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Student E-mail Policy

Policy 05.06

POLICY STATEMENT

It is recommended that Hennepin Technical College (HTC) establish the use of official student email accounts through MetNet to facilitate more efficient and effective communication with students. See below for the Use of Email for Official Correspondence with Students for additional information.

Appropriate use of email addresses is essential to the success of this mode for contacting students. If the service is used to communicate too much information too often, particularly if the information is perceived to be unimportant, students will abandon the system. This document is intended to guide the appropriate use of student email service, in particular those messages sent from Hennepin Technical College personnel to students. Students may choose to use their campus‑issued email accounts more broadly than prescribed by these guidelines.

All messages must adhere to HTC's Electronic Communication and Technology Policy (06.01), MnSCU's Code of Conduct and Ethics, and Minnesota Statutes 43A.38, Subd. 4 and 43.A39, Subd.2, and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended.

Implementation

1. College use of email

Email is a mechanism for official communication with Hennepin Technical College students. Official email communications are intended only to meet the academic and administrative needs of the campus

Community. The College has the right to expect that such communications will be received and read in a timely manner. As steward of this process, the Vice President of Student Affairs is responsible for directing the use of the official student email. See Guidelines for the Use of Official

Student Email Service for details.

2. Assignment of student email

Official College email accounts are available for all registered students. The addresses are all of the form XXXX****@metnet.edu. (XXXX would be the first four letters of the student’s last name and **** would be a random four digit number). These accounts must be activated before the College can correspond with its students using the official email accounts. The Account website has been designed for this purpose. The official email address will be maintained in the Student Information System. Official email addresses are not considered as "directory information" under FERPA and the Minnesota Data Practices Act.

3. Expectations about student use of email

Students are expected to check their email on a weekly basis. Students have the responsibility to recognize that certain communications may be time‑critical. "I didn't check my email", error in forwarding mail, or email returned to the College with "Mailbox Full" or "User Unknown" are not acceptable reasons for missing official College communications.

4. Redirecting of email

Students are responsible for all information sent to them via their HTC email account. If a student chooses to forward messages to another account, they do so at their own risk. Students remain responsible for

obtaining the information that has been communicated from HTC. The College will not be responsible for the handling of email by outside vendors or by departmental servers.

5. Compliance with Related Policies

Because the confidentiality of email correspondence cannot be guaranteed, users of this service should exercise extreme caution when sending messages. The service is not intended to communicate confidential information.

Guidelines

As steward of the official student email address, the Vice President of Student Affairs is responsible for directing its use.

General Guidelines

The Vice President of Student Affairs, Registrar, and Director of Admissions and Marketing are authorized to send official correspondence to students. Other college personnel should contact one of these individuals if they wish to communicate with some or all HTC students in an official capacity.
The Registrar maintains a listing of official emails sent to students on an annual basis.
Information Technology staff provides technical support for initializing and using student email accounts. This service is provided in the HTC Computer Lab.
Users are responsible for the content of their communications and for reviewing, understanding, and complying with all policies, procedures and laws related to access, acceptable use, and security of
Information Technology (IT) resources, and for consulting with the Registrar for clarification on privacy issues.
Use discretion concerning the number of messages sent, and ensure that the content of the message is simple and direct.
When possible, send email messages only to the specific group of students for whom the message is pertinent.
When a message is to be sent to many recipients, list all recipients' addresses as "Bcc:" instead of "To:" This will prevent students from viewing the email addresses of other students.
To ensure that students can access attachments, they must be distributed in a .pdf or .rtf format.
A "From:" or "Reply‑to:" name and email address of the sender is required.
Encourage students to check their HTC accounts at least once a week.
Ensure that any non‑directory information (see HTC Data Privacy Policy for definition of directory information) is sent only to individual students.

Examples of appropriate uses

Notification concerning students' change of course schedules (drop/adds), general petitions, withdrawals, and residency, and cancellation of registration

Notification of student financial aid processing issues, deadlines and availability of awards
Academic departmental information such as class changes, registration issues, new courses, and events
Information about academic support services and college policies
Reminders of meetings, such as advising appointments
Notices about student workshops, internships, and on‑campus employment opportunities
Payment deadlines and other Business Office information
Degree audit and commencement information
Surveys as authorized by the college

Examples of inappropriate uses

Information unrelated to College business
Messages containing confidential information such as course grades, financial aid award amounts, or tuition/fee payment amounts
Emails that violate the HTC Electronic Communication and Technology Policy (06.01)
Solicitations
Promoting political viewpoints
Personal or non‑directory information
Surveys that do not serve sanctioned College purposes.

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Contact HTC at 952-995-1300 or info@hennepintech.edu