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Electronic Communication Policy
Educational uses of electronic communications
Questions Relating to This Policy
The Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) has invested in its technology infrastructure to enhance teaching and learning and to enable efficient business practices. All CCRI students, faculty, and staff have access to email as a communication tool and the Pipeline portal for current news, events, and personalized messages. CCRI is committed to the use of college wide electronic communication to enhance interpersonal communications, improve information exchange, and to reduce the use of paper and printed materials.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to identify electronic communication as an official means of communication within CCRI and to define the responsibilities of CCRI students, faculty and staff related to electronic communications. This policy is supplemented by all other college policies, particularly the Policy on the Responsible Use of Information Technology.
Audience and Understanding
This policy applies to all students, faculty, and staff of the Community College of Rhode Island. These users are responsible for reading, understanding, and complying with this policy.
Policy
CCRI provides access to email and the Pipeline portal for all students, faculty and staff. Email is an official method of communication at CCRI. Students, faculty and staff are responsible for the consequences of not reading college related communications sent to their official CCRI email address (username@ccri.edu). CCRI will also utilize the Pipeline portal to post role specific messages (e.g. a notification to all faculty) and college related announcements.
Assignment of email addresses
Students are assigned a Pipeline username and password upon acceptance to a program or at the time of their first registration for a CCRI course. Faculty and staff are assigned a Pipeline username and password after they have been hired by CCRI and added to the Human Resource System. Access to email is provided through the Pipeline portal. The official CCRI email address is username@ccri.edu.
Educational uses of electronic communications
Faculty members may require the use of email, Pipeline course tools, or other forms of electronic communication for course content delivery, class discussion, or synchronous chat. It is recommended that faculty specify these requirements in their course syllabus. Faculty may expect that students access Pipeline and read notices sent to their official CCRI email address.
Email forwarding
Students, faculty and staff who forward their official CCRI email to another email address (e.g. username@aol.com) do so at their own risk. CCRI cannot ensure the delivery of its official communications by external service providers. Forwarding email does not relieve the receiver from the responsibilities associated with electronic communications sent to the official CCRI address.
Responsible use of email
All use of email will be consistent with other CCRI policies and local, state and federal law, including the CCRI Policy on the Responsible Use of Information Technology.
Questions Relating to This Policy
Questions regarding this policy or the application of this policy to a specific situation should be referred to the Director of Information Technology. Changes to this policy will be authorized by the approval of the CCRI Institutional Technology Advisory Committee and the President’s Council.
