Email: Using Student Distribution Lists

LTS has developed various distribution lists to make emailing groups of students more efficient. These instructions describe how faculty and staff can access and use distribution lists comprised of students. There are two programs, getlist and gradebook, that can be used to access these lists. Gradebook is more limited in that it can be used only to obtain class lists. Getlist can be used for not only class lists but also other lists as well. To access the lists, you must use the proper formats defined below.

If you have any questions about accessing these lists, contact the LTS Help Desk (715-836-5711; helpdesk@uwec.edu).

Contents:

• Student Distribution Lists Format
  • Class Lists
  • Advisees
  • Students in Specific Major or Minor Plans
  • Majors
  • Minors
  • Graduate Students in a Specific Department
• Sending to a Distribution List

Student Distribution Lists Format

In order to either send an email message to members of these lists or to get a display of the membership via email, you must use the names of the lists as shown in the formats defined below.  All abbreviations are available at the Registrar's office.

Class Lists

yyyt.dept.cors.sec
EXAMPLE: 2111.phil.387.002

NOTES: Class lists are used to send emails to an entire class and include the instructor(s) of the course. Lists are available for the current term and about one month after each term, and are updated daily. Courses that are cross listed, or are for undergraduate and graduate students, must be emailed separately to ensure that all members receive the message. Class lists are considered confidential information under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Type the following course identification information. The information should be typed as one line using a period to separate each portion.

• Academic Year with Term (YYYT)
  Example: 2111=Fall of fiscal year 2011 (academic year 2010-2011).
  • First digit is the first digit of the calendar year.
  • Second and third digits indicate fiscal year (last 2 digits of calendar year for spring semester).
  • Fourth digit indicates term.
    1: Fall  3: Winterim  5: Spring  7: Summer (including the first 3-week session)
     
• Subject Prefix (as abbreviated in the Class Schedule Bulletin e.g., phil).
• Course Number (always 3 letters or digits with a suffix if applicable e.g., 387, 101a, AOA, AO1).
• Section Number (always 3 digits e.g., 002, 601, or 803).

Advisees

NOTE: Advisee lists contain undergraduate and graduate advisees who are currently enrolled so they can all be emailed at one time. The advisor's name will be included in the list, which is updated weekly. Students who are assigned to "Department Faculty" will not appear on any lists; departments receive a weekly list of those students from the Registrar's Office.

Students in Specific Major or Minor Plans

plan code.plan
EXAMPLE: 400200.plan

NOTE: Distribution lists for students with a specific plan code can be emailed in one group as long as they are enrolled currently or for the next term; these lists are updated weekly. The name of the list "owner," usually the chair of the department administering the plan, will be included. These lists require a 6-digit code that is listed in the University Catalog, which may be different for different catalog years.

Majors

dept.majors
EXAMPLE: phil.majors

NOTE: The majors distribution list contains all undergraduate students who are enrolled currently or for the next term, and have declared a major. Interdisciplinary majors will appear on both departments' lists. The "owner" of the list, usually the chair of the department administering the plan, is included in the alphabetical list.

Minors

dept.minors
EXAMPLE: phil.minors

NOTE: The minors distribution list contains all undergraduate students who are enrolled currently or for the next term, and have declared a minor. The "owner" of the list, usually the chair of the department administering the plan, is included in the alphabetical list. 

Graduate Students in a Specific Department

dept.gradstu
EXAMPLE: engl.gradstu

NOTE: These distribution lists contain all students enrolled currently or for the next term with graduate classification and a plan in the specified department. The "owner," usually the department chair, is included in the alphabetical list.

Sending to a Distribution List

Since these distribution lists are created from the database, the recipient list is automatically suppressed when you send an email message to a list. You do not need to use the BCC portion of the message, as you may do with distribution lists you have created yourself. Distribution lists should not be used for official reporting purposes.

You can send the same message to multiple lists. Outlook users need to separate each list with a semicolon (;).

1. Create a new message.
2. In the To... field, type the name of the distribution list in the defined format described above.
   
    
3. Continue with the subject and body portions of the message as usual.
4. Click Send.