University of Oregon

Policy Statement

1.000 Administrative Organization and Procedures

Title: Use of E-mail for Official University Communication

Purpose: The University must be able to communicate quickly and efficiently with employees and enrolled students in order to conduct official University business. E-mail is an available and appropriate medium for such communication.

Policy: Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the University may send official communications to employees and students by e-mail to an account assigned by the University with the full expectation that such e-mails will be read by the recipient in a timely fashion.

1. Assignment of E-mail Accounts

Beginning Fall Term 2005, students and employees will be assigned an account in the uoregon.edu domain (if they do not already have one). The account will be designated as their "UO e-mail account." The UO e-mail account is generated by the Computing Center and may not be changed absent University approval. There will no longer be any “preferred” accounts. University communications that are sent by e-mail will be sent to the UO e-mail account.

2. Responsibilities

Employees and students are expected to review messages received through their UO e-mail account on a frequent and consistent basis. Individuals must ensure that there is sufficient space in their accounts to allow for e-mail to be delivered. Communications may be time-critical. Individuals should use UO e-mail accounts for all University-related e-mail communications.

3. Forwarding of E-mail

Individuals who choose to forward e-mail received on a UO e-mail account to a different e-mail address do so at their own risk. The University is not responsible for e-mail, including attachments, forwarded to any e-mail address.

4. Instructional Use of UO E-mail Accounts

Faculty should use UO e-mail accounts for e-mail communication with students. The University's course management system requires that faculty and students use their UO e-mail account to gain access to the system.

5. Departmental Servers

E-mail accounts with addresses such as hr.uoregon.edu or law.uoregon.edu do not qualify as a UO e-mail account for purposes of this policy. Employees and students who prefer to use such accounts must forward e-mail to them. Such accounts are subject to Section 3 above.

Reviewed and Recommended by President’s Executive Staff, 8/9/2005

Issued by: Vice President for Finance and Administration