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A20.01.01 Electronic Mail Usage

Effective Date: October 23, 2001	New: X
Will Replace:	Revision:

Policy Statement

Access to e-mail is provided to users to assist them in performing their work. Their use of e-mail must not jeopardize the operation of the system or the reputation and/or integrity of the College.

Definitions

"User"

All persons authorized to access the Douglas College electronic mail service including employees, students, affiliated boards and advisory groups, and contractors.

"Monitoring"

Under normal circumstances, e-mail will be monitored only in terms of traffic flow through the network for traffic planning purposes. Should an incident of alleged inappropriate use be brought to the attention of the College, a detailed investigation may take place with the authorization of the appropriate College Officer, as per the applicable Standards of Conduct, Harassment, or Violence Prevention policy.

Procedures/Rules Statement

All e-mail and associated system resources are the property of Douglas College. E-mail is subject to the same restrictions on its use, and the same review process, as is any other Douglas College-supplied resource provided for the use of employees and students. Its use may be monitored.
E-mail usage must be able to withstand public scrutiny. Users must comply with all applicable legislation, regulations, policies and standards. This includes complying with copyright and license provisions with respect to both programs and data.
While e-mail is provided as a business tool to users, its reasonable, incidental use for personal purposes is acceptable. This use must not, however, detrimentally affect employee productivity, disrupt the system and/or harm the College's reputation.
Users of Douglas College e-mail must not:
. use e-mail for commercial solicitation or for conducting or pursuing their own business interests or those of another organization;
. use e-mail to distribute hoaxes, chain letters, or advertisements; and/or send rude, obscene or harassing messages;
. knowingly or with malice, propagate viruses or other devices designed to frustrate the Douglas College or other e-mail systems.

Users of Douglas College e-mail must not send, forward and/or reply to large distribution lists concerning matters which could not be considered Douglas College business. In addition, users must consider the possible detrimental impact of such mailings on the network when creating and using large, work-related distribution lists.

E-mail is a record, and as such the management practices of e-mail records must comply with existing legislation, regulations, policies, and standards (for example the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and Douglas College Policies governing acceptable Standards of Conduct (see Douglas College Policies: Standards of Conduct, Harassment, and Violence Prevention).

Alleged inappropriate use of the e-mail technology will be reviewed by the appropriate Dean or Director (or designate) on a case by case basis in a manner consistent with College practice for other inappropriate behaviors.

For employees this may lead to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. For students it may lead to disciplinary action as severe as suspension from the program, or expulsion from the College.

Users should comply with the Guidelines for E-mail Usage (Appendix A attached)

Responsibility for Actions

Users are responsible for ensuring that their use of e-mail technology is appropriate and consistent with this policy and the Standards of Conduct, Harassment, and Violence Prevention policies issued by the College.
Senior Executive Officers are responsible for ensuring that all employees are aware of this policy.
The relevant Dean or Director (or designated) is responsible for taking appropriate action when this policy is contravened.
The Director, Systems & Computing, through the Systems & Computing Department, is responsible for monitoring network usage in terms of traffic/load, to provide on-line awareness to users of this policy, and to obtain their voluntary agreement with its terms as a condition of use.

Appendix A - Guidelines for Email Usage

Users should carefully consider the intended audience, tone, formality, and format for all e-mail messages.
Any message received which is intended for another person should be returned to the sender. All copies of the misdirected message should be deleted after it has been returned to the sender. An incorrectly addressed message should only be forwarded to the intended recipient if the identity of that recipient is known and certain.
The sending of large attachments (for example, greater than 3 megabytes) to distribution lists should be avoided, or carefully considered, due their impact on the network.
If a message is sent to a distribution list, recipients should consider whether the response needs to go to everyone on the list or just to the originator.
The creation of single topic messages should be done whenever possible. This will facilitate the filing, retrieval and forwarding of messages.
The misinterpretation of an e-mail message may occur. Missing body language and tone can cause what was meant as a casual or humorous message to be taken other than intended. If a message generates an emotional response, the recipient should carefully consider what is an appropriate or professional response. Indeed, the recipient should consider if a response is needed at all and react accordingly.