9 - 02.2

Administrative policy regarding electronic communications for students

  1. Introduction. Kent state university is committed to using the most advanced technology available to communicate with students and recognizes an expanding reliance on electronic communication among students, faculty, staff, and the administration due to the convenience, speed, cost-effectiveness, and environmental advantages of using electronic communication. Therefore, the electronic communications student policy will provide procedures and regulations to govern the use of electronic communications between the university and the students. Electronic communications may include, but are not limited to, electronic mail, electronic bulletin boards, and information portals. Please refer to rule 3342-9-02 (Kent state university responsible use of information technology policy) and rule 3342-9-02.1 (administrative policy on responsible use of information technology) of the Administrative Code, for additional information and guidelines regarding electronic communication.
  2. Procedural standards.
    1. University use of electronic mail. A university-assigned student email account shall be an official university means of communication with all students at Kent state university. Students are responsible for all information sent to them via their university assigned email account. If a student chooses to forward their university email account, he or she is responsible for all information, including attachments, sent to any other email account.
    2. Assignment of student email accounts. New students will be assigned an email account when they participate in the "PASS" program for new freshmen or register for classes. Once an email account is established, the address will be added to web for students at wfs.kent.edu and the student on-line directory at kent.edu/phonedirectory.
    3. Expectations regarding student use of university electronic communications, which include, but are not limited to, email and information portals. To stay current with university information, students are expected to check their official university email account and other electronic communications on a frequent and consistent basis. Recognizing that some communications may be time-critical, the university recommends that electronic communications be checked minimally twice a week.
    4. Maintenance of student email accounts. Kent state university will maintain a students' email account for the life of the student to facilitate communication as an alumnus, or until such time that a former student requests that the account be closed.
    5. Mass and targeted electronic communication. The distribution of mass communication to all students or targeted communication to a specific subset of students shall be restricted to Kent state university departments for university business. External requests will not be honored.
    6. Educational uses of email. Faculty may determine how email and other electronic communications will be used in their classes and it is recommended that faculty expectations of all electronic communication requirements be specified in their course syllabus. Faculty should expect that students are accessing official electronic communications and should use such communications for their courses accordingly.
  3. Guidelines for implementation. The vice president for enrollment management and student affairs and the vice president for information services shall establish guidelines for the implementation of this policy.
Policy Effective Date:
Dec 01, 2020
Policy Prior Effective Dates: 
12/30/2005, 9/19/2005, 6/1/2007, 3/1/2015