Departments and units in SEAS utilize a variety of email platforms and tools to send email communications, depending on the purpose of the message and audience. 

Faculty and staff interested in sending email communications to SEAS listservs can get in touch with SEAS Information Specialist James Friedman. Learn more about electronic mailing lists at the university at UBIT's Listserv page.

The SEAS Dean's Office also maintains a Mailchimp account for the purpose of sending department/school newsletters, news alerts and special event announcements. Email communications supported by the Office of Communications include:

Mass emails (messaged distributed across large portions or all of SEAS) are an effective tool to disseminate time-sensitive or critical information to faculty, staff, and students. However, overuse of mass email clutters inboxes and diminishes the perceived value of each message. Therefore, SEAS regulates the distribution of mass email within the school to maximize its effectiveness.

Mass emails intended for internal distribution in SEAS must be relevant to most of the SEAS Community and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Shares critical information or announcements (e.g., leadership changes).
• Shares urgent information regarding an emergency (e.g. related to security, safety or health).
• Shares time-sensitive information about an upcoming event or opportunity. 

Additional messages may be shared on behalf of the dean.

All mass emails must be approved by both the Office of Communications and Dean’s Office. To schedule a mass email for review and distribution, contact James Friedman, jf48@buffalo.edu, or the Office of Communications, seascomm@buffalo.edu, at least two business days prior to the desired distribution date (urgent messages regarding an emergency are exempt from this deadline). The Office of Communications will select a distribution date and time as close to the request as possible. Subject priority and scheduling conflicts may impact the distribution date.

Recurring mass emails (e.g. e-newsletters) are prohibited without the written approval of both the Office of Communications and Dean’s Office.

Reminders, or emails intended to redistribute information, are prohibited unless the information is determined to be of critical importance by the Dean’s Office. Approval is required to share a mass email that serves as a reminder. Only one reminder is permitted.

Distribution dates and times are limited to business hours (Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.). Distribution beyond these hours and on weekends and holidays is prohibited (urgent messages regarding an emergency are exempt).

Violation of this policy, including circumvention of the approval process, will result in a temporary ban on sending mass emails. The first violation will result in a warning.

When possible, target messages to as specific an audience as possible (e.g. sharing an email with two departments rather than all of SEAS). Departments and administrative offices may distribute email within their respective units at their discretion. Individual distribution of the same message to most departments, offices, and/or people within SEAS is circumvention of the approval process and is considered a violation of this policy.

Before requesting a mass email, consider alternative methods of communication. Additional communication channels include:

Consult the Office of Communications, seascomm@buffalo.edu, to determine the appropriate channels to distribute your message.

The email messages that you send from your buffalo.edu account come from you, but they also represent the University at Buffalo. As part of the university's identity strategy, a consistent and cohesive approach to email signatures is essential to projecting our institutional excellence. To help maintain consistency and professionalism in the email signatures used by faculty and staff, please adhere to the best practices and standards on our Identity and Brand page.