Overview

Listserv is a mass email tool that remains useful for both one-time email messages or regular newsletter-type communications. Its biggest advantage is its ability to easily import and synchronize large lists from an external source, such as a database, but it lacks some of the convenience of other tools such as Google Groups.

Highlights

  • Mass email tool for one-time or regular communications
  • Unlimited non-University membership
  • Ability to easily import and synchronize large lists from external sources
  • Members can subscribe or unsubscribe themselves

Getting Started

To find out if Listserv is the best tool for your needs, check out our mass email comparison guide.

Lists may only be requested by University faculty, staff, or students representing a registered student organization.

Guidelines

  • Each list must conform to the University's Computer Usage Policy and list owners should read about University Relations’ Mass Email Requirements
  • Each list should have at least one owner who is a member of the University community. If the primary owner is a student, the list should have at least one additional owner who is a faculty or staff member.
  • The primary owner of a list is responsible for day-to-day monitoring and operation of the list. This includes, but is not limited to:
    • deleting subscribers whose addresses are no longer valid
    • serving as the initial point of contact for subscribers with questions or problems
    • dealing with any social problems which may arise on the list.
  • The primary owner may authorize other individuals to act as owners, editors, or moderators of the list.
  • When a list is no longer needed, the list owner should notify Technology Help that the list be deleted.
  • The list server administrator may impose restrictions on the operation of a list, in order to ensure that the use of the list does not adversely affect other lists or services.
  • In most cases*, a list owner should not add a subscriber to a list without the subscriber's prior knowledge and consent, and should comply immediately with a request from a subscriber to be removed from a list.

* Faculty members or University departments may create lists that include students in a particular class, students in a particular major, staff in a particular department, etc. In cases such as these, subscribers may be added without their prior knowledge or consent, and requests to be removed from the list need not be honored by the list owner.