Policies and Protocols

Version 1, June 2020

Blueboard is an internal mailing list for Ateneo de Manila University employees and affiliates. The mailing list is used for dissemination of important, mission-critical information relevant to Ateneo de Manila’s employees and affiliates.

The first Blueboard mailing list was set up in the late 1990s, and was handled by the Campus Facilities Management Office (CFMO) until April 2020. Management of the mailing list is now being handled by the University Marketing and Communications Office (UMCO), with technical support by the Information Technology Resource Management Office (ITRMO).

This document contains the policies and protocols for the use of this internal mailing list.

I. Inclusion in the Mailing List

Only employees and affiliates of Ateneo de Manila University, as well as ADMU affiliated institutions and offices and their personnel (Jesuit community; affiliates; institutions, offices and concessionaires within ADMU campuses) can be included in the list.

As a matter of policy, all @ateneo.edu email addresses automatically receive messages sent to blueboard@ateneo.edu. There is no way to opt out of Blueboard, or change your message settings (e.g. daily digests) if you have an @ateneo.edu address.

Those without @ateneo.edu email addresses may request for inclusion in the mailing list by filling out this registration form: http://bit.ly/ADMUblueboardsignup. All requests for inclusion are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Membership is subject to approval by UMCO; the office reserves the right to approve or disapprove any membership request.

• Employees must use their official @ateneo.edu email addresses to receive messages. If you do not have one, or have difficulty accessing your account, please contact ITRMO for assistance.
• We highly encourage affiliates to use their @affiliate.ateneo.edu email to facilitate approval. Qualified offices or individuals can request for one from ITRMO. If an affiliate uses a free email account (ex GMail or Yahoo!) when requesting to join the list, provide details of affiliation to facilitate approval.
• Membership requests from Ateneo students and alumni (individuals and groups) will be rejected. This covers requests using @obf.ateneo.edu addresses. Currently enrolled students are sent relevant announcements through their OBF email accounts, while alumni should request to join the official alumni mailing list (http://ateneo.edu/alumni).
• Membership requests from non-Ateneo individuals or groups will be rejected. Public announcements are made through the University’s official website and social media channels.

II Messages

Allowed Messages

Only messages concerning employees and affiliates are allowed on Blueboard. These include official memoranda; event announcements; employee engagement content; and other information relevant to Ateneo employees and affiliates.

UMCO reserves the right to reject messages that are not relevant to Blueboard members, have extraneous messages, or which do not meet Blueboard standards, in terms of content, writing, and format. UMCO, on a case-by-case basis, may ask senders to resend their messages to comply with Blueboard standards.

Sending Messages

Allowed Senders

All members of Blueboard can send messages to the mailing list. Messages go through moderation by UMCO, except for messages sent from whitelisted email addresses.

• Unmoderated: Messages from whitelisted email addresses are automatically sent to Blueboard members.
  • Whitelisted emails include office emails assigned to Associate Dean/Assistant Principal/Asst. to the Headmaster level up, sent using addresses assigned to the office (ex president@ateneo.edu). UMCO will curate the list.
  • Office email addresses of other offices and departments can also be whitelisted upon request, and on a case-by-case basis. Contact UMCO for assistance.
• Moderated: All other emails sent to Blueboard. These include messages from whitelisted offices, but are sent using staff members’ email addresses.

How to Send Messages

To send messages to Blueboard, members simply email announcements or memos to blueboard@ateneo.edu. Send your email as you would like it to appear in other Blueboard members’ inboxes. Do not include extraneous text, such as “Please post” or other similar messages; these messages will be rejected.

• File attachments. Keep file attachments at a manageable size (below 10MB is good; smaller file sizes are better).
  If you need to send large files, upload it first to a publicly accessible site (ex. at ateneo.edu or a public Google Drive folder) and attach a link to it in the email message.
  Avoid image attachments and PDF files of promotional materials.
• Inline images. Inline images should be between 480-720 pixels wide, as these appear best in browsers. Ensure that information in the image is legible.
  Always accompany images with text. By default, GMail does not display inline images. For accessibility and to reduce inbox bloat, do not depend on images to communicate essential information.
  • Image posters or graphics should always be accompanied by a text version.
  • Links should be placed in the text, not in the graphic.
  • Do not simply repost social media graphics on Blueboard.
  • As a security precaution, do not attach any file or image that contains a signature.
• Message formats. Messages can be sent as plain text or formatted HTML. However, keep formatting of text-only messages (ex. using fancy fonts) at a minimum.
  • Memoranda and official communications should always be inline text.

Message Moderation

Moderation of messages is done during office hours: Mondays to Fridays, 8am to 6pm, and Saturdays, 8am to 12nn, excluding public and University holidays and days with declared work suspensions. Messages sent beyond those hours will be approved the following working day.

Blueboard administrators need time to evaluate and approve posts, and may time approval of messages to manage the volume of communication.

Urgent announcements that affect University operations (ex. security alerts or class/work suspension), as well as official memos from Central Administration offices/VPs/school heads are approved immediately.

Blueboard General Guidelines

• Post only important information to Blueboard. Blueboard is for disseminating official announcements, mission-critical information, invitations about major University-wide events, and other content relevant to all employees and affiliates.
• Blueboard is not intended for commercials. Event and product announcements are appropriate only if they are valuable, mission-critical and relevant to employees and affiliates. For all other announcements, we encourage you to use other channels, such as the website and social media.
• Send messages to Blueboard sparingly. If you find yourself posting on Blueboard more than once a week, assess whether the information is critical, and if Blueboard is the best channel for it. We recommend that at most, you post a weekly overview of your content, linked to more appropriate channels. Help keep our colleagues’ inboxes clutter free.
• Ensure that messages sent to Blueboard are well-written, concise, and accurate. Make sure your post has all the important details, including contact information, links, and attachments, if any. Double-check grammar and spelling before clicking send.
• Use official email for official announcements. Use email addresses assigned to offices (ex. mktgcomm@ateneo.edu) to send official announcements, such as memoranda.
• Multiple messages.
  • For multiple messages coming from the same sender, with the same content, one of two things could happen:
    • If the message isn’t approved yet, only the most recent version sent to Blueboard will be approved; or
    • If a message with the same content has been previously approved for posting in the past 72 hours, the most recent message won’t be approved anymore.
  • For messages containing exactly the same content, but sent by two or more different offices (ex. Invitation for an event with two offices sponsoring), only one will be approved.
• Resending messages to update/correct previous messages:
  • Resend messages only if there are major changes or errors in the earlier email.  Do not resend messages to rectify minor errors such as typos.
  • If your message is still in the moderation queue, and you need to resend your message (ex. it has a major error), simply resend the message again, using the same subject line. Do not add extraneous messages such as "Erratum" or “Resending” in the subject line. The most recent version will be sent.
• Send replies only to the original sender. If you are replying, send your reply only to the sender of the email, and avoid using “Reply to All.” If you need to send a reply addressed to everyone, kindly send it as a separate email to Blueboard for moderation.
• Be careful in forwarding official communications sent via Blueboard. Do not forward or screenshot messages meant only for limited audiences. Data privacy rules apply.
• The usual email etiquette rules apply. For example, avoid sending the same message over and over again; be mindful of the content you send; and avoid “shouting” (ex using all caps) in your message.

If you have inquiries or clarifications about posting certain messages, please send an email to mktgcomm+blueboard@ateneo.edu.

Other Blueboard Matters

Blueboard platform: Google Groups

Since 15 April 2020, Blueboard has been using the Google Groups platform. Google Groups allows easier moderation and archiving of messages. To access the Google Groups page of Blueboard, visit groups.google.com/a/ateneo.edu/d/forum/blueboard.

What happened to the old Blueboard? The old Blueboard system has been retired. Messages sent to blueboard@lists.ateneo.edu will no longer be distributed.

For more information

For any Blueboard-related concern, email the University Marketing & Communications Office (UMCO) at mktgcomm+blueboard@ateneo.edu.

Information in this FAQ is accurate as of 15 June 2020.