St. Cloud State University (SCSU) recognizes email as an efficient means of gathering and disseminating information. SCSU students and employees will be able to access their SCSU email account once they activate their Star ID. Activation information can be found in the Technology Accounts policy (See the Related St. Cloud State University Policies section). This assigned SCSU email address will be listed as the individual’s designated contact email in Minnesota State, State of Minnesota or St. Cloud State University enterprise and records systems and shall remain active until deactivated according to system, state or university policy and procedure.
All SCSU email users are required to utilize email in accordance with all approved federal, state, Minnesota State, and SCSU statutes, policies, procedures, and use guidelines. Conduct which involves the use of information resources to violate a university policy or regulation or state or federal law, or to violate another's rights, is a serious abuse that may result in limitation of privileges, as well as appropriate disciplinary and/or legal action.
Email is recognized as a valuable communication tool available to all employees and shall be the official means of communication with students. Employees who are on-duty or on-assignment and students are expected to receive, read, and if appropriate, act expeditiously upon communications distributed through SCSU email. Since email is the official means of communication to students, failure by a student to read their emails does not release them from being held accountable to or complying with the content of those emails. Employees and students will not be held responsible for failure to adhere to these expectations if they are prevented from doing so because of downtime or other problems with the St. Cloud State email system or servers. When communication is necessary with an employee who is not scheduled for a work assignment or is on-assignment at a location with no email access, or when another means of communication is specified in a bargaining agreement; other means of communication will be used in addition to or in lieu of email.
Privacy and Right of University Access
SCSU does not routinely monitor all messages, however, it does have the authority, at any time, to inspect the contents of any University equipment, files, or mail on its system for any legitimate business, legal or disciplinary purpose. Reasons for review include, but are not limited to: reasonable suspicion of a violation of law or University policy; investigation into systems issues; litigation or anticipated litigation; or a need to perform work when an employee is not available. Access by university personnel for university purposes does not alter intellectual property rights of employees or students.
Email users must understand that not all data is private or protected and SCSU must comply with laws governing the release of data. Much of the data created, received, or backed up on SCSU systems may be considered public, including some email communications, even those containing opinions or personal remarks. (See Related St. Cloud State University Policies)
Data Protection
Caution should always be used when emailing sensitive or confidential information.
- Senders must ensure that the email is properly addressed to the intended recipient email(s).
- Use care in selecting “reply” or “reply all.”
- Utilize “Bcc” feature when recipients should not be aware of others receiving the email message, or when the email addresses of recipients should be protected from disclosure.
- If there is uncertainty about the risk of data going to email addresses outside of the SCSU email system, users may consider using the Minnesota State secure file sharing system (See Supporting URLs).
- Users should be aware of the signs of potential email tampering or fraud such as hacking or phishing schemes. Such malicious activity on SCSU systems should be reported immediately to the IT Security Coordinator or forwarded to phishing@stcloudstate.edu.
- Users must keep their account and password information private.
- Users must lock work devices to avoid unauthorized access to email and other systems.
- Employees must only disclose non-public data to persons who are legally entitled to access such data. Breaches or suspected breaches must be reported immediately. (See the Related St. Cloud State University Policies section below.)
- Data, including official emails, should be maintained, archived, or destroyed per established retention schedules, record transfer procedures, and secure record destruction guidelines.
Appropriate Use
SCSU expects appropriate use of e-mail to enhance productivity through the efficient exchange of information in education, research, public service and the expression of ideas. Messages sent as electronic mail should meet the same standards for distribution or display as if they were tangible documents or instruments. It is unacceptable to use the University's system to engage in wasteful, disruptive, or unprofessional practices, such as creating or sending chain letters, “flaming” (hostile, bullying, threatening or harassing) email transmissions, non-SCSU sanctioned mass messaging or marketing practices, or otherwise engaging in email practices that might unnecessarily burden or even overload SCSU servers or systems.
Bulk Emails and Mailing Lists
This policy does not apply to email marketing efforts that may be included in a vendor contract, but rather is about informational or data gathering broadcast emails. The ability to regularly send non-marketing, non-commercial bulk email messages, whether to existing or newly created mailing lists, or to large or pre-defined target groups on campus is limited to specific departments and/or authorized employees. This limitation is in place to restrict the number of bulk emails and the creation of mailing lists outside of secure systems, and to safeguard the value of email as a communication tool. It is also designed to ensure compliance with system and institutional policies and procedures, the University’s mission and vision, and desired communications strategies or best practices.
The ability to send research related broadcast emails is determined on a case by case basis. The use of email to initiate contact with potential participants in research may not be sent without prior approval of the research protocol by St. Cloud State University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). Campus members who are not authorized to send bulk emails on a regular basis may make requests for both non-research and research bulk email distribution through the procedures outlined in this policy.