All Purchase College students, faculty, staff and administrators are provided with a College e-mail account.
Communications methods: The College’s E-mail System (Outlook/Exchange) and our Web site provide four distinct electronic communications channels, each of which is suited for different purposes. You may want your audience to contribute as well, but you may not want them to be able to 'quit' the list, nor others to join it. There is no single ‘best’ method - you must consider the purpose and your audience and choose the proper method, or methods. Some are public, some conversational, some passive and some active.
Exchange Distribution Lists (DL): for secure and required top-down communication
• Uses exchange addresses only
• Every class has a DL automatically created for it
• (i.e. SP06-LWR1010.20@purchase.edu each semester. Faculty do not have to create their own lists. Three semesters worth of lists are available, past, present, and future. The first two characters tell you what semester (SP=Spring, FA=Fall) and the next two tell you what calendar year the list is for (SP06=Spring 2006).
• Provides receipt/read tracking
• Users cannot opt out of list
• Individuals can create their own DLs with fewer than 30 recipients; larger DLs must be created by CTS and populated by the list manager
• Can limit to certain users or moderate contents
• Official business should be limited to DLs so that sensitive data and communications are secure from viruses and do not get sent outside of the campus to a commercial providers with spotty security. DO NOT E-MAIL SSNs OR OTHER SENSITIVE INFORMATION - it could easily fall into the wrong hands.
• DLs are an ‘active’ method of communication since materials are received via e-mail.
ReddFish Listserve: for optional or off-campus multi-directional communication
• Uses any e-mail addresses – on campus or off
• Provides recipients ability to join/quit the listserve
• Listserves can be moderated by the list manager, or they can be a free-for all.
• Lists are created by CTS and populated by the list manager.
• Listserves should not be used for sensitive communications or official business since the materials may leave the campus.
• Listserves are an ‘active’ method of communication - materials received via e-mail.
Portal: home.purchase.edu: for optional top-down communication
• VPs, deans, directors or their delegates can post messages.
• Messages are public and viewable to anyone on campus.
• Good for announcements, events, reminders – does not clog up mailbox space.
• Non-specific audience – you don’t know who’s looking at it
• Not suitable for sensitive or secure communications.
• The Portal is a ‘semi-passive’ method of communication; users see it every time they start up their Internet browser.
Planet.Purchase.edu (Wiki/Blogs): optional multi-direction communication within the Purchase Community.
• http://Planet.Purchase.edu is a Wiki - a Web site that anyone from the College community can add, edit, or contribuite to. The Wiki consists of topical spaces such as classifieds and interest groups, and each space can be moderated, or they can be a free-for all. Each Space also contains a Blog (called News) that can be continually added to.
• Comments posted to pages on the Wiki are threaded (an original posting may have related replies).
DLs are automatically set up for:
All students in each class
All students in a major
All students in each academic division
All faculty in a Board of Study
To set up a DL:
• Call the Helpdesk x6465 or send an email to helpdesk@purchase.edu and request a DL.
• Specify whether you want an Exchange DL, a newsgroup, or a Reddifish list for off campus addresses.
• Identify the group and the individuals you want to include.
• Identify the Manager for the group.
• Do you want to moderate the group (see messages before they are disseminated).
• Identify who should be authorized to send to the group or who should have send as rights.
To use a DL from off campus or via OWA:
Send to group.name@purchase.edu - no special characters
To use Real Outlook at Home:
• Microsoft Campus License provides work at home rights - See the CTS Web site for instructions on getting your copy for your home computer
• Choose “Exchange Server Support” when Installing Office
• If you have Office 2003/2007 at home, you can use full Outlook via RPC over HTTP (see CTS Web site)
OWA Issues:
Outlook Web Access (OWA) provides full access to your e-mail, calendar, and public folders from any computer with an Internet connection anywhere in the world. Just go to http://mail.purchase.edu
AOL Issues:
• OWA is just a Web site, AOL’s browser has problems rendering it. Try Firefox or Internet Explorer
• If you must, connect to AOL, then minimize their browser window and start up Internet Explorer and go to http://mail.purchase.edu
To Activate Your Faculty / Staff Campus E-mail Account:
The
Faculty and staff e-mail accounts can be activated at the Purchase College Web site at http://home.purchase.edu. Click on "Faculty and Staff" at the upper right, then click on the large “Self Service” icon. You will then be redirected to the Employee Services page. The first link on that page is "Email Account Activations.” The system will then ask for your Social Security Number and initials. It is an encrypted transaction, so it is ok to put your SSN in there. You will be asked to read and agree to the terms of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as well as the Computer Ethics policy. It will then show you your temporary password and ask that you choose a new one, which you will have to type in twice. We require "strong" passwords - minimum 8 characters with a mix of Upper/Lowercase/Numbers (at least one of each).
After the new password passes the edit rules and is accepted, close all of the open browser windows and wait at least 5 minutes before trying to log in using the new password (it has to propagate through the mail servers).
Our Outlook Web mail system is at https://securemail.purchase.edu/exchweb/bin/auth/usa/logon.asp
When you enter your ID on that screen, you have to include the "@purchase.edu" part too.
If you have any additional questions or problems, please contact the CTS Helpdesk via e-mail at helpdesk@purchase.edu or by phone at 914-251-6465.
• Students Can Activate Their Accounts Online at http://studentservices.purchase.edu/
Faculty and Staff Can Activate Their Accounts Online at https://paws.purchase.edu/.
Blackboard Course Management System is available for your use:
• Post Syllabus, assignments, readings, links, quizzes, bulletin board discussion group, etc
• Students access Blackboard as a Web site using their browser
• Blackboard uses the same UserID-password as your campus account
• Contact ITC at x6425 for more info, or to set up a Blackboard site for your course.
ERes Electronic Reserves System is available as well:
• Post required readings, links, quizzes, etc
• ERes uses the same UserID-password as your campus account
• Contact ITC at x6425 for more information or to set up an ERes site for your course.