View Source

{anchor:top}
{section}
{column:width=75%}*{excerpt}Listserv Policies{excerpt}*{column}
{ITS-toc}

_Last Updated on Sept. 20, 2007_

This page includes information about Listserv as implemented at Syracuse University and outlines policies and responsibilities.&nbsp;

h1. Hosting Policies

Listserv is administered and supported by Information Technology and Services at Syracuse University for the benefit of the University community. Members of this community may create and/or own a listserv list, provided they comply with the following policies:

1. The list must serve an academic, administrative or social function that relates to some aspect of the University and the University community of students, faculty and staff. Lists that primarily serve external constituents and show no connection to SU will not be supported here.&nbsp;

2. At least one of the local owners must be a Syracuse University email address.

3. The person requesting the list must provide adequate information about the purpose of the list, identifying clearly the group of people intended to be served by the list and the role the list will play in supporting the group.&nbsp;

4. Lists that are intended for commercial purposes, such as charging a fee for membership or for selling goods or services, are not supported at SU.&nbsp;

5. If the list is being requested by a student, a contact who is a staff or faculty member at SU must be designated. The contact should be someone familiar enough with the student group to advise the List Manager in the event that the owner leaves the University, is no longer reachable, and has not named a successor. The contact should be able to identify a new owner if the list is to be continued. Otherwise the list will be deleted.&nbsp;

h1. Costs

There is no charge for listserv services provided at SU. ITS funds the costs of hardware, software, and staff support for this service. We will *not* host external lists for a fee. There are commercially operated FREE list hosting services that are readily available, including [Yahoo Groups|http://www.groups.yahoo.com/], and [coollist|http://www.coollist.com/]. There is a catch, however, in that the lists you run there are subject to advertising. If this is unacceptable, then a fee-based hosting service is an alternative. A good one is [Lsoft Ease|http://www.lsoft.com/products/ease.asp].&nbsp;

h1. Owner responsibilities

h2. Manage daily activities of their lists
* Owners are expected to acquire sufficient knowledge and skills in using Listserv commands.
* Owners should be familiar with basic list maintenance functions, such as adding and deleting subscriptions, changing subscription options, and changing the list parameters as needed to keep the list functioning properly.
* Owners should be able to identify and solve simple subscriber problems, such as a discrepancy between a subscription address and a sending address.

Information about managing lists is sent to owners via e-mail when a new list is created, and is also available on the Web at [http://listserv.syr.edu|http://listserv.syr.edu/].

List management functions may be performed by e-mail or through the Web interface. In addition, List Manager maintains help information on the SU listserv Web page and periodically conducts training workshops for list owners.

h2. Answer list member questions

When subscribers contact List Manager regarding a particular list, that inquiry is first referred to the list owner(s). If a list owner is not able to resolve the issue, then the owner, not the subscriber, should contact List Manager for assistance.

h2. Establish and maintain list policy

The list owner is responsible for individual list policy--setting, communicating, and enforcing the rules for discourse on the list so that a list can successfully serve its purpose. There are many tools available to list owners for these functions. Read the on-line documentation or e-mail [List Manager|mailto:listown@syr.edu] for assistance.

h2. Delete unused lists

List owners are responsible for deleting lists that are no longer needed (see section on Deleting Lists below).

h2. Maintain a valid, unblocked e-mail address

List owners shall maintain a valid, unblocked e-mail address. If the owner's e-mail address becomes non-functional and we can no longer contact the owner, we will remove the owner from the list. If there are no valid owners on a list, we may remove the list.

*Note:* If an e-mail address requires some special activity for us to send to it, that address is deemed non-functional. For example, some anti-spam services require new senders to validate their address by going to a Web site or responding to a confirmation e-mail. With more than 2,000-hosted lists on our highly automated list process, we cannot efficiently interact with such addresses. If you have such a service, it is your responsibility to assure that communications from listmgr and other support addresses are not blocked.

h2. Additional help

A local list called "listowners" is maintained where owners may get help from other SU list owners. In addition, an Internet-wide list named "lstown-l" covers topics primarily of interest to owners of large lists. You may subscribe to either through [http://listserv.syr.edu].

h1. List Manager Responsibilities

List Manager has the following responsibilities:
creates new lists for owners&nbsp;

deletes unneeded lists upon request from list owners&nbsp;

notifies list owners about changes to Listserv&nbsp;

trains list owners on listserv functions&nbsp;

consults with list owners on Listserv functions and problems&nbsp;

decides on disposition of orphaned lists (owner address no longer valid) by contacting the owner or designated contact for the list for correction or list deletion

List owners may get consulting support from List Manager by emailing [listown@syr.edu|mailto:listown@syr.edu]. List Manager should be contacted with requests for changing list parameters or solving list problems. Listmgr will refer questions from subscribers to the appropriate list owner. If the owner needs help, then he or she should contact List Manager directly through email.&nbsp;

h1. Policy on List Renewal

Lists may be removed if there is no posting activity for six months. The List Manager will normally attempt to contact an owner prior to deletion, but we reserve the right to remove inactive lists without notice. Any list owner may also request that a list be removed.

If the list owner's email address is no longer valid, the list is considered "orphaned". List Manager will make a reasonable effort, time permitting, to determine if the owner simply changed addresses or has left the University. If the owner cannot be contacted, the sponsor for the list will be contacted to determine whether the list should be deleted or a new owner designated. If the sponsor cannot be located, the list is subject to being deleted summarily.&nbsp;

h1. Policy on Transfer of Ownership of Lists

The current listowner may transfer ownership of a list to someone else without the involvement or approval from List Manager. The new owner must meet the requirements and assume the responsibilities of list ownership as outlined above. If the current listowner needs assistance with the transfer, he or she should contact List Manager directly via email to make the request, specifying the name of the list, and the new owner's email address, name, and phone number.&nbsp;

In the event that a listowner has left the University and therefore is no longer available to make this request, and another member of the&nbsp; group or organization served by the list wishes to assume responsibility for managing the list, the request should come directly from a person of authority regarding the transfer, *NOT* from the new owner. For a student-owned list, that authority should be a faculty or staff member who serves as a sponsor or advisor to the group. For a staff-owned list, it should be the Manager or Director of the department or organization served by the list.&nbsp;

List Manager will verify that the transfer request is legitimate and notify the new owner when the change has been made.&nbsp;

h1. Policy on Deleting Lists

Current list owners who no longer have a need for a list should request that the list be deleted. There is a [Delete List|http://its.syr.edu/listserv/delete.cfm] form available for this purpose. Since only List Manager can delete lists, the form automatically sends the request to List Manager. Submitting the form also causes an email message to be sent to the requester for confirmation. The requester must reply to the message before the list will be deleted by List Manager. Upon deleting the list, List Manager will notify the requester that the request has been fulfilled.&nbsp;

Requests to delete lists that come from someone other than a current listowner will be referred to the current list owner.&nbsp;

If a list has multiple listowners, List Manager may act with discretion to ensure that all the list owners are in accordance with the request to delete the list.

h1. List Backup Policy

All lists are backed up daily. This is includes the list headers (configuration profiles) and the subscriptions, as well as any associated files and archives. Lists will be restored from backup upon request from the listowner. The messages that are transacted on a non-archived list are not saved and therefore cannot be restored.&nbsp;

h1. Modifying a List's Archives

The messages of some lists are archived for reference purposes. These archives will not be altered in any way by List Manager. Requests to make an exception to this policy will be considered, but granted only when it can be compellingly demonstrated that harm to the University or members thereof will be avoided by doing so.&nbsp;

h1. Violations of Computer Use Policy

In cases where lists are misused to harass or offend subscribers or otherwise violate acceptable computer use policies, and the owner fails to take effective action, List Manager reserves the right to delete the list.&nbsp;

{its-deck}
[#top]