INTRODUCTION

Electronic mail or “email” is considered an official method of communication to the students at Glendale Community College because it delivers information in a convenient, timely, and cost effective manner.

POLICY STATEMENT

GCC assigned student email accounts shall be one of the college’s official means of communication with all enrolled students. Students are responsible for all information sent to them via their college assigned email account. If a student chooses to forward their college email account, he or she is responsible for all information, including attachments, sent to any other email account.

To assure all students access to this important form of communication, GCC will provide a college email account to each enrolled student. The primary purpose of these accounts is to ensure a standardized channel for faculty and staff to communicate with students as needed. Official college communications sent to all students will include reminders of important dates such as deadlines to pay tuition and fees, apply for graduation, etc. Students are responsible for checking their official student email regularly and reading college-related communications. In addition, it is Glendale Community College’s policy to only respond to student emails originating from the assigned GCC student e-mail address.
Please Note: No confidential information will be sent to students via email. Students may be directed to the college portal via email with issues regarding any actions (notification of probation, suspension, disciplinary action, etc.). (Please also refer to the Privacy section on page 4 of this document.)

STUDENT OBLIGATIONS
Implementation of this student email policy places certain obligations on each student.

a) Students understand they have been given a college email account by virtue of attending GCC.

b) Students shall adhere to proper and appropriate use of email in accordance with these procedures

c) Students shall responsibly manage their email account on a frequent and consistent basis (i.e. archiving attachments, deleting old messages, etc.).

d) Students understand that in some circumstances, the college will have to supplement electronic communication with traditional mail.

COLLEGE OBLIGATIONS

Implementation of this student email policy places certain obligations on the college and employees.

a) The college will never lease or sell a student email address to any advertisers.
b) The college will provide access to computers with Internet capabilities on campus (e.g. open computer labs).
c) Email shall not be the sole method for notification of any legal action.
d) Email messages sent through mailing lists must abide by the college’s Mass Communications Policy.

GUIDELINES
The student email policies provide guidelines regarding the following aspects of email as an official means of communication with students.

1. Appropriate use of student email:
All use of email will be consistent with other college policies, including Board Policy 3720 (Computer Network Use) and associated Administrative Regulation 3720 (Using Information Technology Resources at Glendale Community College).

2. Assignment of student email
Official college email accounts will be created automatically for all enrolled students at the time of registration. Official email addresses will be directory information unless the students request otherwise.

• Email addresses will be configured using the first letter of the first name, the first 6 letters of the last name and the last 3 digits of the student ID.

• If a student has not been enrolled for three consecutive primary terms, the user account will be deleted.

3. Expectations of student use of email
Students are expected to read and respond as appropriate to their GCC official email on a frequent and consistent basis. The college recommends checking email daily since certain communication may become critical.

4. College use of email
Email is a mechanism for official communication within Glendale Community College. The college expects that students will open and read such communications in a timely fashion. Official email communications are intended only to meet the academic and administrative needs of the campus community.

5. Faculty use of email
Faculty will determine how electronic forms of communication (e.g., email) will be used in their classes and will specify their requirements in the course syllabus. This official student email policy will ensure that all students are able to comply with email-based course requirements specified by faculty. Faculty can therefore make the assumption that students’ official email accounts are being accessed and they can use email for their classes accordingly.

6. Redirecting of student email
The GCC assigned email address will be the address used by GCC staff/faculty to communicate with students. Students who redirect (auto forward) messages sent to their official GCC student email address to another address do so at their own risk. Having email lost as a result of redirection does not absolve the student from responsibilities associated with communication sent to his/her official GCC email address. The college is not responsible for the handling of email by outside vendors.

7. Authentication for confidential information.
It is a violation of college policies, including the Student Code of Conduct, for any user of official email addresses to impersonate a college office, faculty/staff member, or student. To minimize this risk, some confidential information may be made available only through Student Self Service Web Access, which is password protected. In these cases, students will receive email correspondence directing them to Student Self Service Web Access (MyGCC), where they can access the confidential information only by supplying their student ID and PIN. The confidential information will not be available in the email message.

8. Privacy
Email users should exercise extreme caution in using email to communicate confidential or sensitive matters and should not assume that email is private and confidential. It is especially important that users be careful to send messages only to the intended recipient(s). Particular care should be taken when using the “reply” command during email correspondence, because many mailing lists are configured to deliver replies to the entire list, not just the author of a given message.

• Confidentiality of student records is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). All use of email, including use for sensitive or confidential information will be consistent with FERPA.

9. Name changes for the student email policy
Name changes will affect your student email address. If you request a name change, a new email address will be created at the end of the semester.
Continue to check your existing email account until you receive notification of your new email address.

POLICY REVIEW
The College Computer Coordinating Committee will review this policy as needed.

Approved by College Executive on January 10, 2017
Revised and approved by CCCCs on December 15, 2016