS; requests for changes to ownership of
these lists goes to CITP, who will engage with units on campus as
necessary given the scope of the list.
(The exception to this policy is the dl-potpourri
mailing list, which all employees join by default. potpourri is an
opt-out mailing list with no list owner; opt-out options will be clearly
marked on communications sent to the list.)
Dynamic distribution lists that are associated with academic departments or programs have the department head or program director as list owner. This includes majors, minors, and graduate student mailing lists.
Dynamic distribution lists generated for advising purposes (i.e., adv- prefixed lists) are owned by the Office of Academic Advising.
Dynamic distribution lists for individual classes have the instructor of record as list owner.
List names are set at creation time and cannot be changed.
Distribution list names will automatically have the prefix
dl-. ITS also manages academic advising lists (prefixed
adv-) and automatically-generated course lists. Prefixes
cannot be changed or removed.
List names must have a minimum of four characters, not including the prefix. Names should include only the characters: a-z, 0-9, and hyphen. These restrictions are in place to support legacy IT systems where Unicode characters are not supported.
List names must be in compliance with WPI’s Student Code of Conduct, Code of Business Ethics and Conduct, and Acceptable User Policy. In particular, list names must not use or contain slurs, demeaning language, or be used for harassment.
All mailing lists have named list owners and stated list purposes, which are recorded in the list management system. List owners have responsibility to:
ITS has the responsibility to: + Proactively maintain the internal mechanisms that populate dynamic mailing lists based upon internal data for accuracy and reliability. + Ensure that changes made to underlying internal data are reflected on a dynamic mailing list within 1 business day. + Respond to requests from list owners regarding list maintenance tasks, and provide technical support for mailing list services named in this policy. + Periodically, and on request, provide list membership information to a list owner in a user-friendly and accessible format. + Create mailing lists upon requests that are in accord with this policy. + Communicate with the list owner when changes to the underlying mailing list service may impact list operations. + Communicate with the owner and when list subscription requests are made to IT that require list owner approval.
Mailing lists will be flagged by IT for review if the list:
If a list is flagged for deletion, IT will reach out to the list owner to either remedy problems with the list or confirm list deletion. If there is no list owner, or if the list owner is no longer at WPI, IT will contact the original owner’s supervising office to either remedy the problems with the list or confirm list deletion.
Emails sent to a list should focus on the stated purpose of the list. All communications on a WPI mailing list are subject to the WPI Acceptable Use Policy.
Recipients who are part of the WPI community (have a wpi.edu address) must use their wpi.edu address in the list and not an alternate address.
The following activities are prohibited. If discovered, IT will contact the list owner to navigate alternate solutions, prior to removal of the mailing list: • Creating or using a list as an alias for yourself • Creating or using a list to masquerade as another person, group, list, service, or other entity. • Creating a list to reserve the name without actively using the list. • Creating a list to use as a forwarding technique. • Using a list as an alias for obtaining services internal or external to WPI; users who need this functionality should contact ITS for alternate solutions such as a shared mailbox.
Address any questions and exception requests using a Service Desk request. Report any suspected violations of the policy to the Office of Information Security.
Responsible Department: Information Technologies
Services
Policy Review: Committee on IT Policy (12/18/23);
Administrative Policy Group (3/27/24); WPI Faculty (4/11/2024)
Effective Date: July 1, 2024