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> MSU Policy and Procedures > Student Email Policy
Student Email Policy
(A proposed new Student Electronic Communications Policy may be reviewed on the Legal Counsel Website under Proposed Policies located at http://www.montana.edu/legalcounsel/proposedPolicies.html).
Subject: Student Affairs
Policy: Student Email Policy—Use of email for official correspondence with students.
Revised: N/A
Effective Date: August 15, 2005
Review Date August 1, 2008
Responsible Party: Office of the Registrar and Enrollment Services
Introduction and Purpose:
There is an expanding reliance on electronic communication among students, faculty, staff, and administrators at Montana State University. This is motivated by the convenience, speed, cost-effectiveness, and environmental advantages of using e-mail rather than printed communication. Further, MSU has experienced a wider geographic dispersion of students resulting in a direct need to communicate reliably and consistently via email. Because of this increasing reliance on and acceptance of electronic communication, email is considered an official means for communication within MSU.
Implementation of this policy ensures that students have access to this critical—if not essential—form of communication. This policy will ensure that all students can access, and be accessed by email, as the need arises. This is especially relevant as it relates to disseminating critical university-related information.
Policy:
The student email policy provides guidelines regarding the following aspects of email as an official means of communication with students:
- University use of email;
- Assignment of student email addresses;
- Expectations of email communication between faculty and student, staff and student, and administrators and students.
1. All students currently enrolled at Montana State University are required to have email addresses, as outlined below.
2. University use of email
Email is a mechanism for official communication within Montana State University. The University expects that students will open and read such communications in a timely fashion. Official email communications are intended only to meet the academic and administrative needs of the campus community. As steward of the email system, the Registrar’s Office, under the auspices of the Vice President for Student Affairs, is responsible for approving the usage of student email directed through the Banner Student Information System. (See, Board of Regents Guidelines for the Use of Official Student Email Addresses for details.)
3. Assignment of student email
Official University email accounts will be created automatically for all enrolled students with the implementation of the Student Portal. In the meantime, official email communications to MSU students will .be directed to the “Preferred” email address in the Banner Student Information System. This information can be found at:
“MyInfo”
Enter Secure Area
Personal Information
View E-mail address(es) or Update E-mail addresses
If you wish to change your preferred address, in “Update E-mail address” select the address that you would like to be your preferred address, then check the box marked “Make this your preferred address”
It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that this information is accurate and kept up-to-date. Official email addresses will be directory information unless the students request otherwise.
4. Redirecting of email
If students wish to have email redirected from their official MSU email addresses (defined in paragraph 3 above) to another email address (e.g., @aol.com, @hotmail.com, or an address on a departmental server), they may do so, but at their own risk. The University will not be responsible for the handling of email by outside vendors or by departmental servers. Having email redirected does not absolve a student from the responsibilities associated with official communication sent to his or her official student email account (see Section 5). Information and warnings about the consequences of forwarding are available on the Website used to activate the official email addresses (see Section 3)
5. Expectations about student use of email
Students are expected to check their email no less frequently than twice a week in order to stay current with University-related communications. Students have the responsibility to recognize that certain communications may be time-critical. "I didn't check my email,” failed delivery of forwarded mail, and non-delivery of email because the student’s mailbox is full, or because the student entered an erroneous address into Banner are not acceptable excuses for missing official University communications via email.
6. Authentication for confidential information
It is a violation of University policy (reference Paragraph 638.00.4 in the MSU Student Conduct Code: http://www2.montana.edu/policy/student_conduct/) for any user of official email addresses to impersonate a University office, faculty/staff member, or student. To minimize this risk, some confidential information may be made available only through MyInfo, which is password protected. In these cases, students will receive email correspondence directing them to MyInfo, where they can access the confidential information only by supplying their Student IDs and PINs. The confidential information will not be available in the email message.
7. Privacy
Email users should exercise extreme caution in using email to communicate confidential or sensitive matters, and should not assume that email is private and confidential. It is especially important that users be careful to send messages only to the intended recipient(s). Particular care should be taken when using the "reply" command during email correspondence, because many mailing lists are configured to deliver replies to the entire list, not just the author of a given message.
- All use of email, including use for sensitive or confidential information, will be consistent with the Board of Regents policy statement on use of electronic email by students.
- Confidentiality of 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.
- Email shall not be the sole method for notification of any legal action.
8. Educational uses of email
Faculty will determine how electronic forms of communication (e.g., email) will be used in their classes, and will specify their requirements in the course syllabus. This official student email policy will ensure that all students are able to comply with email -based course requirements specified by faculty. Faculty can therefore make the assumption that students' official email accounts are being accessed and they can use email for their classes accordingly.
Procedures:
Official University email accounts will be available for all enrolled students with the implementation of the Student Portal. In the meantime, official email communications to MSU students will .be directed to the “Preferred” email address in the Banner Student Information System. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that this information is accurate and kept up-to-date.
Internal control considerations, if applicable:
It is a violation of University policy (reference Paragraph 638.00.4 in the MSU Student Conduct Code: http://www2.montana.edu/policy/student_conduct/) for any user of official email addresses to impersonate a University office, faculty/staff member, or student. To minimize this risk, some confidential information may be made available only through MyInfo, which is password protected. In these cases, students will receive email correspondence directing them to MyInfo, where they can access the confidential information only by supplying their Student ID and PIN. The confidential information will not be available in the email message.
Users should exercise extreme caution in using email to communicate confidential or sensitive matters, and should not assume that email is private and confidential. It is especially important that users are careful to send messages only to the intended recipient(s). Particular care should be taken when using the "reply" command during email correspondence.
- All use of e-mail, including use for sensitive or confidential information, will be consistent with the Board of Regents Policy Statement on Use of Electronic E-mail
- Confidentiality regarding student records is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). All use of e-mail, including use for sensitive or confidential information, will be consistent with FERPA.
- Email shall not be the sole method for notification of any legal action.
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