Baker University Policies for E-mail use, Accounts and Addresses

E-mail services are provided to the Baker community in support of the educational mission of the University and the administrative functions to carry out that mission. Users of Baker e-mail services are expected to act in accordance with the Information Technology Responsible Use Policy and with professional and personal courtesy and conduct. E-mail may not be used for unlawful activities. The University may revoke e-mail accounts if a person has failed to comply with University policy or used an e-mail account unlawfully.

Many official communications from Baker will be distributed to students exclusively via e-mail. It is the student's responsibility to check their Baker e-mail regularly. Students enrolled at extended campus locations and not provided Baker e-mail are expected to provide and regularly update preferred e-mail addresses to the University for official communications.

Definitions

To clarify terms used within these policies, the following definitions are provided:

E-mail account: An e-mail account is the location where mail is actually delivered. It is a combination of a login username and password and disk space. A person may have several e-mail accounts on different computers or e-mail servers.

E-mail username: The actual name of the account as typed in at the Username prompt when logging onto e-mail.

E-mail usernames for faculty and staff are constructed as follows:
first initial, last name, (optionally) unique number@bakeru.edu.
For example: Jane Smith would be JSmith@bakeru.edu if there were no other JSmith accounts. Otherwise she would have a number in the username such as JSmith2@bakeru.edu
E-mail usernames for students are constructed as follows based on the student's name as submitted on their admissions application:
last name_first initial, (optionally) unique number@wildcat.bakeru.edu.
For example: John Brown would be Brown_J@wildcat.bakeru.edu if there were no other Brown_J accounts. Otherwise he would have a number in the username such as Brown_J2@wildcat.bakeru.edu

E-mail delivery address: The username@servername.bakeru.edu address is the delivery address. Each e-mail account has its own unique delivery address which can be given out to correspondants as one's e-mail address.

E-mail name address: The first.last@servername.bakeru.edu address is an alias address. It is linked to a preferred e-mail account but is, itself, not an account username, but rather a permanent e-mail alias. Use of the name address ensures that the e-mail address will remain the same the whole time one is at Baker.

Preferred e-mail account: If a person has more than one e-mail account, they will need to select a preferred e-mail account which should be the account that receives most mail from correspondants. The name address will be linked to the preferred e-mail account for direct delivery.

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Security, Privacy and Confidentiality

  • Baker cannot guarantee the security, privacy, and confidentiality of e-mail. Users should not assume confidentiality of their e-mail. Users should exercise caution when sending personal, financial, confidential or sensitive information by e-mail. Examples of why e-mail confidentiality cannot be guaranteed are:
    • E-mail may be subject to disclosure under law.
    • Back-up copies may be retained for periods of time and in locations unknown to senders and recipients even if the user has deleted it from their account or PC.
    • In the course of routine systems maintenance, troubleshooting and mail delivery problem resolution, network or systems staff may inadvertently see the content of e-mail messages.
    • Password protections are advised but cannot be guaranteed.
    • Senders can mask their identity.
    • Messages can be easily forwarded without permission to individuals or groups, even though it violates copyright law.
    • Messages can be intercepted while in transit through the network.
    • Forwarded messages can be altered from the original.
    • Encryption and digital signatures are evolving technologies and are not yet available for use at Baker.
    • Once a message is received on a machine outside of Baker, all of the above concerns continue to apply.
  • Users must maintain the security of accounts.
    • Users are advised to protect and regularly change their account passwords.
    • Passwords are not to be shared with others and their confidentiality is to be strictly maintained.
    • Users will be held accountable for all actions performed with their passwords, including those performed by other individuals as a result of user negligence in protecting codes.
  • No one is to use another individual's account, with or without permission.
  • Unauthorized anonymous and pseudonymous communications are prohibited.
  • Misrepresenting or forging the identity of the sender or the source of an electronic communication is prohibited.
  • The intentional propagation of computer "worms" and "viruses", the sending of electronic chain mail, denial of service attacks, and inappropriate "broadcasting" of messages to large numbers of individuals or hosts are prohibited.
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E-mail Accounts

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E-mail Addresses

  • E-mail name addresses are generated from the user's legal name and must be unique. Duplicate names are resolved based an alternate name selected by the affected user(s) or the use of a unique number with the name.
  • E-mail usernames and e-mail name addresses may be changed when a user legally changes their name.
  • Users who opt to use their firstname.lastname@bakeru.edu form of e-mail address have one opportunity to change the first name portion of the name address during their time at Baker. The last name in the firstname.lastname@bakeru.edu address must be the user's legal last name.
  • A user may elect to use either the name address (firstname.lastname@bakeru.edu) or the e-mail delivery address (username@bakeru.edu) as their address. Use of e-mail delivery address is subject to change any time the e-mail server is retired and/or replaced by another server. Notification of server changes will be issued by Computer Services at least 3 months in advance of such a change.

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Group or Departmental Accounts

In some situations, a single point of contact is required where multiple individuals manage service requests. These accounts are permitted as follows:
  • The department head will determine when a single group account is required to conduct the business of the department and will be responsible for all of the account activities.
  • Standard quotas will apply to all accounts created.
  • Account usernames and addresses will be assigned to these accounts as appropriate.
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E-mail Distribution Lists

  • Mailing lists may be used for purposes related to teaching, course-work, research, and administration at Baker University and university sanctioned student activities.
  • All list users need to unsubscribe from lists or suspend mail delivery from lists if they intend to use auto responders (e.g., the vacation programs) for brief periods of time.
  • Commercial use of mailing lists, except for authorized Baker University business is prohibited.
  • Use of mailing lists for private business, fund-raising or advertising on behalf of non-Baker organizations is prohibited.
  • Activities that may strain the e-mail or network facilities more than can be reasonably expected are in violation of this policy. These activities include, but are not limited to: sending chain letters, "spam" or the widespread dissemination or unsolicited e-mail, and "letter bombs" to resend the same e-mail repeatedly to one or more recipients.
  • Every mailing list will have an owner or a group of owners who will be actively involved in managing the mailing list. List owners have the following responsibilities:

    • Owners need to keep the subscription list current at all times.

    • Owners need to analyze error messages and take appropriate action.

    • Owners need to respond quickly to communications from Computer Services.

    • Owners need to assign an "alternate owner" who must check email if the primary owner is unable to do so for more than 2 days.

    • Owners need to inform Computer Services when the list is no longer needed so that it may be deleted. If there is a list that has had no activity for three months, Computer Services will delete the list after notifying the owners.
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Directory Policies

The Baker University electronic and printed directories are provided solely for the purpose of assisting individuals to contact one another. Information in the directories may not be extracted by any means for the creation of distribution lists for use by businesses or other organizations outside of Baker. Use of directory information for solicitation of business or donations is expressly prohibited.

  • Students who have requested privacy locks with the Registrar will not appear in the online directory.

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E-mail Backups

  • In the event of a system disaster, email will be restored to the state of user email accounts on that server at the time of the last back-up. As messages may be received and subsequently deleted or lost since the last backup, Baker cannot guarantee that all messages can be restored.
  • Baker is not able to restore individual messages or mailboxes on e-mail servers.
  • It is the user's responsibility to back up copies of their own e-mail on their PC.
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E-mail Abuse and Policy Enforcement

E-mail services are provided to the Baker community to conduct University business. Violations of the Baker University Responsible Use and E-mail policies as well as other University relevant policies will be subject to disciplinary action and violators may have their e-mail account suspended during any investigation. The following is a non-exhaustive list of examples of e-mail abuse:

  • Excess personal use that interferes with University business by burdening the network or systems or by interfering employment obligations.
  • Interference with other people's use of e-mail.
  • Intentional unauthorized access of other people's e-mail.
  • Sending 'spams', chain letters, letter bombs or any other type of widespread distribution of unsolicited e-mail.
  • Forging e-mail.
  • Giving the impression you are representing the University unless you are authorized to do so.
  • Use of e-mail for commercial activities or personal gain.
  • Sending of offensive or abusive messages.
  • Conducting unlawful activities.

E-mail abuse may be reported to the Director of Information Services or the Director of Human Resources. Reports of abuse will be investigated and handled as appropriate. In all cases, do not delete any evidence or message(s) as they can be used as evidence. Go to top of page

Responsibility for E-mail Policies

The Director of Information Services is responsible for implementing this policy in cooperation with the Administrative Council and the Director of Human Resources. The University has the right to change this policy as necessary. The Administrative Council must approve changes to policy; final authority rests with the President.

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