All active faculty and staff are subscribed to the Appalachian Announcements group. The membership is refreshed every evening.
Any member can post relevant messages including:
- Campus news
- Professional development workshops
- Retirement announcements
Messages will be moderated. Please see below for Message Guidelines.
Students do not receive these messages. Engage, managed by Student Affairs, can be used to share news and events with students. Students, faculty and staff can log-in to Engage to view news and events. Visibility of news and events can be set to the public, members of the institution, or members of organizations within Engage; however, posting permissions are limited. Visit Engage Support for more information.
Note: Emergency messages are not sent via the Appalachian Announcements group. These messages will continue to be sent through existing campus channels.
Moderation Schedule and Message Delivery
The Announce digest is sent weekly on Tuesdays. Messages posted by 8 a.m. each Tuesday will be moderated for the weekly digest email. Messages will not be moderated during university closures or on holidays.
Remember, you can read recent messages at any time - no need to wait for the weekly digest.
How to Post a Message for Moderation
Option 1 - From your email account: Send an email to announce@appstate.edu.
Option 2 - From the Announce website: Select “Post a message” and you will be taken to the message archive screen. Select “New conversation” to compose your message and “Post message” when ready to send for moderation.
Option 3 - From My Groups: Select “Announce” and you will be taken to the message archive screen. Select “New conversation” to compose your message and “Post message” when ready to send for moderation.
When you post a message for moderation, you will receive an auto-reply stating that your message is in the moderation queue.
Message Guidelines
Appalachian Announcements is a moderated service to share relevant messages with faculty and staff. All advertised events must be held in accordance with relevant university policies and procedures.
The digest includes subject lines, with a link to the full message, and these are topically sorted into categories (upcoming events, announcements, meetings, and workshops).
Best Practices
- Write an interesting, informative, concise, and unique subject line. Only the subject line is included in the digest; therefore, it should be descriptive and engaging. Note: Messages with the same subject line are stacked by Google even if the sender is different.
- Keep it short! Appalachian Announcements messages should not be the sole source of information about news or events. Include the critical information only and link to a page and/or news or event post on your website for more information.
- Make it accessible. Images and graphics must be accompanied by descriptive text (messages containing only images will be rejected).
- Check for errors. Review your message carefully for spelling and grammatical errors and check all links.
This service adheres to our Acceptable Use of Computers and Data Communications Policy. Do not send messages related to unauthorized business usage, political campaigns or personal advertising.
Please note that moderators can only approve or reject messages. They cannot edit or resubmit messages; therefore, be sure to thoroughly proofread your message and check all links before submitting.
Reasons for “Rejection”
- Significant spelling and grammatical errors. Note: Messages are not closely proofread by moderators, so be sure you have thoroughly proofread your message before submitting.
- The subject line is not descriptive.
- The message is a duplicate message.
- The message is a reply - please reply only to the sender of the original message.
- The message is intended for students. Note: If your intention is for faculty and staff to share the message with students, please include this statement or something similar: Please share this message with your students.
- The message is promoting an event that has passed.
- The message contains only an image or images with no descriptive text.
- The message is not related to university business or activities.
- The message relates to unauthorized business usage, political campaigns or personal advertising.
What happens if your message is “rejected?”
You will receive a reply notification that your message has been “rejected” and a reminder of common reasons. Please correct the message and resend for moderation.
How can I see my original message: If you sent the message via your email account, a copy should be in your sent folder. If you posted via the Announce website, it is recommended that you save a copy of your message elsewhere as a reference.
Moderators can only “approve” or “reject” submitted messages: They do not have the ability to edit or resubmit messages. If approved messages contain errors and/or incorrect information, moderators can delete messages once posted; however, moderators cannot guarantee that these messages have not already been viewed by group members.
Appalachian Announcements Questions and/or Assistance
Contact ucomm@appstate.edu with questions, for assistance, or to request deletion of a posted message.
Google Groups Information
Updated 07/09/21