Student Communications

Email Guidelines

Editing text

Student Communications may edit email text for final approval from the business unit to ensure all communication with students is:

  • professional
  • consistent
  • correct and up to date
  • easy to understand (written in Plain English)
  • relevant
  • succinct
  • specific and not duplicated
  • appropriate for the medium
  • in line with UWS Style and Visual Identity
  • aligned with UWS strategic objectives

Content

Subject line

  • Must include UWS <Unit> in square brackets before the text – eg [UWS Enrolments]
  • This is very important as students can now auto-forward their emails to a personal account
  • Should be brief and sum up the point of the email
  • Indicate if action is required or if the email is just for their information

Email text

Our email system currently only sends emails in plain text. Consequently, text formatting such as bold, italics and underline cannot be used.

  • Sum up the point of the email in the first sentence (if possible)
  • Write in Plain English – minimise jargon, use active voice, shorten sentences
  • Don’t write in CAPITALS as this equates to shouting*
  • Keep tone friendly and informal
  • Keep text brief and to the point
  • Make sure the email doesn’t open up more questions that aren’t answered
    For example: ‘MySR is currently unavailable’
    Question: When will it be available again?
  • Answer all questions and pre-empt further questions
  • Text should follow a logical pattern, answering questions the reader would ask:
  • Why am I getting this email?
  • How does this affect me?
  • What do I need to do?
  • Where can I get more information?
  • Who do I contact if I need help?
  • Separate out important information into its own paragraph
  • Use meaningful headings to break up the text

* In some cases, Student Communications may use capitals in headings to ensure they stand out in plain text.

Signature

  • Your signature should be brief and professional:

<Unit name>

University of Western Sydney

Phone: 1300 668 370

Disclaimer

  • Emails should also contain the following disclaimer:

This message contains information that may be confidential and privileged. Unless you are the addressee (or authorised to receive the message for the addressee), you may not use, copy or disclose to anyone the message or any information contained in the message. If you have received the message in error, please advise the sender by return email and delete the message.

Student data

Although we share responsibility with you for email content, we are not responsible for obtaining or checking student data. If you require assistance in using Discoverer to run reports to extract data from Callista, please contact UWS Student Systems by emailing .

Formatting

Student data should be sent in an Excel spreadsheet and to avoid errors it must be formatted as follows:

  • Only the necessary columns for the email text should be included (eg: email address, student ID, first name, last name, required merge fields). Please delete any additional columns before sending through the data.
  • ‘Dear student’ emails require:
  • Student ID number
  • Student email address
  • Personalised emails require:
  • First name and last name (Not preferred name – please do not include this column). Please ensure no student has ’NULL’ in their name column
  • Any ‘in text’ merge fields (unit code, course description, fee owed etc) check spelling is correct. Do not include unit or course versions
  • Student ID number
  • Student email address
  • Merge fields should be written without additional characters or punctuation e.g. <student-ID> should just be <studentID> or <SID>. Any additional characters such as ‘_’ or ‘&’ or ‘#’ and spaces between words create bugs in our system causing errors. The merge fields in the text must match the relevant column headings in the spreadsheet exactly. Please use ‘<’ and ‘>’ to identify merge fields in text only - not in the column headings
  • The title of the columns must relate directly to the title of the corresponding merge field in the body of the email text. This should also be written without additional characters or spaces between words
  • Each list of students must be sent in one separate Excel spreadsheet rather than in separate ‘sheets’ within the same Excel spreadsheet. There should only be one Excel spreadsheet for each email (not multiple Excel spreadsheets for the same email)
  • No ‘hidden’ columns or rows. Our system will pick up everything, even if it’s hidden and this creates glitches. This will result in the email being sent to all students within the Excel spreadsheet
  • Please double check the student data before sending as Student Communications will not be checking student data
  • The email will not be sent if details are incorrect. The data will be sent back to the business unit for correction

Procedures and timelines

  • We are in the process of creating set agreed text for emails that are sent on a regular basis in an effort to minimise the time required to make edits. However, when we receive a request to send a new email (or an email that has not been checked for a long period) we require time to ensure the text complies with the RO Communication Style Guide. Therefore Student Communications requires the draft email text two weeks before the planned distribution date with final approval received at least one week before the distribution date
  • Requests for bulk emails should be made at least 24 hours before the distribution date, ensuring that content has already been reviewed by Student Communications and approved by the client as per above
  • Requests are sent to Student Communications with the approved email text and distribution list via the online email request form
  • To provide students with the opportunity to take action and contact UWS regarding any queries, emails will not be sent after 3.00pm on a standard working day, and after 1.00pm on a Friday or day before a public holiday

Last updated 010615