The Office of Institutional Advancement (OIA) has assumed responsibility for distributing campus-wide broadcast email messages (i.e. “mass emails”, “blast emails”) to faculty, staff and students. These guidelines attempt to strike a balance between the speed and ease of use of mass emails.
Defining Mass Email
Mass emails are messages sent to constituents of the university community and are intended to provide information of institutional activities in a structured format. Using the university’s email system, online communications to the campus community must be about university business, of general interest and importance, relevant to faculty and staff.
Categories of Mass Email
Mass emails generally take two forms:
Official messages from the university’s senior administration
Official messages may come from the university’s administration or its representatives, for distribution to the university community.
Example: From The Desk of The President, The Wilberforce University Academic Reader
Informational messages to the university community
Registered on-campus organizations may send a request to the Office of Institutional Advancement, to request distribution of a mass email to the university community. These emails must be pertinent to the university community’s shared interests.
Examples: Chapel reminders, Co-Operative Education Career Fair, Risk Management, Human Resources Announcements
Messages that are intended for university employees and are determined to be of significance to students, OIA will work with the Registrar’s Office and/or the Office of Student Engagement and Success to ensure distribution to the student audience.
Exclusions
Messages directed to faculty regarding the academic work of the university will be distributed from the Office of the Provost.
Human Resources will continue to send its messages directly to the appropriate employee group(s).
Mass emails to undergraduate students are distributed by the Office of Enrollment Management and the Division of Student Engagement and Success.
Sending a Mass Email
Requests for distribution of a campus-wide message should be submitted online with the campus Email Request Form below.
The Director of Public Relations & Marketing will consult with the Director of Development & Special Programs to determine the appropriate communication channel for the message and may suggest one or more of the following alternatives:
- An announcement provided to the Glorious To View Newsletter
- An event post on the Wilberforce University Events Calendar
- A call to action button on the student, faculty and staff pathway pages on the university’s website
- The Wilberforce University official social media accounts i.e Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
The Director of Public Relations & Marketing will also ensure that multiple messages are not sent on the same day unless absolutely necessary, so as not to create overload on system infrastructure or for email recipients.
Lead-time requirements
The Office of Institutional Advancement requires a lead time of two business days to evaluate, approve, and send out mass emails from the moderated email lists.
Questions pertaining to the emailing guidelines should be sent to Marsha Bonhart marsha.bonhart1114@gmail.com
