Mass e-mail restriction lifted for clubs

Milligan’s clubs and organizations have been given official approval to send campus-wide e-mails without having to pass through the filter, a decision that follows close on the heels of the first major issue surrounding the new e-mail filters.

“This was the plan from the beginning [of the process],” said Vice President for Enrollment Management David Mee. “The plan was to move to this once we had figured out how the whole system was going to work for us and once we had that under control.”

In an e-mail sent on Wednesday afternoon, Mee and Director of Student Life Kim Parker notified the clubs and organizations about the changes and its stipulations, which involve ensuring the information pertains directly to the organization and has widespread interest.

The administration has been monitoring mass e-mails sent to the campus for the past month, a policy constructed to cut down on the number of messages clogging the e-mail servers and campus accounts.

 
The new e-mail privileges came soon after the first main issue surrounding the e-mail filters. Milligan’s administration decided that advertising Alpine Ski Center’s Wednesday night sale, which was sponsored by SGA’s Athletic Affaire committee, through campus e-mail was solicitation.

Alpine opened its doors exclusively to Milligan students, faculty and staff “to help college students out,” said Alpine’s store general manager, Mike Thomas. Senior Mark Hills, whose only association with Alpine is through being a customer, advertised the sale by posting fliers, but college officials would not allow a campus-wide email to be sent because it is solicitation.

“Through all that, [the administration] made a new rule that SGA cannot sponsor solicitation,” said Hills. “So is it solicitation or advertising?”

Solicitation is defined by www.dictionary.com as “to seek, to obtain by persuasion, entreaty or formal application,” while advertising is defined as “a notice, such as a poster or a paid announcement in the print, broadcast, or electronic media, designed to attract public attention or patronage.”

Because Kim Parker said that neither SGA nor Athletic Affairs is benefited from the sale, it was “not appropriate to use school email.”

If SGA or Athletic Affairs received a portion of the profits or benefited in another way, a campus-wide email could be sent.

Thomas, who does not consider the sale solicitation, said “We’re not going to Milligan and setting up a booth.”

Parker said if Milligan allows Alpine to advertise via campus-wide email without benefiting the college, Milligan will be “bombarded with companies” that want to use email to advertise.

“It’s nothing against any outside organization,” said Mee. “We have a no-solicitation policy on campus in general that would prevent someone from coming and trying to sell something. That policy extends to e-mail as well, so it’s not strictly an email issue. We have had lots of problems with credit card companies in the past.”

Officials, other than Parker, who put a stop to solicitation are Mark Fox, vice president for student development, and Mee, who also monitors campus-wide emails.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve always had a solicitation policy,” said Fox. He also stated that, had this sale occurred before the institution of the new e-mail policy, it still would not have been acceptable for distribution to the campus.