UTMB Daily Announcement Guidelines

Restricted Access Beginning in August 2000, the procedure for making submissions for UTMB's Daily Announcements will change. The new process will transfer the responsibility from the IS Helpdesk to a new web application. Access to post information to this resource will not be automatic or universal; submission privileges will be granted by departmental representatives through the “New Account” process sponsored by Information Services.

To access and use the Daily Announcement Submission system, message publishers must agree to adhere to the guidelines outlined below, and to be responsive to concerns and complaints from readers of the daily announcements. These guidelines may be revised as the tool is further developed, as new features become available, and as readers offer feedback on the merits of the service.
Conditions Of Use 1.  The announcement must be related to UTMB.  
The purpose of the Daily Announcements is to inform UTMB faculty, staff, and students about issues, events, and opportunities relevant to them. It is not for advertising events unrelated to UTMB, its mission, goals or business.

2.  If it is not obvious how an announcement relates to UTMB, the relationship must be made clear in the announcement message.
An example: An announcement about a garage sale is generally not UTMB business. A garage sale hosted on campus by a registered student group to raise money for scholarships is. Distinctions of this sort--sponsorship of an activity, event, or message--should be made in messages, as appropriate. 

3.  Announcements may not be used to promote a business, commercial venture or for the personal gain of any UTMB employee.  
There are two exceptions: Offers publicized by Employee Recognition Programs, highlighting when community business has partnered with the university to make special offers to staff and students (reduced price tickets, trips to Canton). And, for campus services that have a contractual or policy relationship with UTMB and make occasional use of the announcements for commercial messages (e.g. Bookstore, parking, food services, materials management).

4.  Each announcement must include a contact name and either a phone number or email address for additional information, complaints or suggestions.
The web-based submission tool will support this requirement.

5.  An announcement may be posted a maximum of three times, with dates determined by the publisher of the announcement. Efforts to circumvent this rule may result in the suspension of posting privileges.
Only the Office of University Advancement and University Police are exempt from this rule. Additionally, only these two offices may approve the use of email to broadcast emergency notices.

6.  The announcements are not a public forum or discussion tool. They may not be used to air complaints or criticisms, raise issues or review practices, or make any sort of attack on a person or idea. The announcements are a mechanism for communicating to a wide audience about activities, events, and opportunities.
Have an issue? There are already ample forums and processes for dealing with them. Please do not use Daily Announcements as one of them.

7.  The announcements are distributed to over 8500 UTMB faculty, students, and staff.  Each recipient must take the time to open, review and ultimately discard each set of announcements. Please keep this, and the cost of cumulative time, in mind as you consider an announcement. The announcement should be of interest to this wide audience.

a. An announcement that is of value/meaningful to only one specific department is not acceptable.
When the audience is identifiable and constitutes a minority of the 8500 plus faculty, staff, and students on the campus, mail should be sent directly via distribution lists. Not only is this more effective, it's also a better use of resources.

b. An announcement that is targeted to only departmental administrators is not acceptable.
Again, announcements to identifiable groups within UTMB should be addressed via managed distribution lists or through the Research Listserv at http://www.utmb.edu/avpr/listserv.htm 

c. An announcement ONLY for students is not acceptable.
There are distribution lists for reaching students that are managed by the Student Affairs Offices of each school. Announcements targeting only students should not be sent via the Daily Announcements.

d. An announcement ONLY for faculty is not acceptable.
The Office of the Vice President for Research maintains a distribution list for contacting faculty. Other departments and organizations maintain distribution lists directed at their respective faculty. These are the preferred mechanisms for reaching this targeted audience.  

e. A special case: Clinical trial solicitations  are acceptable.
Although a call for clinical trial participants would likely apply to only a few people, this type of message will be accepted for the Daily Announcements. This exemption is driven by the fact that there is usually no way to know in advance which of our more-than-8500 email account owners may be eligible or interested in a particular study.

In general, daily announcements should not be used when a distribution list or direct mailing to a subset of the campus is a viable alternative.

 Announcements should be relevant to a significant number of our 8500 email account owners. Ask yourself the question, "If I had to pay to have 8500 flyers printed and distributed to the campus, would I send this message that way?"  If the answer is "no," reconsider using the Daily Announcements.
Gaining Access

To gain access to the announcement submission page, two steps are required:

  1. You must have your department's IS liaison validate your need and request access to the web announcement system on your behalf. The “New Accounts” process is the mechanism for the request; it's the same process currently used to request service and new accounts from IS. The administrator in your department can tell you who can make this request for you. By default, these "trusted requestors" (the IS liaisons) already have access.
  2. You must agree to follow these guidelines, to use good judgment about posting announcements, and to be responsive to complaints and advice from others.
Losing Access Persons who abuse this privilege may have their ability to submit daily announcements revoked.

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Last Updated :01/08/04