LISTSERV Policies
A mailing list is a communication tool used by its members to participate in online discussions by posting
comments, suggestions, and other information to a large number of people at the same time. At The University of
Montana, employees and students have the opportunity to host and/or participate in online discussions that are
locally administered by Information Technology using LISTSERV, an email communication tool.
LISTSERV services are available to current University of Montana faculty and staff, and ASUM-recognized student
organizations. The primary use of this service will be for University-related business, programs and activities and
will be consistent with the University’s mission (as stated on the President’s Office web page at:
http://www.umt.edu/president/umms.htm).
Use of LISTSERV services at The University of Montana, as with all uses of University-provided information
technology resources, must conform with all University of Montana and Montana University System policies (which
can be found at http://www.umt.edu/policies/ and http://mus.edu/borpol/ respectively) as well as with all
applicable state and federal laws.
The person responsible for managing a list is known as the "list owner." The list owner must be a currently
employed University faculty or staff member or a currently enrolled University student. If the list owner leaves the
University, then the current list owner must find a new list owner and identify that new person to the listserv
manager.
The protocol for new lists is as follows: The "LIST NAME" is the first part of list address followed by "-L" which
identifies to message recipients that the message is being sent through a list product (e.g. LISTNAMEL@lists.umt.edu). Additional examples: MATHMAJORS-L@lists.umt.edu; ENGLISH101-L@lists.umt.edu;
BIOLOGY.MAJORS-L@lists.umt.edu
List Owner Responsibilities
List owners are responsible for properly managing their list. The responsibilities of the list owner include:

Advising individuals who will be subscribed to the list of the list's purpose.

Ensuring that all uses of the list conform to all applicable policies and other requirements.

Assisting users with LISTSERV questions and procedures such as subscribing and using the web interface.

Adding, deleting, and modifying subscriptions to a list.

Setting and changing the configuration of a list.

Setting policies and procedures related to the list, and sending administrative message as to the list as
necessary.

Staying informed about current listserv policy.

Attending list owner training or otherwise staying informed about list management.
Membership
Membership to a list is not a right of the individual. List owners have the right and are responsible for subscribing
and unsubscribing members. Some lists require completion of an application or an email request providing specific
information. Users should check with the list owner for list application requirements.
Periodic Review
Lists will be periodically reviewed for activity and continued conformance to the current listserv policies. Lists that
are inactive or fail to conform to policy may be removed. Lists will be reviewed for activity on an annual basis. Lists
with no activity for an extended period of time may be removed. Lists associated with courses will be removed at
the end of each semester, or at the conclusion of the course. List owners will be contacted prior to removing the
list.
Attachments in LISTSERV
There is an attachment feature in LISTSERV. Because attachments present a great burden on University disk
space, the default for all lists is no attachments. List owners may request use of the feature and approval will be
granted on a list-by-list basis. The initial default size limit for attachments is 2 MB. However, the size limit may also
be determined on a list-by-list basis as necessary.