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Campus Computing NewsA New Look for Bulk MailBy Dr. Philip Baczewski, Director of Academic Computing and User Services
Bulk Mail sports a new look for the start of this summer. What will be obvious to Bulk Mail users is the new header, which takes advantage of the University's new branding. What is less obvious are some of the structural changes underlying this new version, many of which are made to closely match the new way information is defined in the new EIS system. About Bulk MailThe Bulk Mail System allows designated individuals to send bulk e-mail to students at UNT. It is designed to better facilitate the distribution of important information to UNT students. Authorized individuals authenticate to the system using their EUID and password. Messages are composed and then sent to students based on course (e.g. BIOL 1001) or based on College, Department, Major and/or classification (e.g. all freshman history majors). All professors are automatically set up to send Bulk Mail to students in their classes. Attention ProfessorsProfessors will notice additional information when viewing the course selection screen. As seen below, outlined by a red box, in addition to the term code, there is now a session code in parentheses.
This session code indicates one of the various sessions which are now defined within the summer term. Within the Summer 2005 term, defined by EIS code 1053, you may see one of the following sessions:
Sessions "5W1" and "5W2" are what we have traditionally known as the Summer I and Summer II terms. Administrators Take NoteChanges will be seen in the administrative selection menu as well. Vice Presidents, Deans, Department Chairs, and others are able to address e-mail to students based on their classification or their major. The hierarchy of majors on the right side of the administrative selection menu now reflects the hierarchy in EIS. As the following example illustrates, some majors (academic plans in EIS terms) now fall directly under the level of the College. Bulk Mail now provides a grouping of these under a heading identical to the College name.
Rights to this selection menu are manually maintained based upon best available information as well as administrator requests. Attempts were made to preserve the existing access during the transition to the new system, however, if you are an administrative user who cannot gain access to a selection you previously could make, please send e-mail to Dr. Philip Baczewski, Director of Academic Computing and User Services, and the access will be restored. Look and FeelIn addition to the changes outlined above, attempts have been made to provide a more consistent interface in the Bulk Mail application. This includes the addition of more informative messages at certain points, as well as "Close This Window" buttons to dismiss windows such as the confirmation message once they are no longer needed. Bulk Mail will now also check for an expired EUID password and notify you if that condition exists. If you experience any problems with Bulk Mail, please report them to the CITC Helpdesk (helpdesk@unt.edu). Also, your suggestions for Bulk Mail are always welcome. Please send them to Dr. Philip Baczewski, Director of Academic Computing and User Services.
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