Definition

Mass email, by definition, is unsolicited email sent in large quantities and is recognized as an efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly use of technology for facilitating communication within the American University of Armenia (AUA) community. Bulk email messages can be sent to a mailing list email address or a predefined target group, managed by AUA’s Information & Communication Technologies Services (ICTS) Department.

Policy Statement

The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance for the appropriate use of mass email at AUA and, when necessary, the approval to send mass emails. It is also to instruct the AUA community on appropriate use of mass email and to provide recommendations on how to properly send mass email messages in order to reduce recipient complaints and confusion, reinforce network security best practices, and effectively and efficiently utilize campus resources.

University-wide distribution of email messages requires:

• The arrangement of distribution with the appropriate sender/s of mass email.
• The identification of the target audience for the message.
• Approval of the message (as discussed below).
• A signature line of an individual person with his/her contact information.
• Reflect the proper namings of the University facilities. Full list of named entities can be located on the AUA Intranet.

Generally speaking, mass email is appropriate for, but not limited to, the following types of messages:

• Messages that relate to changes in University policy or time-sensitive issues.
• Messages that directly relate to carrying out the operations of the University.
• Messages that inform a select group of people (e.g. faculty, staff, students, members of a specific college or department, etc.) of an announcements or events.

Mass email must NOT be used for commercial advertisement purposes. Examples include:

• Commercial advertising for merchants or service providers external to the University, except for notices of services and discounts arranged for members of the University community by the University.
• Solicitations for contributions, charities, or participation in personal activities not related to University purposes or not sponsored by the University.
• Solicitations for non-University businesses operated by University faculty or staff.
• Surveys or solicitations to members of the community. All official University surveys are administered by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.                          
• Offensive material.

Authorizations and Approvals

Authorization to send mass email is automatically granted in the following cases:

Colleges are authorized to send messages to their students, faculty, and staff, without approvals. Deans are authorized to send messages to all university groups.      

AUA executive team members can send mass emails to the University community using the official office email address ([email protected],[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] )

Official University announcements, processed by the Office of Communications, can be shared using MyAUA Intranet. MyAUA Intranet is the official platform for disseminating information to the campus community. A request should be made to the Office of Communications via the Intranet to send a mass email to the AUA community at large or to specific groups within the University.

Certain administrative departments that need to make periodic announcements to members of the AUA community are granted access to send mass email via the official department email accounts, for matters of University business. The following offices have been granted this access through appropriate discussions and review. Please note that the list below is not exhaustive.

Administrative Departments

The AUA executive team will periodically review the administrative departments list to add or remove authorization.