Owner: Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Author: Information Technologies Department, servicedesk@css.edu
Effective Date: Unknown
Revised: 7/03/2024
Next Review Date: TBD
Applicable laws, regulations, compliance:
I. Purpose
Departmental accounts are accounts designed to act as a shared Google Workspace account for a Department or other group. Departmental accounts can host YouTube, Gmail, and Calendars for your department/area. Departmental accounts eliminate the need for password sharing among individuals; our Acceptable Use Policy strictly prohibits password sharing and account sharing.
Acceptable Use
Review the College’s Acceptable Use and Email Policies on my.CSS. All faculty and staff are expected to have read and complied with the policies.
Departmental Email Use Cases
Some departments may need a departmental email address to:
- Send emails on behalf of a department rather than an individual
- Distribute management of high-volume email correspondence among multiple individuals
For security purposes, departments must provide justification when requesting a departmental account. All requests will be reviewed and acted upon by IT Security.
Shared Account Maintenance
Shared accounts will have a password expiration of one year. Account managers can submit a password reset request to IT (servicedesk@css.edu). Accounts will have six months after the password has expired before the account is deactivated. One year after the password has expired, the account will be purged; no recovery options will be available.
Affiliate Accounts
Affiliate accounts—also known as vendor or contractor accounts—should be disabled when not in use. For example, if a vendor uses an account to access a system to provide support, the account should be disabled by default and only enabled when the vendor needs to carry out support services. A new password must be provided for each login.
Vendor accounts, like all accounts, should only have the least level of access necessary to complete the specific tasks associated with its use.
Contact Human Resources to request an affiliate account at hr@css.edu.
Internal Communications
The College of St. Scholastica seeks to optimize all forms of College communication.
The primary purpose of the College's email system is for correspondence relating to the mission of the College. Email is a resource provided to the College Community to enhance performance and productivity. The College Community recognizes that the College owns the hardware, software, and any network resources related to the email system, including all email correspondence.
Appropriate Use of Mass Communication
Use the College’s Web Content Guidelines to decide which official communication method fits your needs.
The Faculty/Staff Community and Student Community Google Groups are used for non-emergency communications, such as events or announcements.
- To send an email to a select group, such as students, faculty, and/or staff, select Targeted Announcement; this will be posted on my.CSS.
- To submit your announcement or event details, use the Community option on our internal communication submission page. The Community option will submit an email to our Faculty/Staff Community and/or Student Community Google group(s).
Review our internal communication submission page and determine the best way to promote an event, news, or announcements.
Official Messaging
The following Google Groups are for emergency communications; only authorized senders may submit to them:
- faculty@css.edu
- staff@css.edu
- students@css.edu
Examples of official College emails may include:
- Messages from the president or provost
- Messages regarding benefits, employment, or policies
- Alerts and critical information relating to safety, health, or welfare
Use of a Shared Drive
Use Shared Drives for content intended for institution-wide or team use, such as College business-related content, project plans, research results, or team meeting notes. Keep personal and private files, such as one-on-one meeting notes, performance assessments, and career development plans, in My Drive.
Read more about sharing Google Drive content across your department or area on my.CSS.
Use a Shared Google Calendar
Shared Google Calendars are created for groups to share information such as ongoing departmental events, sharing group availability, and more. To request a Shared Calendar, please email our Service Desk (servicedesk@css.edu) and provide the Calendar name and departmental owner. Shared departmental Calendars should be owned by a departmental email account.
Shared Email Account Requests
Faculty and Staff of the College can request a shared account by contacting our IT Service Desk (servicedesk@css.edu). Provide the business need(s) for the account, its intended use, and the names of at least two managers on the account. Shared accounts are Gmail-only accounts; please review the Shared Drive portion of this policy for information regarding Google Drive.