myBama
Office of Information Technology

Mass Email Communications Policy

POLICY OWNER:  Taylor Anderson, CISO 

PURPOSE 

This policy, created by the Office of Information Technology in coordination with the Division of Strategic Communications, establishes the University requirements for sending mass email communications, including newsletters, marketing content, and other large-scale email communications, to both external and internal recipients. It ensures that such communications are sent via approved enterprise-level platform(s) in compliance with University branding, accessibility, security, and privacy standards. 

POLICY 

Approved Email Distribution Solutions 

  • All mass email communications must utilize the University’s approved bulk email solutions. 
  • These solutions must be approved by the Division of Strategic Communications (StratComm) and the Office of Information Technology (OIT). An enterprise-wide distribution platform will be provided to official campus entities with access to resources, including templates and training. 
  • Mass email senders must allow and adhere to the request of any user with a non-UA-owned email address to unsubscribe or opt-out of receiving mass email communications at any time. Email addresses removed this way can only be added back to the mass communication by request of the email user.  
  • Use of unapproved email services may result in the rejection of the email by the University’s anti-spam and anti-phishing filters or recipient email systems, which would prevent delivery. 

Branding, Templates, and Training 

  • All email communications must adhere to the University’s official branding guidelines.  
  • Training will be provided to University departments on how to use the approved email distribution platforms, including creating and sending emails, using templates, and ensuring content meets the University’s branding, accessibility, compliance and privacy standards. 
  • Templates and brand resources will be available through the StratComm website. 

Approval and Permissions 

  • Mass email communications — other than those used for faculty/student class interactions — must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate authorities listed below before distribution. 
    • Departmental Emails: For internal emails sent within a department to faculty, staff or students, the department head and communications lead designated by the department head or dean must approve the message. 
    • College/School Emails: Emails sent to faculty, students or staff within a college or school must be approved by the communications lead designated by the dean for the college or school. 
    • University-Wide Emails: Any email intended for distribution to the entire University community (faculty, staff, and students) must be approved and distributed by StratComm. Any emails intended for a campus-wide subgroup (i.e. all faculty, all staff or all students) must receive authorization from StratComm prior to sending. 
    • Emails involving multiple units: Senders must obtain approval from each unit before being sent. The sender is responsible for securing approvals from each designated unit approver. 

Sender Addresses and Domains 

  • StratComm and OIT must approve the sender address and domain used for mass email communications as outlined on the related website. 
  • Due to industry requirements, the use of “@ua.edu” email addresses for mass emails is restricted to critical communications to ensure deliverability across major email vendors and must be approved by StratComm and OIT. 

Content Accessibility 

  • All mass email communications must adhere to the Web Resources Accessibility Policy and be fully accessible to all recipients. 
  • Content conveyed through images or non-text elements must also be provided as real text (i.e., avoid using images of text). 
  • All images included in emails must have “alt” text or text alternatives describing the image’s content and purpose. 
  • Any media (e.g., videos or audio files) linked to or included in the message must have captions or transcripts to meet digital accessibility standards. 

Attachments 

  • The use of email attachments is not supported nor allowed. If it is necessary to share documents, the email should contain a link to the document information hosted on a University-approved website or cloud platform. 
  • All links referencing documents must comply with accessibility requirements to ensure that all recipients can access and navigate the linked materials. 

Compliance 

Enforcement and Compliance 

  • StratComm and OIT will conduct periodic audits to ensure compliance with this policy. 
  • Violations of this policy, such as sending mass emails through unapproved platforms or failing to comply with accessibility requirements, may result in restricted access to email systems or other disciplinary actions. 

Exceptions 

  • Any exceptions to this policy must be requested in writing and approved by StratComm and OIT. All requests for exceptions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. 

DEFINITIONS 

  • Mass email communications – all emails sent through the University’s email system to a group of 20 or more recipients from one address. 
  • Domain – the part of the email address that appears after the @ symbol. It identifies the online location where an email is hosted. 

SCOPE 

This policy applies to all individuals, departments, units, colleges, and schools within the University who intend to send mass email communications to any group of recipients, including those within and outside the University community. It affects all mass emails, including those sent to an administrative unit, college, or University-wide. This includes all emails that are sent to a group of 50 or more recipients from one address.