Graduate School of Education

Email Guidelines

The GSE has two options for sending email to large groups of people, Mailman and Vertical Response. These systems are designed to help when sending an email to multiple recipients using a tool other than your personal (@pdx.edu) email account. They do not apply to email sent to internal audience lists you have built and currently maintain in your personal account (e.g., cohort listserv, department faculty).

Emails requested to be sent through our mass email tools will most likely meet one or more of these criteria:

  • List size is too large to send through your personal PSU email account
  • Has a marketing/recruitment purpose
  • Information is intended for a large audience
  • List of recipients is complex and must be constructed using multiple databases and/or files

Use the chart below to decide which tool best suits your needs and then follow the corresponding instructions to complete your request.

Features/Pros and Cons / Mailman / Vertical Response
Tracking/Reporting / No / Yes
Photos/Graphics / No / Yes
Attachments / Yes / No
Ability to export response data / No / Yes
Send the emails yourself / Yes / No
Request through marketing office / Yes (initially) / Yes
Capacity to send to more than 2,000 recipients / No / Yes
Tracking undeliverable addresses / Yes / Yes
Assistance with crafting and editing the message / No / Yes

Process

  1. Mailman
  2. Submit request for listserv creation to Jeremy McPherson at or ED412 with:
  3. Proposed listserv name
  4. Administrator(s) name and email
  5. List of members in excel format
  6. Decide whether email will be “announce only” or “open communication” format
  7. WebTeam will register/request a new mailing list from OIT
  8. Verify listserv settings
  9. Subscribe members
  10. Send you a confirmation email when the list is complete
  11. Listserv requestor (you) sends own email
  12. Subsequent names can either be sent to to be added to the listserv or they can added directly by the designated list administrator(s)
  1. Vertical Response
  2. Submit emailing request form and email text with mailing dates to Jeremy McPherson at or ED412
  3. WebTeam will coordinate the building of the email list and verify that the recipients have not been mailed to recently
  4. WebTeam will create the HTML email and work with requestor on proofs/revisions
  5. WebTeam will coordinate campaign launch once list has been uploaded and content approved

Timeline

  1. Mailman*
  2. Please allow 3-4 days for list to be created by WebTeam and approved through OIT. Make sure you schedule additional time for writing the content of the email message.
  1. Vertical Response*
  2. Please allow at least one week for emails requested through Vertical Response. During the week, you will need to be available to approve drafts and verify any questions concerning the list.

* Please allow 2 weeks if requested list contains data obtained from outside organizations or foundations

Updated February, 2014