1. Purpose
Missouri S&T provides a centrally licensed mass email platform to support departments in communicating with students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and other audiences. This policy establishes standards for the responsible, effective, and compliant use of that platform.
2. Platform
The university's mass email platform is Emma. Any department may purchase an Emma account under the university's license for $175 per year, payable by MoCode. Accounts are operated by the purchasing department and send from that department's email address.
3. Email Authors
3.1 Eligibility and Responsibility
At least one email author on each Emma account must be a current university employee. Student workers may assist as secondary authors but may not serve as the primary author. A department may designate someone outside the department as an author provided that person is a university employee. Email authors may be designated on multiple accounts.
The department is ultimately responsible for all communications sent from its Emma account regardless of who operates it.
3.2 Training and Access
Access to Emma requires completion of a mandatory training course. The process is as follows:
- A department manager submits an Emma Training Request specifying the intended author.
- The author completes the training course.
- Upon completion, the author submits an Emma Access Request form.
- Web Strategy verifies completion and provisions the account.
Turnaround times for each form are specified on the forms themselves. Both forms are available at webstrategy.mst.edu.
4. Templates
Emma accounts are provided with a selection of university-branded templates. Departments must use these templates and may not design their own. If an existing template does not meet a department's needs, they may submit an Emma Template Request through webstrategy.mst.edu.
5. Audience Lists
5.1 Internal Audiences
Each Emma account is pre-loaded with auto-updating lists of internal university audiences relevant to that department or college. These lists update nightly and may be segmented by faculty, staff, students, undergraduates, graduate students, student workers, and graduate assistants.
By default, departments are given access only to their own audiences. An academic department, for example, will have access to its own students; a university-wide advising office will have access to all students. Departments that have a legitimate need to reach audiences beyond their default scope should discuss this with Web Strategy.
5.2 Alumni and Donor Lists
Lists of alumni and donor contacts are available through Advancement Services and Records. Departments may contact Advancement Services directly to request these lists. Any restrictions on their use are determined by Advancement Services.
Alumni and donor lists are provided as single-use lists and will not auto-update. They must be used within three months of acquisition. After three months, lists should be deleted and re-acquired from Advancement Services to ensure accuracy.
5.3 Custom Lists
Departments may maintain their own custom lists of contacts who have opted in to receive communications. Custom lists should be routinely reviewed and updated to avoid bounces. Departments may create sign-up forms within Emma to collect new subscribers.
When importing a custom list of more than 100 addresses, the list must first be submitted to Web Strategy through an Email List Validation Request. Web Strategy will return a cleaned version of the list; only the cleaned version may be uploaded to Emma. Turnaround time is specified on the request form.
Emma accounts with a bounce rate exceeding 2% may be contacted by Web Strategy to address list quality issues.
5.4 Opt-In Requirement
All contacts must have explicitly opted in to receive communications from the sending department. Purchased lists and harvested lists are strictly prohibited. Their use violates Emma's terms of service and university policy.
Sending to addresses that have not explicitly opted in constitutes spam and will not be tolerated regardless of historical practice or the practices of other institutions. Such sends put the university's Emma contract at risk and could result in all of Missouri S&T losing access to the platform.
5.5 Sending on Behalf of Another Department
Parent departments may use their Emma account to send communications on behalf of child departments within their organizational hierarchy — for example, a college sending on behalf of one of its academic departments, or a department sending on behalf of a laboratory it oversees.
Departments exercising this option should be aware that unsubscribes apply to the entire sending account. A recipient who unsubscribes from a communication sent by a parent department on behalf of a child department will be unsubscribed from all future communications from that parent department's account. For this reason, Web Strategy recommends one Emma account per department. Consolidation under a parent account is most appropriate for departments that send only rarely.
6. Sender Information
All campaigns must use accurate and authorized sender information. Sender names and email addresses must reflect the department or individual on whose behalf the communication is being sent. Authors may not send under a name or address they are not authorized to use.
7. Compliance Review
All campaigns are subject to review by the Mass Email Coordinator before sending. Campaigns are reviewed in the order they are received. Allow at least two business days from the time of submission when scheduling a send. A campaign submitted on a Friday may not be sent before the following Tuesday at the earliest.
The compliance review checks for adherence to brand standards, appropriate list selection, and sender information accuracy. The review may also identify accessibility issues and potential data classification concerns. However, the compliance review is not a substitute for author diligence — the author and their department remain responsible for ensuring all campaigns comply with this policy. The Mass Email Coordinator is not infallible, and missing an issue during review does not transfer responsibility away from the author.
8. Accessibility
All emails must meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessibility standards. This includes providing alternative text for images, descriptive link text, and sufficient color contrast. Template accessibility is provided, but content accessibility is the author's responsibility. The compliance review may flag accessibility issues, but authors should not rely on the review as their primary accessibility check.
9. Brand Standards
All emails must comply with university brand guidelines, including writing style. Brand guidelines are available at brand.mst.edu.
10. Data and Privacy
Do not upload, include, or distribute FERPA-protected information in Emma. This includes contact lists and email content. All data used in the mass email system must be Data Classification Level 1 (DCL1). For questions about data classification, see the UM System Data Classification Policy.
11. Account Security
Use of Emma is subject to the UM System Acceptable Use Policy and Missouri S&T's Password Policy. Emma accounts use university Single Sign-On (SSO) and are subject to all applicable IT security policies. Authors are responsible for maintaining the security of their credentials.
12. Unsubscribes
All emails sent through Emma automatically include an unsubscribe option. A recipient who unsubscribes is removed from all future communications sent from that department's Emma account until they choose to opt back in. Unsubscribes apply account-wide — they are not limited to a specific list or campaign.
Note that an unsubscribe from Emma only affects communications sent through the mass email system. Unsubscribed recipients remain reachable by the department through standard university email.
12.1 Legally Mandated Notices
Certain communications are required by law to be sent to all relevant recipients regardless of subscription status — for example, the university's annual drug and alcohol policy notice. These sends are exempt from the standard unsubscribe mechanism. Departments coordinating a legally mandated notice should contact Web Strategy to arrange the send.
13. Account Violations and Enforcement
13.1 Suspension
Accounts found to be in violation of this policy — including but not limited to use of purchased or harvested lists — may be suspended by Web Strategy or by Emma directly. Emma reserves the right to suspend or remove accounts at any time without university involvement.
Upon suspension, Web Strategy will work with the department to review sending practices and ensure policy requirements are understood before the account is reinstated.
13.2 Account Removal
Repeated violations will result in account removal for a period of one year. Reinstatement after removal requires the department to designate a new email author, who must complete the standard training process.
14. Account Cancellation
Departments that wish to cancel their Emma account may do so by contacting Web Strategy. A data export of the account is available on request at the time of cancellation.
15. Getting Help
For help, support resources, and service request forms — including the Emma Training Request, Emma Access Request, Email List Validation Request, and Emma Template Request — visit webstrategy.mst.edu.