5.02 Acceptable Electronic Mail Use

I. Purpose

An approved University policy regarding appropriate use of electronic mail is in place and is included in its entirety here. Procedure(s) may be documented as supplementation to this policy in order to further clarify acceptable use of electronic mail systems and services. Guidelines for appropriate use of electronic resources are also provided in the official Student Handbook of the University.

Policy on E-mail as an Official Method of University Communications

Created August 2003

Revised, Effective May 17, 2004

Increasingly, there is utilization, dependence and confidence in electronically based mail (e-mail). This extends throughout Bradley University and directly affects all students, faculty and staff. Because of benefits derived from its speed, ease of use, cost effectiveness, universal access, and environmental benefits, effective September 1, 2003, e-mail will become one of the official forms of communicating business matters within the Bradley community. Some University communications will not be transmitted via e-mail and all uses of University e-mail shall be consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and all applicable University policies (see Policy Specifics below).

II. Description

All registered students, all full and part-time faculty, and full and part-time staff (as required by their supervisor) shall be provided with a University e-mail account. Account holders shall be responsible for accessing their electronic mail on a regular basis. As it pertains to University business, each account holder shall be responsible for the content and requirements associated with the communication. It shall be the responsibility of the supervisor to communicate with employees who do not have e-mail accounts via appropriate alternative means. This policy shall supersede any departmental policies pertaining to use of email as an official method of university communication.

III. Scope

Information Technology will assign all official Bradley University e-mail addresses and accounts. All official University e-mail will be sent to this address and this address will be listed in all University e-mail directories.

Access to e-mail accounts will be provided from all Bradley owned public workstations via a client and/or web browser interface. Off campus access will be provided via a web browser interface.

All members of the Bradley community may, of course, have electronic mail accounts on other systems, on or off campus. Electronic mail may be temporarily or permanently redirected from the official University account to any other account, but this is the responsibility of the e-mail account holder and is done at their own risk. Bradley University will not be responsible for handling of e-mail by any individual, departmental e-mail systems, or any outside entities. Redirection of e-mail does not absolve an individual from responsibilities associated with the communication.

All holders of official University e-mail accounts, i.e., faculty, staff, and students, are expected to read their e-mail on a regular basis, keeping in mind that there will be time-sensitive information contained in the e-mail. Some communications (employment issues, contracts, etc.) will continue to be handled only through campus or U.S. postal mail.

Faculty and students may utilize e-mail as an official way of communicating with the faculty and the students enrolled in their courses, and as stated above, are expected to read their email on a regular basis. All course related e-mail communications shall be directed to an official University e-mail address.

All holders of official University e-mail accounts shall be responsible for use of the account and shall take all reasonable precautions to confine and protect its access to the holder of the account. Unauthorized use of the e-mail address and account shall be the responsibility of the account holder. All use of University e-mail shall be in compliance with FERPA, HIPAA and applicable University policies.

Account holders should be aware that e-mail is not retained in perpetuity either on the University's e-mail server (based on quota restrictions), or on back-up media. Thus, when an account holder deletes an e-mail, the content may not be retrievable beyond one week after the deletion. Therefore e-mail communications that need to be retained after being deleted should be kept either electronically in a location other than the e-mail server, or in print. The nature of a communication may also dictate requirements for its retention. Questions pertaining to requirements for records retention should be directed to the appropriate vice-president.

The original policy became effective September 3, 2003. The revised policy became effective May 17, 2004. Questions relating to use of e-mail may be directed to the Helpdesk (ext. 2964 or helpdesk@bradley.edu).

Distributed by the Office of VPAA