E-MAIL USE FOR OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE
WITH STUDENTS

Student Email setup and information:
www.eou.edu/comp/student/email/

Email access:

www.eou.edu/email/

Purpose of this policy
EOU faculty, staff and students strongly rely on electronic forms of communication. E-mail is an efficient, fast, and cost-effective communication method that offers many advantages over other types of communication.

Because e-mail is such an important type of communication, it is considered an official form of EOU communication. This policy assures that each student has an EOU e-mail account, outlines the student's responsibilities, and affirms expectations for communication between faculty and students for educational purposes and between the University and students for university business purposes.

Assignment of student e-mail
EOU's Information Technology department automatically assigns an official EOU e-mail address within 2 business days of registering for a class.  EOU graduates may use their EOU e-mail account forever. All student e-mail accounts are password protected. As described in "EOU's Acceptable Use Policy", the privacy and security of e-mail accounts and e-mail correspondence depends on the appropriate use and protection of user IDs and passwords.

University use of e-mail
Requests to send mass e-mail of a non-specific nature will generally not be supported on EOU's e-mail system in accordance with EOU's AUP, i.e., "the electronic mail system shall not be used for "broadcasting" of unsolicited mail". Routine messages for all employees and/or students can be posted in a variety of ways such as on the EOU web site or through University listservs.

All uses of e-mail for official communication should be consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Communication with students by faculty
Faculty determine how e-mail will be used in their classes and should specify e-mail requirements and expectations in course syllabi. Uses of non-EOU e-mail addresses for communication with students regarding University business or educational matters are no longer acceptable because security, confidentiality, and availability of e-mail accounts provided by Internet service providers other than EOU are unknown. Faculty may unintentionally violate the FERPA requirements by using non-EOU student e-mail accounts to communicate with students. Faculty may expect that students will read messages sent to their official EOU e-mail addresses, and faculty should use official EOU e-mail addresses accordingly.

Communication with students by University offices
Offices such as Accounts Receivable, Admissions, Financial Aid, Registrar, Residence Life, Division of Distance Education, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and others will routinely send selected official communications to students via e-mail. Such e-mail might include individually addressed messages as well as "group mail" messages such as registration schedules, advising notices, etc. These communications are for the purposes of conducting official university business. The University has the right to expect that those communications are read in a timely fashion.

Student use of and responsibilities associated with University e-mail
Students are expected to check their official EOU e-mail accounts regularly in order to receive University communications in a timely manner. Students should report any problems with e-mail accounts or access to e-mail to EOU's Information Technology Help Desk at (541) 962-3111 or helpdesk@eou.edu. EOU student e-mail accounts are readily accessible through a variety of methods from anywhere in the world, including web-based interfaces. For the latest details on student e-mail access, visit www.eou.edu/email

Redirecting of e-mail
Requests to substitute non-EOU e-mail addresses for purposes of official communication will not be honored. In general, redirecting EOU e-mail to another non-university e-mail address is not encouraged. The University is not responsible for the handling of e-mail by outside service providers or servers. Redirecting EOU e-mail to another account does not absolve a student from the responsibilities associated with timely reading of communications sent to an official EOU e-mail address.