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Policies

DoIT 01 06 - Student Communication and Email Policy

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Effective date: Aug. 15, 2006; Revised date: October 9, 2009

 

I. Purpose

UNC Pembroke will utilize postal service mail or electronic mail for official university communications to students. When required by state or federal law, postal service mail must be used for official communications. Official university email correspondence will be addressed to a student’s university supplied email account.
It is a violation of university policies for any user of university mail or email addresses to impersonate a university official, faculty/staff member or student.

By U.S. Postal Service

1. It is the student’s responsibility to provide the Registrar’s Office with a current local mailing address.
2. University mailings will be sent to the student’s mailing address of record.
3. At the discretion of the University’s Registrar’s Office, students may update their local U.S. Postal Service mailing address by accessing their student records online, through BraveWeb, or by visiting the Registrar's Office in person.

By electronic mail

1. All students receive an email account from the university at the point of application. Student email addresses are all of the form that ends in @bravemail.uncp.edu. It is the student’s responsibility to check his or her university supplied email account in order to stay current with university communications. Following admission, his or her UNCP email account will be closed after the first regular semester in which he or she is not enrolled.  
2. Faculty will determine how electronic forms of communication (e.g., email) will be used in their respective classes and will specify their requirements to students. Faculty can make the assumption that students’ regularly review the messages in their @bravemail.uncp.edu accounts, and faculty can use email for communication to students in their classes accordingly.
3. Given the wide range of computers and email programs used by students, it is important that the originator send email messages in a format that can be easily read by all students. It is recommended that a statement to this effect be included in all course syllabi so student communications with each other are easily accessible.
4. All email sent to students should include the name, title, email address and telephone number of the person sending the email so that the student may verify the integrity of the email.
5. All electronic communication to students must be transmitted in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and other applicable local, state and federal laws.
6. All users of university supplied email accounts should understand that there are some circumstances in which the contents of email may be disclosed to others. Sometimes this may be accidental. At other times it may be deliberate when the university is investigating a technical or legal issue, or responding to a public records request.

II. Group emails to students

Only the Chancellor, Vice Chancellors or their designees are authorized to send group emails to the general student listserv to be forwarded to UNCP students (email addressed to all students). The oversight for group messaging will be provided by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.

1. Group lists and list service for targeted groups* and messages addressed to them must be reviewed by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs for compliance with this policy prior to each message being sent. A list of currently pre-approved groups is maintained on the Student Life Web site.
2. No commercial use will be made of the student email list.
3. Group email to UNCP students must contain the following information:
   1. Notice that this is a communication from UNCP
   2. The office, email address and a telephone number of the originator of the email to verify the integrity of the email or address or with questions about the contents of the email.
   3. All messages should be in the plain text format, avoiding graphics and the use of attachments
   4. Students whose email privileges are restricted for disciplinary reasons must contact the Judicial Officer in the Office of Student Affairs to receive a copy of group related student email messages.

* Examples of such targeted groups include group populations of the Registrar’s Office and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.

 

III. Confidentiality and privacy rights

All mail and email will be consistent with other University policies including UNCP’s Appropriate Use Policy (DoIT 01 03) and applicable local, state and federal laws.

More information about the privacy rights of students is available from the Registrar’s Office.

While UNCP encourages faculty, staff, students and other users to use campus email systems, UNCP disclaims any implicit or explicit constitutional expectation of privacy. University email is subject to the North Carolina Open Records law. Also, even though the sender and recipient may have discarded their copies of an electronic mail record, there may be backup copies of such electronic mail that can be retrieved on university systems or any other electronic systems through which the mail has traveled.

UNCP reserves the right to examine email and share it with other parties when required to do so by federal or state law, or in the investigation of violation of university policy, or whenever necessary to identify and resolve technical issues. UNCP also reserves the right to examine email for content consisting of malicious software or related files and to sanitize, delete, block or refuse delivery of messages containing such content. UNCP also reserves the right to examine email to gather statistics related to performance, workload and security. UNCP may examine email in other situations upon the approval of the Chancellor or his designate.

 

IV. Student responsibility

Students are responsible for maintaining an accurate local U.S. Postal Service mailing address with the university through the Registrar’s Office and for accessing/forwarding their UNCP email account. The university intends to replace many of the letters sent to students via the U.S. Postal service with email communications. As a result, UNC Pembroke recommends that students check their email accounts daily.

The consequences of not checking email are the same as those for not checking your U.S. Postal mailbox. Some of these consequences include missing payment deadlines, missing scholarship opportunities and deadlines, missing registration deadlines, missing notices about immunization requirements, missing out on opportunities for financial aid, and missing requirements and deadlines for graduation.

Students are responsible for the consequences of not reading, in a timely fashion, university-related communications sent to their mailing address or university email account. Students have the responsibility to recognize that certain communications may be time-critical. Excuses such as not checking mail or email on time, errors in forwarding mail or email, mail or email returned due to relocation, undeliverable address, etc. are not acceptable reasons for missing university correspondence.

 

V. Range of disciplinary sanctions

Persons in violation of this policy are subject to a full range of sanctions, including, but not limited to, the loss of computer or network access privileges, disciplinary action, and dismissal from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Any sanctions against employees will be imposed through procedures consistent with any applicable State regulations. Some violations may constitute criminal or civil offenses, as defined by local, state and federal laws, and the university may prosecute any such violations to the full extent of the law.

UNCP may suspend computer or network access privileges immediately and without prior notice to the student if necessary to preserve the safety or integrity of UNCP’s network or to prevent or investigate violation of applicable federal, state or local law or UNCP policy. To the extent allowed by applicable law, the student will be sent written or electronic notice of any such intentional suspension of access and the reasons for it, and notice of the time, date and location for a meeting at which continued suspension of access may be discussed with the Associate or Assistant CIO, who must reconsider his or her suspension decision in light of the information received in the meeting. Following the meeting, the Associate or Assistant CIO shall send a copy of his or her decision upon reconsideration to the student and advise the student that he or she may appeal the decision to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Information Resources (“CIO”).

 

 

Updated: Friday, December 4, 2009

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