LISTSERV Policies for Information Technology Services, U. Albany

Terms:

• "List sponsor" refers to the actual LISTSERV list applicant (the person who submits the application as designated in item 2 on the application form) who assumes overall responsibility for and ownership of the list.
• "List owner" refers to a person (other than the LISTSERV manager) who has administrative rights to the list. This may or may not be the list sponsor.
• "List content" refers to the theme, topic, or purpose of the list as declared on the list application and/or the theme, topic, or purpose of list postings.
• "List conduct" may refer to the behavior of a list subscriber in the context of the list as reflected by the subscriber's postings.

The term "we" in this document refers to Information Technology Services.

Establishing a LISTSERV List

• List content must reasonably reflect the field of expertise, research, or study of the list sponsor as it relates to his/her function at the University. In cases where this is in doubt, the signature of the sponsor's department chair may be required to accompany a list application as a statement that the purpose of the list is legitimate.
• Departmental signature consideration shall be waived for course lists.
• List sponsors and owners are expected to abide by all computing resource usage policies put forth by Information Technology Services and the University at Albany. (See Appendix G of "Community Rights & Responsibilities.")

List Sponsorship/Ownership

• Only permanent faculty/staff of the University may sponsor a list.
• List owners are responsible for adequately communicating to the list membership (usually in the form of a charter/welcome message sent to all new subscribers) the guidelines for list posting. Owners should also ensure that their subscribers are aware of certain important list configuration settings (e.g., who can post, who can subscribe, etc.).
• List owners are responsible for updating the subscriber list and removing or suspending invalid or problematic addresses.

List Content & Copyright

• List subscribers, owners, and all others with list posting privileges are expected to observe all applicable copyright restrictions when posting any material that is not their own. The use of a mailing list to distribute any material (including binary files) in violation of copyright or licensing is strictly prohibited.

List Expiration & Renewal

• All lists, except for class lists, expire on a yearly basis at the end of each spring semester (generally the week after the end of final exams). Class lists expire at the end of each semester (generally the week after the end of final exams). Lists that are less than 3 months old at the time of expiration will not expire until the end of the following semester or academic year, whichever applies.
• All list owners will be notified by e-mail at least two weeks prior to the expiration date. In order to renew a list, the list owner must follow the instructions contained in the notification.
• If after two expiration notices the list owner has not performed the actions necessary to renew, the list will be deleted.
• After a list has expired, its archive files (if any) will be retained for a period of 3 months.
• List sponsors may request explicitly at any time that their list be terminated by contacting the Help Desk.

List Removal & Deletion

• A list may be deleted at any time by Information Technology Services at the request of the list sponsor.
• Information Technology Services reserves the right to delete lists that: (1) are misused; (2) do not comply with established policy; (3) pose a threat to system security or integrity. In such cases, we will attempt to notify the list sponsor and/or primary owner prior to the deletion of the list.

The LISTSERV Web Interface

• List owners may customize several aspects of the web interface with regards to their own list. However, Information Technology Services will not assist with the customization of mail and web templates (except for "welcome" and "farewell" files) or list-specific HTML code.

Archive Alteration

• It is possible, although not advisable, to edit list archive files or even delete them entirely. Information Technology Services will not perform such alterations to archive files (except where absolutely required to correct technical difficulties); the list owner may perform this function at his/her own risk and assumes all responsibility for the consequences of such action. The list owner accepts the possibility that the improper alteration of archive files may result in complete loss of archive functionality.

Our Rights

• Information Technology Services provides LISTSERV mailing lists as a service to the University community. As such, Information Technology Services reserves the right to make alterations in the service at any time for the sake of the common good of all users.
• We reserve the right to make changes to any list's configuration without notice in the following cases (not exhaustive): (1) to correct errors; (2) to make preferred changes or improvements; (3) where the list owner has been negligent or lax in conducting required list maintenance.
• We reserve the right to restrict or deny any user's access to or privileges on LISTSERV with due cause. The LISTSERV software may automatically and selectively deny service to users based on bounced or excessive e-mail or other detected problems.

 

Document last updated 02/17/2005 15:31:24