Safety first
As you might imagine, we use email a lot during the course, including broadcast announcements to the entire class.
To make this practical and safe with such a large class, we generally avoid sending attachments. So please be very
skeptical of an email that appears to come from vjs@unc.edu or epid600@... and which has an attachment.
Also, if there is a live link in an email from us, be sure that the underlying link (i.e., not what you see in the email
but what appears below when you place your pointer over the URL in the email) goes to the page you wish to visit.
Since Vic's email address is on lots of peoples' computers, it's often picked up by computer worms
to propagate noxious emails. (So if an email from Vic strikes you as obnoxious,
please consider that it might be coming from a computer worm.)
Please monitor the email address listed for you in the UNC on-line directory
Since we must rely on email to communicate with you,
we count on you to check your email address regularly. As of spring 2008, EPID600 uses the address for you in the University Online Directory (http://directory.unc.edu) as the primary means of contacting you. This address is automatically copied to Blackboard every 24 hours or so. When anyone sends you an email through Blackboard (e.g., when Vic sends a broadcast email to the class), Blackboard will therefore generally use the address listed in the UNC Directory (you can change your email address through Blackboard, but the Directory address will replace the one you inserted when the automatic copy takes place). The address in the UNC Directory is also placed in the class roll that Vic downloads at the beginning of the semester and every so often after that. So the address used to send you copies of your web form submissions will be the address that was in the UNC Directory the last time Vic downloaded the class roll and updated the submission database.
Changing your address
You can change your address in the UNC Online Directory
by going to http://directory.unc.edu and
clicking “Update entry” on the left of the page. If you want your address to be updated in
Blackboard immediately, rather than waiting 24-36 hours for the automated transfer, you can log into
Blackboard, go to the Bb Desktop,
click “Edit your info” and on the next page choose “Edit personal information”.
Using (or not using) your ONYEN email
If you have not set up email through your ONYEN
(what is an ONYEN?), you should go to
http://onyen.unc.edu and “Subscribe”
to email (“Subscribe to Services” near the bottom of the page). You can, if you like, set a forwarding address (at the same webpage) so that email sent to that account will automatically be redirected to an email address that you prefer. If you do that, we suggest that you click the box that retains a copy of the email on the UNC server, at least until you are confident that you are receiving all EPID600 email at the forwarded address. (While you are at onyen.unc.edu, you can also create one or more “simple email addresses” that may be more appealing and memorable, to serve
as “aliases” for your UNC email address.)
EPID600 and your spam filter
Don’ let an overzealous spam filter
come between you and the course. Program your spam filter to accept all messages that
have EPID600 in the subject line and include EPID600 in the subject
line of all your emails related to the course. When the spammers eventually discover
this practice, we’ll request a new course number again!
If you use or switch to a challenge-response spam blocker, be sure to allow an exception for emails from the instructors and from the return address on confirmation emails from webform submissions (I do not list that address here to reduce its vulnerability to being spammed).
Providing a preferred EPID600 address - sort of
If you would like to provide a permanent or
alternate email address to Vic, you may do so on the request form.
However, we do not yet have the capability to use these addresses for
computer-generated emails (e.g., announcements, exam results, etc.).
So please arrange to check your UNC Directory address regularly or forward it to an email address that you do use and that won’t get full.
Nota bene
We will assume that an email sent to an email address that was listed for you in the UNC Directory or in Blackboard has been received by you.
We appreciate your help with these communications issues.
10 Ways to Keep Your Esanity with Email
- Think twice before sending messages and reading messages you
receive.
- Choose short, meaningful subject headings.
- Separate major points into different messages.
- Before forwarding a message, consider if the sender would want it
forwarded.
- Before forwarding a message that asks you to forward it to everyone
you know, consider if the content is a hoax, a virus, or a
phishing expedition.
- Copy only the people who need to be copied (either carbon copies
or blind carbon copies).
- If you're angry, sick, or tired, be especially careful about how you
write messages and how you read them.
- Be aware of what jargon you're using; will the message recipient
understand?
- Judiciously include the text of the message to which you're
replying.
- Consider whether the content of a message you're sending is best
handled by email or if a phone call or face-to-face
conversation might be better.
Source: www.unc.edu/cit/citations/citations154.html