Policies & Procedures

The University of Montana Email Policy - Questions and Answers

EMAIL SYSTEMS

When should a UM email system be used?

All university business that is conducted by email should utilize one of UM’s email systems whether that is GrizMail, Mail1, MSO or departmental-specific system. Use of these systems ensures adherence to legal requirements for the protection of personal privacy and the requirement to capture official email under the State of Montana Public Records laws.

How does freedom of information pertain to UM email and what is the process involved in a public records request?

Under the State of Montana Public Records laws (Montana Code Annotated Title 2, Chapter 6), email has been classified as public writings and therefore subject to public scrutiny through public record requests. Requests for UM-M information are always initiated through and processed by the University Attorney's office. Staff in this office will determine the validity of the request, specify the extent of the emails to be reviewed, redact these emails to ensure there is no infringement on student or employee privacy, and present the redacted emails to the requester.

What is the e-Discovery process and how does it relate to UM email?

Federal and state judicial rules applicable to all civil litigation require institutions and persons to produce copies of digital records and other digital materials prepared and kept in electronic format, including public agency emails, when such records and materials are either reasonably likely to constitute relevant evidence in a lawsuit (or arbitration proceeding governed by these or similar rules); OR when they are reasonably likely to enable the recipient of these materials to review them for the purpose of identifying other sources of relevant evidence. Evidentiary relevance is very broadly defined. The failure to have objectively reasonable electronic records retention and access policies and procedures can result in severe legal penalties imposed by judges and arbitrators in these legal proceedings. Because Montana law requires all state agencies to treat electronic records the same way they treat paper versions of such records, it would likely not be deemed reasonable for UM or any other Montana state agency or entity to treat electronic records, including email communications, differently.

Two other points also warrant mention. When a lawsuit is either threatened or filed, parties and identifiable witnesses whose digital records are likely to be subpoenaed are required not to destroy or alter these records once they are notified of the lawsuit. Failure to meet this requirement can result in severe civil and even criminal penalties. In addition, courts have consistently ruled during the past several years that digital records are not the same as paper format records because digital records often undergo significant editing and transformation during their creation and ongoing preparation. These changes have been determined by courts to have actual or potential evidentiary relevance in select cases, so their retention and production in litigation is in addition to requirements for production of paper versions of the same materials.

If it is necessary to create an email archive under the e-Discovery process/State of Montana Public Records laws, why are we not recording every phone call and phone message and archiving every piece of mail posted to and from the University?

State of Montana Public Records laws apply to emails as they have been deemed ‘public writings’ but do not apply to telephone conversations. Different rules apply to 'writings' than to telephone conversations..

What effort will be made to inform sender and recipients that their mail has been searched and/or accessed?

Montana Board of Regents policy permits access to email by authorized UM employees as part of their responsibilities or following a specific monitoring request approved by the campus CIO. In both cases disclosure of confidential contents of any email to unauthorized persons would likely violate Montana and, in certain cases, federal law. Therefore UM requires UM Legal Counsel approval before the release of any email. Legal Counsel also determines if/when email senders and recipients are notified.

How does this policy affect instant message (IM) communications?

While instant messaging is not specifically named in the State of Montana Public Records laws, some legal experts believe these are also covered under this act. At this time the university is not addressing the capture or archival of instant messages.

Which address is considered our ‘central UM email address ’?

The central UM email address is first.last@umontana.edu. This email address is an alias which must be pointed to a preferred email account on a real UM-M email system. For students this is automatically pointed at their GrizMail account. Faculty and staff must explicitly set this link to a UM-M approved email system through CyberBear.

Go to http://www.umt.edu/it/email/umontana.htm for directions on setting the preferred email address.

If you need a UM email account please see the system administrator associated with your organization or IT Central in Social Science 126.

Can email be forwarded to external email systems?

Yes, but this is not encouraged because it can result in full mailboxes when the forwarded mail is not managed in the university email system and it may compromise confidential information.

STUDENT COMMUNICATION

If the communication with a student does not contain confidential information, is the use of that student’s GrizMail required?

FERPA guidelines apply broadly to academic matters. Thus it is high recommended that GrizMail will be used for all forms of university communications with a student. Utilizing GrizMail for some messages and a personal email account for other messages places the sender in the tenuous position of having to make a legal determination as to what is confidential and what is not and will be confusing to both sender and receiver. Further, this process detracts from the intention of the email policy which is to direct students to their GrizMail accounts for all university communication.

If a student contacts a university employee using an outside email address can the response be sent to that address?

Yes, if the reply does not include confidential information but, for the same reasons stated above, it would be to take the time to look up the student's GrizMail address (the directory is on the UM Home Page) and use that for the response.

Are list servers included in this policy?

By their very nature list servers are public in nature and very unlikely to include personal confidential information. As such a student or employee is free to join a list server with a personal email address and it is not up to the list server administrator to ensure a UM email address is listed.

What are the storage quotas for student email?

Students are currently allowed to store 50 MB of email. They will receive a warning that the mailbox store requires attention when it reaches 40 MB, they will not be able to send email when the mailbox store is 50 MB, and they will not be able to receive when the store is 100 MB. If this quota turns out to be too restrictive it will be increased.

What are the storage quotas for employee email?

Email quotas vary across the UM email systems. IT Central is reworking the quotas for MSO and Mail1 based on a new storage array and will publish information regarding quotas shortly.

What is the size limit of emails sent through the UM email system?

The email size limit in central email systems and the SMTP gateway is currently 30 MB. This includes the email message and all attachments. Departmental email systems may vary in their size limits. If this is a problem for a particular file transfer IT Central can help users to arrange an alternative.

The student email system has been down lately – is there a plan for a backup system so there will be less disruption in the future?

The student email system has now been migrated to a new server cluster which is much more robust and stable, thus reducing the likelihood of disruption of service.

Will university email preserve materials as well as Gmail, which preserves everything not deliberately deleted?

All university email systems preserve emails not deliberately deleted. In addition, all university system administrators retain backup copies of mailboxes for a period of time in case there is a system failure or loss of mail for other reasons.

How can I ensure my password is private and not used by others?

Email passwords are encrypted and cannot be accessed by staff in computer operations or any administrative offices. To ensure maximum password protection it is best to use complex passwords and to change them often. If the account is new it is essential to change the password immediately.

Go to http://www.umt.edu/it/itcentral/passwordtips.htm for password tips.

How can I ensure the privacy and confidentiality of the information I send/receive through university email?

The university can ensure the privacy and confidentiality of information contained in an email by preventing ‘mining’ of the emails and by archiving the mail in a secure manner. The university also has a clear process for providing emails to the public or a court which involves eliminating all information that could impact the sender or receiver’s privacy rights. Email system providers such as Google have already stated their intent to mine emails and do not have a universal policy for redacting the emails that are provided to a court during an e-Discovery process.

However, it should also be recognized that email by its very nature cannot be controlled in that a receiver of an email is not obligated to keep the information private, e.g. could forward the message as they see fit. The university therefore cannot control how email will be handled by recipients. It is up to the sender to recognize that an email is part of the public record and as such available to the public through the public request process or to the court through the e-Discovery process or to others when forwarded by a recipient.

Can mail from an external personal email account get mixed up with university email and end up on university computers?

Email from two disjoint accounts can only be commingled by an action on the part of the user. If you have an external personal email account and want configuration assistance please contact IT Central.