Email groups

Centrally-managed email groups and corresponding email addresses are available to facilitate campus communication. Some addresses can be used by any member of the campus community, while others require permission to use.

What are email groups?

The term group is used in several different ways in our campus technology ecosystem. A group is a collection of members (e.g., individuals) created to save time and effort. An email distribution list, also called a contact group in Outlook, is a good example of one type of group. WSU Information Technology Services (ITS) maintains hundreds of groups that function similarly. These email groups include the email addresses of all the people in a specific organizational area or category (e.g., college, program, department, major) and are updated automatically and regularly using campus data. They differ from Outlook contact groups in that they are managed centrally and each group has its own email address (e.g., allemployees@winona.edu). Some of these email groups are visible in the Outlook global address list and some are hidden. Some can be used by everyone, some can only be used by members of the group, and others are restricted and require special permission to use.

Email groups in the global address list

Not all email groups are visible in the Outlook global address list. To access the centrally-managed email groups that are visible to you, follow the steps below:

1. Select the To, Cc, or Bcc button to the left of the corresponding field in an email message (Fig 1) to open the Select Names: Global Address List window
2. Scroll down the list and select Winona State U - Distribution Lists to display email groups only
3. Double-click the desired email group or click it once and select the To, Cc, or Bcc button to add it to that field
4. Select OK to return to your email message

Popular email groups

Undergraduate majors and minors

• Email groups are maintained for all WSU undergraduate majors and minors listed in ISRS. These groups are updated at 6:00 pm Monday through Friday.
• The email address format for these groups is: major-[Code]@winona.edu (e.g., major-chem@winona.edu).
• Because there are so many of them, these email groups are not visible in the Outlook global address list and must be added to the address field of an email message manually.
• Access to these groups is restricted. Contact the Technical Support Center (TechSupport@winona.edu, 507-457-5240, Somsen Hall 207) to request permission to use a specific email group. Once permitted, you can continue to use it as needed.

All employees

• Use allemployees@winona.edu to send a message to all current WSU employees. The name of this email group is WSU-Campus-Employees.
• All members (i.e., current employees) can use this email group without permission.
• This email group is not listed in the Outlook global address list.

All faculty

• There are two email groups that can be used to send messages to WSU faculty.
• Use allfaculty@winona.edu to send a message to any WSU employee with any type of faculty designation. This includes adjunct and fixed-term instructors as well as all members of the MSUAASF bargaining unit. The name of this email group is WSU-Campus-Faculty. This email group is not listed in the Outlook global address list.
• Use ifo@winona.edu to send a message to any WSU employee in the IFO bargaining unit. The name of this email group is WSU-IFO and it is listed in the Outlook global address list.

Colleges

• Email groups are maintained for all five academic colleges that include all current employees associated with that college.
• The email addresses are college_business@winona.edu, college_education@winona.edu, college_liberal_arts@winona.edu, college_nursing_health_sciences@winona.edu, and college_science_engineering@winona.edu.
• These email groups are listed in the Outlook global address list and are named WSU-College Business, WSU-College Education, WSU-College Liberal Arts, WSU-College Nursing Health Sciences, and WSU-College Science Engineering.
• All current employees can use these email groups without permission.

Tips for using email groups

Use the BCC field

When sending an email message to an email group, place the group's email address in the blind carbon copy (BCC) field. This will prevent a reply from being sent to everyone in the group if someone selects Reply All inadvertently.

Think twice before sending

We all receive many internal email messages each day and we need to work together to ensure that this remains an effective communication channel. Before you hit send on a message to a large email group, take a moment to review it. Is your message important, clear, and concise? Are you sending it to the right group? Are you using the Bcc field?

Send to multiple groups

Just as you would send a message to multiple individuals, you can send a message to multiple groups by including more than one group email address in the address field.

Can't edit groups

You cannot edit email groups. If you notice a problem with a particular group, contact the Technical Support Center (TechSupport@winona.edu, 507-457-5240, Somsen Hall 207).

Use Outlook contact groups

ITS will not create email groups for small, temporary, and/or personal groups that you could manage yourself in Outlook using the contact groups feature. If you have questions about using contact groups, contact TLT (tlt@winona.edu).

Use Teams private groups

When you create a Microsoft Teams site, a private group is created in Outlook that includes all the members of that site. That group has an email address that can be used to send email messages to all members of the site. This is not the same as a centrally-managed email group and is under the control of the Team site's owner.