History of the Automatic Class Email Alias Project

Last Update: 02/21/02

The project for Automatic Generation of Class Email Aliases was conceived in response to many requests from faculty that ITS automate the creation of class email aliases.

User Focus Group

To help specify user requirements, two user focus group meetings were held Spring Quarter 2000. The first was an open discussion to gather advice; the second was a review of specifications. Participants in the user focus group included faculty, instructional support staff, and college support staff.

Constraints

Given constraints were

create aliases that would be automatically maintained
use existing tools
have aliases in place by Fall Quarter

Recommendations

The focus group meetings helped specify issues such as

the frequency of automatic updates (every weekday)
whether to include faculty addresses in the class alias (yes)
how to add addresses to the automated alias (by editing "include" files in the department account)
the need for training and documentation (these Web pages and classes held quarterly)
the ability to view alias contents (in progress; planned for Winter Quarter 2001)
how long to keep alias files (four quarters, subject to disk space limitations and usage review)
where to send error reports of bad addresses (to the alias owner, i.e. faculty assigned)

Email Address Coordination Project

Up until March 2002, student email addresses were not necessarily consistent between the ITS Directory Server and SIS, the Student Information System. As of March 2002, both systems will use username@calpoly.edu.

ITS Directory Server addresses (username@calpoly.edu) are used for class aliases. In general, username@calpoly.edu points to a student’s OpenMail address. If students want to receive mail elsewhere, they should use the Personal Information Channel at http://my.calpoly.edu/ to reset their Email Delivery Address. They should also redirect mail from their Cal Poly email account (see instructions at http://email.calpoly.edu/webfrwrd.html ).