Student Unions & Activities: Handbook: Student Group Communications

Student Group Communications

Criteria and Process for Mailings to Specific Groups of Students

Student groups who would like to send any type of mailings to a specific group of students enrolled at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus must have the approval of Student Unions and Activities (SUA) prior to dissemination. Any type of mail (e.g. email or letter) needs to be approved by SUA. Such mail is treated as "blind," meaning that student groups will not see any of the addressee names and the mailing is conducted by the University's Addressing and Mailing Service or University computing services. An organization that is not a registered student group may also be able to do mailings if they have a U of M faculty/staff advisor who will represent them.

Student groups who want to send out a mailing to a specific group of University students must meet the following criteria in order to be approved:

1. Messages must be consistent with the University’s mission.
2. Student groups must be currently registered and in good standing with Student Unions and Activities.
3. Student groups must adhere to all guidelines as established by the Office for Institutional Research http://www.irr.umn.edu/ including data privacy practices and distribution requirements.
4. The following group’s will be given consideration for mailing privileges:
   1. Academic and Honors groups, in accordance with Association of College Honors Societies
   2. Governing bodies
   3. International student services
   4. Fraternities and Sororities

Electronic Mailings

The process to request an email to be sent out to a specific group of undergraduate students is:

1. A listed officer of the registered student group sends a request to Student Unions and Activities (SUA) for review. Requests should include:
1. The message/invitation they would like to have distributed.
   1. Messages and invitations should include the following statement: "The University of Minnesota has not disclosed your name, address or any non-public information to the sender of this correspondence."
   2. If approved, the email will be sent via HTML and cannot contain any attachments. We encourage groups to include materials via a link contained within the text.
2. The criteria for selecting email recipients (e.g. full-time students with a minimum grade point average of 3.5)
3. The requested timeline for distribution; groups are only allowed to send one message per semester.
2. SUA will review the request, confirm that the group is registered and in good standing, and that the message contains necessary information. SUA will forward the student group's request to the Office for Student Affairs, for final review and approval.
3. If approved, SUA will request contact information based on the criteria requested, from the Office for Institutional Research (OIR).
4. SUA will send out the email (acting as a neutral party) on behalf of the student group, thus maintaining confidential information. The email will include the following in accordance with email standards:
   1. A standard footer, "This message was approved by the Office for Student Affairs and sent on behalf of [official student group name] to selected students.
   2. Sent from an internal no-reply account.
   3. Headers and graphics will be omitted-- general practice is to not include any non-University logos or marks.
5. Groups who submit requests directly to OIR will be redirected to contact Student Unions and Activities.

If you are interested in sending an email to all students at the University, please contact the Office of Institutional Research.

Postal Mailings

Student groups who want to send out a postal mailing to a specific group of students enrolled at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus must adhere to all guidelines as established by Addressing and Mailing Services http://www.a-m.umn.edu/ including meeting distribution timelines, paying all corresponding fees, and following sorting/binding practices.

The process to request a postal mailing to be sent out to a specific group of undergraduate students is:

1. A listed officer of the registered student group sends a request to Student Unions and Activities (SUA) for review. Requests should include:
   1. A sample of the message/invitation they would like to have distributed.
      1. Messages and invitations should include the following statement: "The University of Minnesota has not disclosed your name, address or any non-public information to the sender of this correspondence."
   2. The criteria for selecting mail recipients (e.g. full-time students with a minimum grade point average of 3.5)
   3. The requested timeline for distribution; groups are only allowed to send one message per semester
2. SUA will review the request, confirm that the group is registered and in good standing, and that the message contains necessary information. SUA will forward the student group's request to the Office for Student Affairs for final review and approval.
3. If approved, SUA will inform groups that they will be required to submit:
   1. Their point of contact at Addressing and Mailing Services
   2. The job number assigned by Addressing and Mailing Services
4. The request will be forwarded to the Office for Institutional Research (OIR) to pull the appropriate contact information based on the criteria requested. OIR will send this data to Addressing and Mailing Services.
5. Addressing and Mailing Services will send out the mail (acting as a neutral party) on behalf of the student group, thus maintaining confidential information.
6. Groups who submit requests directly to OIR or Addressing and Mailing Services will be redirected to contact Student Unions and Activities.

If you are interested in sending a postal mailing to all students at the University, please contact Addressing and Mailing Services.

Contact Student Unions & Activities to find out if your group is eligible to send a mailing to a specific group of University students at sao@umn.edu or (612) 626-6919.

SUA Communications, "In the Know"

Student Unions & Activities communicates with student groups in a variety of ways, including a biweekly email newsletter called In the Know which is sent to all group's primary contact email addresses, as well as their listed advisors. In the Know accepts submissions from Student Unions & Activities administration and student service offices.

SUA Student Group Mailboxes

Registered student groups and University departments interested in sending mail and/or information to student groups with mailboxes in Student Activities (CMU 126) must list the student group's mailing address as well as a return address, in accordance with standard mailing practice. All materials without postage must clearly list the sponsoring Registered student group and/or University department's name.