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Guidelines for Emailing the ALLDEPTS Mailing List
This document explains the rules of sending messages to the moderated ALLDEPTS mailing list by members of the Rice community.
Purpose
ALLDEPTS is an e-mail list reserved for official announcements of university activities and for conducting official business on behalf of the university. ALLDEPTS is a moderated mailing list and announcements must be of wide interest to the university community.
Messages that are permitted include:
- Campus and community event announcements, such as addresses by public figures, conferences, receptions, town hall meetings, commencement
- Campus updates and services, such as HR benefits enrollment periods, technology updates, utility outages, field, and street closures
Messages that will not be approved include those relating to:
- Non-Rice activities or business
- Disposing of personal property (pets, automobiles, recordings, plants, tickets, etc.)
- Schedules or events of interest only to your department
- Discussions or other public dialogs
- Personal messages, including statements of personal opinion
- Chain letters of any type
How to Submit a Message
Email alldepts@rice.edu to submit a message to the mailing list. The ALLDEPTS list is moderated by the President's Office to ensure it meets the above criteria. In general, messages are approved once a day.
Ensure that your message is exactly how you want it to appear to ALLDEPTS readers. Moderators can't modify the messages. Do not include messages to moderators, such as "Please send this message on this date."
As you create your message, ask yourself if everyone who receives it will be able to perceive and understand it equally. Your diverse audience might include people with visual and cognitive disabilities who use assistive technologies like screen readers. The following list contains tips for avoiding common accessibility barriers in email messages.
- Avoid sending blank emails with only a PDF attachment. Make sure the body of the email message contains all of the important text from the attached file, such as the Who, What, When, Where, etc. Also, make sure the attached file meets digital accessibility standards.
- Include alternative text for all graphical elements.
- Link text should be descriptive: "Register for Zoom workshop" instead of "Click here to register"
- Learn more by reading 7 Guidelines for Accessible Mailing List Emails.
Questions
If you have questions about the appropriate use of ALLDEPTS, e-mail alldepts-owner@mailman.rice.edu.
Subscribing to ALLDEPTS
Many faculty and staff at Rice receive ALLDEPTS messages through their department mailing list. Some departments moderate this list and only forward some of the messages to their staff.
Anyone with a rice.edu e-mail address can subscribe individually to the announcements: https://mailman.rice.edu/mailman/listinfo/alldepts
NOTE: If this link does not work and you receive a 404 error, open the link in an incognito or private window. Or please try a different browser or reset your browser.