Rules for Use of UNSW Email

When you enrol at UNSW, we give you a UNSW email account.

Email is the main way UNSW formally communicates with students, sending you:

• Important announcements,
• Official communications (but not key dates) - these are also sent to your News and Announcements on myUNSW,
• Information specific to your enrolment,
• Vital administrative or teaching material not provided any other way

Requirement to use

Unsuitable material

The UNSW email system should not be used to:

1. Send material which is offensive. In particular material which is pornographic, racist, sexist or in other ways in breach of the University equity policies is not allowed.
2. Send material which is for commercial purposes. Email can, of course, be used for minor personal transactions such as selling a textbook, but not to, say, advertise for a company.

Recipients

The UNSW email system should not be used to:

1. Send material to an indiscriminate set of recipients. For example it is unacceptable to attempt to send mail to "all students" or other large groups inside or outside the University. It is only acceptable to send mail to strangers to make initial contact and if there is a reasonable chance that they will be interested in the message. Thus, for example, sending mail about an assignment to your tutorial groups, or contacting a lecturer about a course would be acceptable. However, mailing your tutorial group about your political views would not be acceptable. Such indiscriminate usage is often referred to as "spamming" and is not permitted.
2. Send material to individuals in such a way as to constitute harassment. Sending messages to individuals who have made it clear that they do not want to communicate with you is harassment. Sending messages which are personally offensive (such as containing insulting language or sexual advances) is not permissible.

Volume of mail sent

The UNSW email system has limited capacity to send mail. Please restrict posting to a reasonable size and frequency. Mail messages enclosing extensive files (such as graphics) should be sent infrequently, preferably broken into smaller mail messages. Similarly, generation of an excessive quantity of messages (typically as the output of a program) should be avoided.

Receipt of mail

The UNSW email system stores all incoming mail on a server which has limited capacity. Although it is accepted that you can not always control the volume of mail you receive:

• You should not solicit excessive messages (such as subscribing to a picture mailing service).
• You should keep messages on the mail server for a short a time as possible. The email web pages will tell you how to remove messages from the server.

Privacy

Email messages are just as private as ordinary mail. However, the recipient of a message is not automatically bound to conceal that message. You should not:

1. Attempt to access someone else's email, or
2. Pass on email that you accidentally become aware of

Honesty

Email from you will only be identified by your student number. However, most people will not be aware of your student number. It is important that you identify yourself by name as well as number, therefore:

• All email must contain the true name of the sender either as part of the header or in the body of the message. It is not acceptable to only use a pseudonym, nickname or someone else's name. It is not acceptable to send mail under someone else's student number.

IT at UNSW reserves the right to:

1. Suspend a user's email account where they are considered to be in breach of these rules. Such a suspension may be temporary or permanent depending on the severity and frequency of breaches. Offenders may also be in breach of the University Student Misconduct Rules which can carry penalties of suspension and fines. In all but the most severe cases a warning will be issued before an account is suspended. Reasonable judgment will be applied in assessing such issues as harassment. Matters may be referred to other appropriate organisations within the University for their opinion.
2. Set limits on the size of mail messages and the length of time the messages are retained on the mail server. Furthermore, the email system will notify users if such limits become necessary to ensure a fair availability of the service to all students. The Communications Unit will not examine any person's email except when:
   • Attempting to locate faults in the email system.
   • Investigating suspected misuse of the email system.

The University will maintain the confidentiality of any mail so examined unless it is legally obliged not to. If you are aware of breaches of these rules, and in particular, if you are the recipient of unacceptable email messages, please report your problems to the Manager, Communications Unit Tel: +61 2 9385 1111. All such reports will be treated in confidence.

Please report ALL other problems to the IT Service Desk