Regulations stem excessive listserv abuse

From informing students of upcoming events to plaguing them with unwanted messages, the more than 10,000 University e-mail listservs are a staple of daily life.

Listservs are an e-mail feature that enable computer users to send out mass e-mails to large groups of people through a single address.

Career Services is a particularly enthusiastic listserv user. With summer just around the corner, the office is in high gear, notifying students of potential job and internship opportunities. According to Career Services' College Career Counselor Aileen Kyung Kim, listservs are also used to keep students abreast of career-related panels and career fairs.

College sophomore Brian Phillips noted that his inbox is filled with e-mails from Career Services.

"There needs to be a course on listserv etiquette," he said.

Kim -- who is in charge of the listserv for College sophomores -- acknowledged some drawbacks to listservs.

"I know we all get too much e-mail and it can be pretty overwhelming," she said, adding that she tries to be "selective" with what e-mails she sends out.

The Career Services office has separate listservs for students in each school in each year. There are also listservs for students on pre-law, pre-med and other pre-professional tracks.

This ability to easily send a message to a targeted audience is one of the advantages of using listservs.

"Listservs provide a convenient way for members of a group to communicate electronically," said Melissa Muth, who is the director of engineering information systems and computing.

Often used by University administrators, class boards and student organizations, mass e-mailing can help to increase turnout to various events.

Wharton freshman Puneet Singh said that listservs help him in his duties as freshman class president.

"Listservs are absolutely useful. All of the events [for the freshman class] are advertised mainly through e-mail, and we tend to get pretty good turnouts," Singh said.

Still, many students complain that their inboxes are flooded with superfluous e-mails.

In order to confront these concerns, the Office of Information Systems and Computing has taken steps to ensure that listservs are not abused.

For listservs of more than 750 people, only two people are able to send messages. Otherwise, an unlimited number of people can respond.

For smaller listservs, only certain people are able to send messages to a listserv, while in others, any member of a listserv can e-mail the entire group. Listserv creators can often stipulate who can and cannot send messages.

Also, with the exception of mandatory lists -- such as class listservs and course listservs -- students can unsubscribe from any listserv.

Kim said that about 50 students unsubscribe from the career services e-mail list each semester.

The ISC office even has regulations barring offensive content in e-mails.

Some students, however, feel that even more restrictions need to be put in place.

"Listservs are annoying when the University or class boards randomly put you on them," Engineering junior Lauren Costello said. "It would be easier to use an online calendar" to advertise events.

Already though, many computer users are careful not to send out excessive amounts of mass e-mails.

"I try to keep it at a minimum and only send out stuff that is necessary," Singh said.

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