This article will provide answers to the most common Mass Mail questions.
Intro
The UNC Mass Email system is available to any university unit (department, office, center, etc.) or recognized university organization for sending messages that relate to the UNC-Chapel Hill community. The system does not replace individual, school, or departmental e-mailing lists.
Information
Types of Mass Email
There are two classes of mass email: Formal Notice and Informational. The class of the message affects both the audience and the distribution schedule. Either FORMAL NOTICE: or INFORMATIONAL: will appear as the prefix in the email's subject line according to the message classification.
Formal Notice:
Formal notice is reserved for highly important, non-emergency messages, such as federal reporting requirements. There is no opt-out feature for recipients for this class of email.
Formal notice should be used only when there is sufficient reason to ignore the recipients’ opt-out preferences. Formal notice messages are mailed to everyone designated as recipients by the University unit or recognized organization originating the email.
Informational Class:
The informational class covers non-emergency messages related to University work or information, other than events. Events should be posted to the UNC Events Calendar.
Campus users may opt-out of receiving Informational emails. This class of messages is sent to all recipients, designated by the University unit or recognized organization originating the email, except those who have selected the opt-out option.
The following instructions are appended to the bottom of every informational class message explaining how to suppress future receipt of this class of mass mailing:
INFORMATIONAL email will only be sent to those who have indicated that they do want to receive mass email. To set your informational mass email preference, Log in to the Account Maintenance site, with your Onyen and password, then select Update on the left. Then you can change your preference.
Approval Process
Mass emails may be submitted through the UNC Mass Email system
Emails must be approved before they can be sent.
- E-mails addressed to students must be approved by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs or his/her designate.
- E-mails addressed to faculty and/or staff must be approved by the Vice Chancellor for Information Technology or his/her designate.
After approval, messages are sent immediately unless a send date is specified. In that case, the message will be sent at 12:01 am on the send date.
Please note, The University assumes no obligation or responsibility for the activities of the person or group. You must comply with University policies and applicable laws, including those concerning intellectual property, privacy, safety, libel, defamation, and obscenity. You should obtain appropriate authorizations from the owner of any image included in the body of the email message. For example, you should not include images obtained through an online image search without securing the consent of the owner of the image.
Sending a mass e-mail message to employees and students.
Mass emails can be sent to employees, students, and affiliates. Note: Only persons who are listed as student and or employees will receive MassMail messages.
Requirements for emails concerning human subjects.
Under Federal and University regulations, Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval is required for research with human subjects. Prior to being sent out via mass e-mail, the text of all e-mail messages pertaining to such research must be approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) responsible for oversight of that study. This includes subject recruitment ads and other informational items. In the body of the message (not the Comments), include the following IRB information: name and number of the study, specific IRB, and date of approval. These types of messages will not be approved for distribution until this information is supplied.
However, many activities that resemble research and involve humans, such as class projects, may not require IRB approval. A formal determination by the IRB is required to send a mass e-mail to recruit participants for class project activities that are not considered “research with human subjects.”
Reusing an old message.
Locate your past sent message by clicking View Requests, it will be listed as Active/Recent or Archived. Choose the appropriate category from the drop-down menu at the top of the page. When you have found the summary information for your sent message, choose Copy to New from the drop-down menu to the right of the summary.
Advertising events
Informational mass e-mails announcing events will not be accepted.
Events should be posted to the campus events calendar. Events of interest to University employees may also be emailed to the University Gazette or CB #6205. Recognized student organizations may post events on Heellife.
Receiving Informational e-mails
If you are not receiving these messages, you have probably used the “opt-out” option for Informational mass mail. To change your Informational mass e-mail preferences, visit the UNC Account app.
Review and Approval Timeline
Requesting the e-mail is a first step. All requests are subject to approval (automatically requested when you click Finish in the composition wizard) and then scheduling. Messages are reviewed during regular work hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Monday-Friday. Plan for a minimum of one to three days for message review and approval.
Please Note: University holidays and/or inclement weather may delay the message review, approval, and delivery process.
Resubmitting a mass mail?
We request that identical messages are sent at least 4 weeks apart. All will go through the standard approval process, regardless of past approval.
Mass Mail Pre-Made Images
There are Downloadable Resources that have been provided by the UNC Branding & Visual Identity group. This includes logo and pre-made images/text that can be used for headers.