UTORlist is an e-mail mailing list service managed by the Computing and
Network Services (CNS) department, in cooperation with the Information
Commons Help Desk which acts as "list master".
UTORlist mailing lists may be established to further one's work in the
University, or to further the University of Toronto's mission.
Requests for a new UTORlist mailing list are accepted only from
University of Toronto faculty or staff or a Student Life recognized
student organization executive.
Each UTORlist mailing list must have one or more "list owners". For
UTORlist mailing lists created by faculty or staff, at all times at
least one list owner must be a current faculty or staff member at the
University of Toronto, and will be referred to as the primary list owner
. Students may be the primary list owner, but only with a sponsoring
faculty member; if possible, the faculty member should be a secondary
list owner, or at least a list member.
A UTORlist mailing list created by a Student Life recognized student
organization executive, must at all times have one list owner on such a
list who is responsible to that club executive, and will be referred to as the primary list owner.
The primary list owner must use their own currently valid UTORmail
address in the mailing list configuration. When a primary list owner
steps down as list owner, or when a list owner ceases to be eligible
(e.g. a staff list owner leaves the university), a new eligible list
owner must be in place. Otherwise the departing primary list owner, or
the primary list owner's department or recognized student organization
executive, must close the UTORlist mailing list.
Other than the primary list owner, additional list owners and list
members do not have to be affiliated with the University of Toronto.
All mailing list messages must conform with all University policy and
all applicable law, including but not limited to the
Appropriate Use of Information Technology,
the Code of Student Conduct,
the Code of Behavior for Academic Matters, the Ontario Human Rights
Code, the Criminal Code of Canada, the Canadian Copyright Act, and the
Canadian Trademark Act, in concert with various rules and guidelines
adopted in local units.
List owners agree to properly maintain their lists to ensure smooth flow
of email. This includes removing invalid member email addresses at least
weekly--this is also called dealing with "bounced" messages. (Most lists
are set up so UTORlist software automatically does this, but the list
owner may still need to intervene when it doesn't work.) For lists
requiring list owner approval for subscription, and for moderated lists,
the list owner should attend to subscription requests and held messages at least weekly. These procedures are important for smooth email flow,
and to keep the University of Toronto from being blocked by other
internet sites. Should a mailing list create problems, it may be
disabled immediately.
In order not to create log-jams which slow down other people's mail,
mailing lists should not have more than 5,000 members. Mailing lists
can be larger as long as (1) delivery is restricted to off-hours;
List owners can configure UTORlist software to hold messages until
off-hours. (2) postings are not frequent e.g. it would not be
appropriate to have many postings per day to such a list, and
(3) messages are restricted in size. If a mailing list is going to have
more than 15,000 members please contact the Network Services group for
assistance, at
network.services@utoronto.ca, or by phoning 416-946-8689.
The University does not monitor content of messages and list archives.
The primary list owner must regularly monitor discussion of the list
and content of the messages, ensuring they comply with university
policy.
The primary list owner (with the assistance of other list owners) acts
as host, and a representative of the university. Responsibilities
include ensuring that mailing list discussion remains respectful and
courteous. If an issue becomes too "volatile" the primary list owner
might ask that discussion continue outside the list. The list owners are
also the point of contact for any technical problems that list members
might have, escalating those the list owner can't resolve by working
with the IC Help Desk list master.
UTORlist mailing lists have archives, unless the owner chooses not to
have one. (Some list members may prefer to read list archives to getting
list messages by email.) Archives are not intended as permanent
storage, and older messages could be removed from the archive after
notice to the list owners. Archives using excessive storage could also
be removed. Archives are deleted when a list is closed.
List owners should encourage sending of URL links to documents on the
Web, rather than large attached documents in messages. The UTORweb
www.individual.utoronto.ca service is one place where such documents can
be stored.
An individual's email addresses should not be added to any mailing list
unless (1) the individual self-subscribed to the list, or
(2) the individual gave explicit opt-in permission to be subscribed to
the list, or (3) for a student, staff, or faculty member, a university
manager responsible for that individual has given explicit opt-in
permission (e.g. a departmental chair can authorize a departmental
mailing list include all departmental members, the VP of
Human Resources can authorize faculty or staff mailing lists, the Dean
of Arts and Science can authorize a mailing list of students in Arts and
Science, the Assistant Provost of Student Life can authorize a
mailing list of students, etc.)