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Contact Information

315-859-4169
315-859-4185 (fax)

Electronic Mail (E-Mail)


Section Contents:
[Department or Group Accounts] [Appropriate Use of E-mail] [ListServ Lists] [ListServ Mass Mailing Lists]


Department or Group Accounts

By special permission, college departments and student groups will be granted a single account to facilitate connections between the department or group and interested parties. The department or group must identify one person to be responsible for the account and to act as the contact person. In addition, student organizations must be registered with the Office of Student Activities before an account will be granted.


Appropriate Use of E-mail

Hamilton strongly recommends that e-mail not be used for confidential communication. E-mail is now considered a formal written record that carries the same legal weight as a formal memorandum. Users of e-mail should remember that e-mail messages become the possession of the receiver and can be easily duplicated and redistributed by recipients. Messages that have been deleted can unintentionally be retained on system backup files. In addition, even secure passwords are not completely confidential. When a private message needs to be conveyed between two individuals, a conversation is the best way to accomplish it, and messages that should not be preserved should be deleted immediately.

College policy prohibits certain types of e-mail. These include mail that may be perceived as harassment, political campaigning, or commercial solicitation. Chain mail is also prohibited. Violators will be subject to loss of computer access privileges, as well as additional disciplinary action as determined by the Hamilton judiciary procedures. Certain types of e-mail, including but not limited to harassing e-mail, may also subject the sender to civil or criminal penalties. In spite of College policy, e-mail can be abused by malicious users who know the owner's computing ID and password. Users are responsible for protecting their own passwords.


ListServ Lists

ListServ is a commercial software product installed on our E-mail system. It is designed to provide an easy way to create and maintain large E-mail mailing lists. These lists can be used for the one-way distribution of information, for E-mail based discussion, questions and answers, etc. Lists are created and "owned" by an E-mail user who manages the list’s behavior.

Any faculty, staff, or student member of the Hamilton College community is entitled to become a ListServ list owner. Campus-based organizations and departments are also entitled to own lists, but an individual within the group must be designated as the list owner. Students must be in good standing with the Dean of Students office and student organizations must be registered with the Office of Student Activities.

All lists must be approved by the ITS ListServ administrator prior to creation, but the following general guidelines apply:
    1.) The purpose of the list must pertain to Hamilton College business.

    2.) Lists are not open to off-campus subscribers unless special permission is obtained. However, Hamilton College students or employees who use off-campus E-mail addresses are allowed to own and belong to lists.

    3.) It is the list owner's responsibility to learn the commands necessary to manage the list's subscribers.

    4.) Under no circumstances can a list be used to participate in or promote activities that are illegal, violate the Hamilton College code of conduct, or the Hamilton College Honor code.
To apply for list ownership and select a list type, please read Becoming a ListServ List Owner from which you can create your list.

[Return to Main Listserv Page]


ListServ Mass Mailing Lists

As a service to the Hamilton College community, several E-mail based mass mailing lists have been created. These are designed to facilitate the timely and cost-effective distribution of information to the campus community. E-mail now reaches almost all faculty, administration and staff (members of M & O generally don't use computers in connection with their responsibilities) and students. Participation in the mass mailing lists is voluntary.

In order that these lists remain a reliable means of communication, it is important that members of the Hamilton community abide by a few guidelines. These guidelines are not designed to limit free speech but are intended to keep your mail volume at a reasonable level.

Most importantly, anonymous mailings are prohibited. The sender's real name must be identified (in full) within the body of the message - not just at the top in the "from" line. The mass mailing lists are intended for:
    1.) Announcement of campus events and deadlines

    2.) Changes in campus policies, procedures, organizations, or departments

    3.) Notification of the availability of services and/or facilities
The following guidelines must be followed when posting to the mass mailing lists:
    • Posting to the lists will be limited to employees and two* student representatives for each student organization. Violations by the student representatives will accrue to the organization they represent (i.e., just appointing another representative will not erase the violation)

    • An event or service announcement will be limited to two posts to the mass mailing lists

    • Each message must have a subject line that is descriptive of the notice

    • Posters of events to the list will be strongly encouraged to post to the college events calendar
Clarification: Posting a message to an inappropriate list is a violation (e.g., posting a message intended for students to the allcampus list)

    Exceptions to the Guidelines:

    Senders Not Approved for Mass Mail:

    Students not registered with Student Activities as approved mass mail posters (senders), or students representing events or groups who don’t normally register with Student Activities, may submit mass mail messages by sending them to exception@hamilton.edu. After the message has been reviewed it will be posted within 1 business day of receipt of the message.

    Messages that Fall Outside the Guidelines:

    Any individual wanting to post a message to the mass e-mail lists that falls outside of the guidelines, can request that the message be posted by sending a request for an exception to: exception@hamilton.edu. The request will be directed to the appropriate college officer for approval. Approval or denial will be communicated to the person making the request. Examples of such exceptions might include reports of inappropriate behavior, including campus vandalism, and racist, sexist, or other acts against members of the community. Requests for exceptions should be sent at least two business days in advance of the time the posting is to take place. If the message is approved, the name of the approving officer will be included in the message as in, “This message was approved through the mass mail exception process by xxxx xxxxxx”.

    Please consider your audience carefully (e.g., do not send a mailing to all employees if you only need to reach faculty and students).

    These lists are NOT intended for messages of a personal nature. Examples of inappropriate uses include, but are not limited to:

      1.) Soliciting support (financial or otherwise) for charity or special causes not connected with a College effort

      2.) Personal opinion, public debate, or campaigning

      3.) Give-aways (personal property such as furniture, tickets, equipment, books, etc.)

      4.) Surveys (unless directly related to college business or faculty research)

      5.) Unverified public service announcements (such as virus alerts, unsafe products, etc.)

      6.) Chain mail

      7.) Services offered or services sought (except for College related services)

      8.) *Lost and found (except when it is Hamilton College property, or involves animals)

      9.) *Items for sale - or items desired (including houses, tickets, books, services, etc.)

      10.) *Rides

    * To send this information without penalty, go to: http://onthehill.hamilton.edu and click on the links for Ride Board, Lost & Found and Marketplace under the RESOURCES heading on the left-hand side of that page. Alternatives to these forums are the Daily Bull (thebull@hamilton.edu) and Around the Hill.


    Penalties for Violations:

    A first time violation will result in the removal of posting (sending) privileges to the mass lists for a period of one month (not including breaks). A second violation will result in the removal of both posting and receiving messages to/from the mass lists for a period of one month (not including breaks). A third violation will result in the loss of posting and receiving privileges for the equivalent of a full semester. A fourth violation will result in the individual being referred to the appropriate judicial body dealing with employees or students. Violations are cumulative for as long as you are at Hamilton (or four years for employees). Loss of privileges applies to all the mass lists (i.e. allcampus, allstudents or allemployees, class year or employee group).

    Violators may appeal their penalty by submitting their reasons in writing to the chair of the Committee on Information Technology. The Committee will review the appeal and return a decision within 5 business days. During the appeal process the penalty will be suspended.
[Return to Main Listserv Page]


For questions about these Policies, Procedures, Plans and Standards, contact:
David Smallen
Vice President for Information Technology, Hamilton College
(315) 859-4169

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