What is Listserv? A listserv is an automatic mailing list server, an electronic bulletin board for posting messages. Practically speaking, it is an e-mail-based mailing list for a group of people who share similar interests in this case, a shared interest in the first-year experience and/or other student transition-related issues. When e-mail is addressed to a LISTSERV mailing list, it is automatically broadcast to everyone on the list, giving you a way to have open discussions with dozens or even hundreds of people all through e-mail! Non-commercial Use LISTSERV lists of the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students In Transition are intended for non-commercial use only. Subscribers should, therefore, refrain from posting advertisements of products or services in which they have a direct or indirect financial interest. We invite you to spread the word about your service or product through our conference exhibition and underwriting options. For more information contact Rico R. Reed. Three E-mail Addresses We recommend you make your listserv changes at the listserv web page. Click your list: FYE, FYA, SOPH, SYE, TYE. However, if you prefer to make adjustments via e-mail commands please remember the following: To send a message to our listserv, address it to fye-list@gwm.sc.edu (or tye-list or sye-list or fya-list or soph-list). If you want to log off the listserv or want to send any of the other many commands you can request of the listserv, those commands are sent to a different address: listserv@vm.sc.edu. When you send a command to the listserv address instead of to the commands address, everyone on the list gets the command message, the computer that would perform the function does not. The three E-mail addresses you will be using with our listservs are: LISTSERV ADDRESS listserv@LISTSERV.SC.EDU (or FYA-LIST, TYE-LIST, SYE-LIST, SOPH-LIST) This is THE address to which you "post" your messages to the listserv. All listserv subscribers will get messages posted to this address. COMMAND ADDRESS listserv@LISTSERV.SC.EDU This is the address to which you send commands, such as subscribing to, or unsubscribing from the listserv. STAFF ADDRESS FYE@sc.edu This is the address through which you can communicate with the National Resource Center Staff to ask for help or to ask a question. Messages to List vs. Messages to Individuals Use the listserv to post or respond to messages that have a broad appeal to the other list subscribers. Try to avoid using the list for personal messages; otherwise, everybody on the list will get one more piece of unnecessary mail. The REPLY Button Addresses Your Message to the Entire List To send your message to a specific person, you will need to retype that person's address in the TO field when you reply. Otherwise, your reply intended for specific individuals will, instead, go to the entire list. When you hit the REPLY button, always check the TO field, to make sure your message is going to the right place. Some e-mail softwares have small TO and FROM fields, so you cannot see all the addressees without checking further into the field. While you're at it, check the "CC" and "BC" fields on your reply, to make sure they do not contain wrong information. Spam If you do receive a listserv message that was sent in error or has no meaning for you, or worse, is a junk e-mail (spam) try not to add to the confusion by responding to the message via the listserv. If you respond to junk e-mail asking you be removed from the list, you run a 50/50 chance of only making it worse; In essence your reply verifies for the spammer that there is a real person at this address. "Honorable spammers" will include some text at the bottom of their e-mail telling you how to get off their list. USC article on how to avoid Spam Auto Replies (ex. Out of the Office) When you set your mail server to respond to all e-mails with an automatic reply (ex. "I'm out of the office until . . .") every time an e-mail is sent to you from the listserv, your e-mail account replies to the entire list with your automatic reply. If you set your e-mail account to generate an automatic reply, please remember to first log off or temporarily stop listserv activity to avoid distribution of your auto replies to the entire list. E-mail Etiquette Once you push the SEND button, you can't get it back. Be kind when writing e-mail. People cannot see your facial expressions and something you intended as humorous may not be received in kind. Don't write in all capital letters as it is perceived as "e-mail shouting." Don't send "too many" messages. Participate, but don't overwhelm your collegues with long and/or multiple e-mails.