FX. Student Correspondence Policy (Student E-Mail)

Policy Statement

South Plains College will use various and appropriate media and delivery methods for communicating and corresponding with prospective, accepted and currently enrolled students. These may include but are not limited to electronic mail (e-mail), text messages, telephone messages, electronic messaging through TexanConnect, web site and portal announcements, conventional mail delivery, paper documents and publications, and campus postings. Email will be the preferred and recommended method for official correspondence with accepted and currently enrolled students and the College will maintain a reasonable expectation that electronic correspondence will be received and read in a timely manner.

Assignment of Official South Plains College Student E-mail Addresses

All accepted and currently enrolled students will be assigned an official SPC e-mail address by the Information Services Department. This address will be communicated to the student along with their acceptance letter from SPC. This is the official student e-mail address to which SPC will send all official e-mail communications. Communications from the College delivered to the official SPC e-mail account may include messages impacting enrollment, class attendance, financial obligations or emergency situations as well as informational messages regarding campus activities and special events.

Student Supplied Personal E-mail Address

Students may elect to provide a personal e-mail address to the college. This information will be collected on the "Application for Admission" and may be updated in the demographic section of TexanConnect. This e-mail address will not be considered a student's official college e-mail address and will only be used as a secondary e-mail address for communicating with students. Communications from the College delivered to the student’s secondary e-mail account may include messages impacting enrollment, class attendance, financial obligations or emergency situations as well as informational messages regarding campus activities and special events.

Redirecting of Student E-mail

Students may elect to have their official SPC e-mail address redirected to another e-mail address (e.g., @aol.com, @hotmail.com, etc.). By doing so students assume all risk associated with the redirection. SPC will not be responsible for the handling of e-mail by other providers or servers. Redirecting e-mail does not absolve a student from the responsibilities associated with communication sent to or from his or her official SPC e-mail address.

Student Telephone Numbers

Students may elect to provide a personal telephone numbers and/or cell phone numbers to the college. This information will be collected on the "Application for Admission" and may be updated in the demographic section of TexanConnect. Communications from the College, delivered via telephone and/or text message will be limited to informational messages impacting enrollment, class attendance, financial obligations or emergency situations.

Opt-Out Option

Students may elect to not receive emergency or informational notifications from South Plains College by so indicating in the demographic section of TexanConnect. All notifications will continue to be sent to the student’s official SPC email address.

Student Responsibilities

Students are expected to check their official SPC e-mail on a frequent and consistent basis. The College recommends that students check their e-mail at a minimum of once a week as certain communication may be time-critical.

Technical Support

The research, development and maintenance for technical support will reside with the SPC Information Services Department. Technical support will be delivered through appropriate and various means as determined by the IT department in conjunction with other appropriate institutional areas such as "AskSPC".

Privacy and Confidentiality

Official South Plains College correspondence sent and received by e-mail is subject to the same public information, privacy and records retention requirements and policies as other official College communications. Users should exercise extreme caution in using e-mail containing confidential or sensitive information, and should not assume that e-mail is private and confidential. It is especially important that users are careful to send messages only to the intended recipient(s). Particular care should be taken when using the "reply and reply-all" commands.

Educational Use of Student E-mail

Faculty will determine how electronic forms of communication (e.g., e-mail) will be used in their classes, and will specify those requirements in the course syllabus. By providing all students with official @students.southplainscollege.edu addresses, the institution ensures that all students will be able to comply with e-mail-based course requirements specified by faculty. Faculty can therefore make the assumption that students' official accounts are being accessed, and faculty can use e-mail for their classes accordingly.

Deactivation and Mailbox Limits

All student e-mail accounts will be deactivated after a period of one year of non-enrollment. Items in Inbox and Sent Items more than one year old will be moved to System Cleanup folder. Items in Calendar, Tasks, Journal, and Notes more than two years old will be moved to System Cleanup Folder. Items in Deleted Items and system Cleanup more than thirty days old will be moved to Trash.

Sending Mass E-Mail to Students

Mass e-mailings are an internal form of communication to be used for official communications from the College, delivered to the student’s SPC or secondary e-mail account, and may include messages impacting enrollment, class attendance, financial obligations or emergency situations. Informational messages regarding upcoming campus activities and special events should be included in the weekly calendar of events distributed by the Office of Student Life. Exceptions to this must be approved by Vice President for Student Affairs The sale/distribution of SPC student e-mail addresses to non-SPC entities is prohibited, except as allowed by FERPA regulations and institutional policy. All requests for the distribution of

Examples of inappropriate bulk e-mail will include but are not limited to the following types of messages: for personal gain; from an individual rather than a College department; chain letters; for unlawful purposes; containing information of a confidential or sensitive nature; promotion of political viewpoints; surveys that do not serve sanctioned College purposes; messages containing confidential information such as course grades, financial aid award amounts, or tuition/fee payment amounts.

Sending Phone or Text Messages to Students

Mass communications from the College, delivered via telephone and/or text message, will be limited to informational messages impacting enrollment, class attendance, financial obligations or emergency situations. Any messages outside these areas will require prior approval from the Vice President for Student Affairs.

Approved Executive Council: 9/9/2013