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Internal mass e-mail resources and rationale

While mass e-mail is an effective way to communicate with internal audiences, knowing how to do so, when, and with what tools can sometimes be confusing. The following provides a brief explanation of resources available to University of Minnesota communicators and guidelines for effective use of internal mass email.

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The Administrative E-mail Lists (AEL)
VIP E-mail
Lyris for Internal Mass E-mail Needs
Guidelines for Internal Mass E-mail
Generating Mass Mail and Email Lists
Internal Mass E-mail and Communications Planning

 

The Administrative E-mail Lists (AEL)

 

The Administrative E-mail Lists were created in 2009 to replace the older, outdated Deans, Directors, Department Heads (DDD) list. The AEL, built using job code queries, are designed to be an effective way to communicate with University administrators, deans, directors, and department heads. Pulling data from job codes ensures that the information we use is current, centrally maintained, and helps to eliminate list duplication. The AEL is your primary e-mail solution for administrative communications.

To meet different needs, two sending options are available:

1. If you simply need to send a communication to the AEL, you can send e-mails to any of the following listservs. Your e-mail will be sent to the list moderator and forwarded to the list after approval:



AEL-ALL@lists.umn.edu	All Campuses
AEL-CROOKSTON@lists.umn.edu	Crookston Campus
AEL-DULUTH@lists.umn.edu	Duluth Campus
AEL-MORRIS@lists.umn.edu	Morris Campus
AEL-OTHER@lists.umn.edu	Non-campus; e.g., Extension
AEL-ROCHESTER@lists.umn.edu	Rochester Campus
AEL-TC@lists.umn.edu	Twin Cities Campus



2. If you need to further segment lists by job codes (see Job Codes for the Administrative E-mail Lists (AEL) document for more information), track open and click through rates, or use HTML coding to format your e-mail, you will need to use the Lyris mass e-mail solution. Depending on your needs and the frequency of your messages, Internal Communications in University Relations can work with you to develop a strategy for using Lyris. Contact Ann Freeman for more information.

 

VIP E-mail

To send to all students, faculty, or staff, campus or system wide, or subsets thereof, you can use the VIP E-mail solution. VIP e-mails are managed and sent by OIT, with broad oversight provided by University Relations. To send to this list, please visit http://www1.umn.edu/is/vip-mail/vip-help.html for guidelines and process information. You will need the approval of a University Vice President to send VIP e-mails. Use of this system is governed by the following principles:

• The e-mail must pertain to a majority of the desired recipients.
• The e-mail must relate to a University service, policy, event, program, or opportunity.
• The information should be deemed critical enough to distribute to the entire audience.

Please provide OIT and University Relations at least 24 hours notice to process your e-mail request.

 

Lyris for Internal Mass E-mail Needs
A few units send mass e-mails to the University community on a more regular basis. For these units, Internal Communications in University Relations can work to develop a strategy for Lyris access and use. To ensure coordination across university departments and units, University Relations facilitates Lyris implementation by working with communications and IT staff at the Vice Presidential level; these individuals, in turn, work with their departments and units on local implementation strategies.

 

Guidelines for Internal Mass E-mails
Internal mass e-mails are governed by e-mail standards as defined by University Relations. Please visit http://webdepot.umn.edu/email_standards.php for more.

In addition to these standards, an internal communications e-mail footer has been developed that indicates who sent/approved the e-mail and to whom it was sent. It also includes the U of M privacy statement. N.B. The privacy statement only applies to emails sent through Lyris:

This message was [sent/approved] by [University title] of the University of Minnesota [and sent] to [audience specifics]. Read our privacy statement.

 

Generating Mass Mail and Email Lists

Using UM Reports, units can create their own campus mail or e-mail lists. This tool gives units the ability to customize a mailing list to best suit the individual needs of each mailing; e.g., campus, active appointments only, specific colleges, full/part time, employee group, Appointment Term exclusions, etc.

Please refer to HRMS Business Process: Custom Campus Mailings & Email Lists (PDF 924 KB) and familiarize yourself with the restrictions of the tool and the University guidelines for producing mass communications. 

  

Internal Mass E-mail and Communications Planning
As with all communications, proper planning is essential to ensure the success of internal mass e-mail. While communicators and others often spend a great deal of time planning and producing print pieces, the same amount of rigor is sometimes lacking in e-mail communications. As such, the relatively low-cost and immediacy of sending mass e-mail can actually be a disadvantage to the success of communications efforts. As with all communications, it is important to be intentional and strategic about the use of mass e-mail. Questions to consider include: 

• Why send a mass e-mail?
• Are there other solutions that might work better?
• Who are the intended recipients of the e-mail?
• Are there ways to narrow the audience pool to ensure that only those people who need to know are contacted?
• When should the e-mail be sent?
• Does it have to go today?
• How does the e-mail work with other communications initiatives? Print? Web? Brief announcements?