Tufts~Student Services ~Tech Team

Web and Mass Email

It is important to recognize that the web is the primary communication channel for the students we serve. The combination of web and email, used properly and responsibly, are efficient and effective tools for conveying information. However, due to the immediate nature of the medium, when used improperly, they can be a nuisance and an embarrassment.

You Own It

The most common misconception is that we, the Tech Team, own websites and are responsible for "e-communications." When it comes to the web and email, we are responsible for the mechanics of their delivery, but you are responsible for the content. We do not read or edit content unless we are asked to do so. We rarely compose content or proofread. You would not want us to.

A Student Services Web Committee will be working as team to ensure a coordinated web presence and that we are using the web as effectively as possible.

Creating Websites

We are happy to get you going and assist you in creating a website. We realize that most people have never created a website before, and we are here to guide you through the process. We do the technical parts, but you will have a very important and active role in creating your website. In a sense, we create the framework and provide guidance with regard to what we believe is the most effective use of the web in the long run. You provide the information which includes all of the content, link to resources, and menus.

The best way we can start a dialogue is for you to find a few websites that you like and think are effective. We will not steal their websites, but they can serve as a reference point as we design your website. We will provide guidance in terms of web conventions and usability. The bottom line is you want users to get the information they want as easily as possible. The challenge is that every user is different.

The second thing to do is to start outlining and cataloging the information you want to provide. This will eventually become the basis of the "left menu" and a laundry list of content that needs be created. Then comes the arduous work of compiling and writing the content. This can be time consuming and is your responsibility. Before we get too deep into the technical aspects of a web project, we will need to have the finalized content and outline in hand. We can help if you want to use photographs and graphics later in the project.

Website Maintenance

Creating a website can be a lot of work, but that is just the beginning. A website is only as useful as the content is current. Web pages will quickly become out of date so it is critical that you stay on top of your web content and ensure it is always up to date. You are responsible for monitoring content and identifying items that need updating. Depending on our arrangement you are responsible for updating the content directly or providing us with up to date content.

Generally, most folks maintain their own website using FrontPage. It is much easier than you would think. If you can use Word or Outlook, you can maintain a website. In the design phase, we will build the site with the intention that you will directly edit the content. We will also provide some standards to adhere to and identify some things to avoid.

We will give you some basic training with FrontPage, but you will need to practice and seek out resources to become nimble with web pages. There are a lot of good books and websites that can help you keep up to date.

Mass Email

Email is a very inexpensive and fast way to communicate. Anytime you think about doing a "mailing," we encourage you to think about mass email instead. We send mass emails by request in conjunction with Administrative Support. We can send "plain text" email easily or, for more high profile efforts, produce "html" email.

The danger with email is that if you send too many messages too frequently, your target audience will become distrustful of you and ignore future messages; they will begin to see your messages as SPAM. So finding the right balance is critical. We would rarely suggest more than two emails for any particular event or initiative; one invitation and one reminder.

We can offer some other suggestions:

Be brief! The truth is that almost no one reads anymore; they scan, so get to the point.
When communicating with outside audiences do not assume they know internal vernacular or acronyms (such as TCCS, The Hill, Inquiry, SIS, etc.).
Target your audience. In many cases, we can narrow the audience using the data we have available. For instance, we can send a message to students living on campus instead of all students.
Proofread carefully. We do not read your messages, so please submit your complete request with the finalized text. We can check URLs and provide other technical review, but you must ask us to do so.

A mass email request can be made with our Production Request System.