Policy for the MySimmons Portal

This policy describes the terms of use and expectation for all users of the MySimmons Portal. Users of the MySimmons Portal are also subject to other applicable College policies.

The MySimmons Portal is intended to help users manage and control the communication of information in the Simmons College community. Although the official means of communication for the Simmons College community is via email, the MySimmons Portal augments this official means by enabling users to post and manage announcements, notices of events, and blog entries, and to create and interact with online groups.

Simmons College Community

Users for the portal are the Simmons College community, which comprises faculty, staff, students, alumnae/i, and other individuals who use computer and network facilities as guests of the College. All eligible persons are bound by this policy as a condition of using the MySimmons Portal.

Event Notices and Announcements

Event notices and announcements are ways to communicate to selected audiences. These notices and announcements can be standard or non-critical, or they can be critical.

There are three major types of users:

  • Authors, who create event notices and annoucements
  • Moderators, who decide whether event notices and annoucements meet the criteria of use
  • Recipients, who see the notices and are either self-selected or designated by an author

Recommended Practices for Authors

In general, an author should comply with the following practices:

  • Although an author can edit the notice before and after it is distributed, the author should only edit it after it is distributed to change important information, such as the date or location for an event or the required texts for an announcement of a training class.
  • An author should designate notices as critical very rarely. The author should use critical notices only for legal, policy, public safety, or emergency issues.
  • An author should refrain from sending corresponding announcements along with event notices. The author can create a notice of an event, but should not create a corresponding announcement. There is no need to potentially annoy recipients by sending multiple communications. Fewer are better.
  • If an author thinks a notice is confidential, the author should so state in the notice and ask the recipient to respect that confidentiality.

Judging Criteria for Moderators

A moderator should ensure that announcements and notices of events are:

  • Written in appropriate language.
  • Correctly designated as non-critical or critical.
  • Directed to the appropriate audience.
  • Designated with the appropriate privacy setting. Note that the default setting is public access; any person in the Simmons College community can access a notice.

Guidelines for Recipients

Recipients should do the following:

  • Be mindful of the intended audience for a notice.
  • Respect the confidentiality of the author.

Blogs

When creating a blog entry:

  • The user should ensure that the content meets the standards for acceptable use and does not violate applicable College policies.
  • The user should be aware that Simmons College assumes no responsibility for, nor does it endorse the contents of any personal/individual World Wide Web page. If the user has any questions about blog content, contact Technology at Simmons College at 617-521-2222 or via electronic mail at helpdesk@simmons.edu.

Groups

When creating a name for a group, the user should not use names that resemble names of official groups (as designated by brackets [ ]).

  • The user can create only unofficial groups. Content posted can be private, that is, access is limited to group members, or public. The default is private.
  • If there is no activity in non-official or official groups for six months, a group is subject to deletion.