Policies

College Email Policy

Policy Purpose

This policy sets forth expectations regarding the use of College-issued email accounts and how long email will be retained.

Persons Affected

Faculty, Staff, Related Entities

Policy Statement

All employees receive a College-issued email account to be used principally to conduct College business. Personal email accounts should not be used for College business purposes. College-issued email accounts should not be used for personal use and are subject to the College’s Acceptable Use Policy.

Employees using campus email systems should not have a strong expectation of privacy when using information technology resources. Email accounts could be subject to access by the campus administration for the purposes of discovery proceedings, audit inquiries, freedom of information requests, policy enforcement or other legal actions, and to diagnose and resolve technical problems.

It is the College policy that emails should be read, retained, and promptly deleted once their usefulness has ended. Email remaining in the “Deleted Items” folder in Outlook for 30 days will be purged automatically from the deleted items folder. Email messages purged from the deleted items folder will be retained on FSC’s email server for an additional 30 days. After that, purged emails will be expunged automatically from the system. Account holders may immediately purge emails in the deleted folder by emptying the folder. Deleting emails reduces the amount of bleachable data and information that can be retrieved and the costs and risks associated with storing email longer than necessary.

Most emails are not official records as original documents are typically created and stored in another format. Emails that are official records should be maintained in accordance with the applicable records retention schedules and policies according to the subject matter. To determine whether or not an email is an official record and what schedules and policies govern them, visit www.farmingdale.edu/records.

When litigation against the College or its employees is pending or reasonably expected, employees may receive a litigation hold notice from the Legal Department instructing the preservation all documents and records relevant to the matter being litigated. No employee who has received a litigation hold notice may alter or delete an electronic record, including emails, that fall within the scope of that notice. For more information regarding litigation holds visit the Litigation Hold FAQs web page.

Information Technology employs several security technologies and other controls to maintain an efficient, secure email system that meets or exceeds the IT needs of the campus. For security purposes, transmission of suspicious emails may be intercepted and not delivered to end users. If an end user believes a specific email was intercepted in error, they should submit an IT HelpDesk ticket for its release. Information Technology has created an Email Management web page, which provides resources and tools for appropriately storing, maintaining, and disposing of email messages in Microsoft Outlook.

Definitions

Record - information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person, which must be maintained to meet the fiscal, legal, historical, or administrative needs of the organization. Records are defined by content rather than by format and can be hard copies, electronic (including web pages), emails, tapes, maps, photographs, or any other format from which information can be retrieved.

Records include but are not limited to official College publications, fiscal data, official correspondence (including electronic correspondence), minutes of meetings, reports, and student and employee files. For the purposes of this policy, records are defined broadly to encourage consideration of the appropriate use and retention of all information created in the course of business.

Purged – removed from deleted folder, not visible or restorable by the user. Recoverable by system administrators. Waiting to be expunged.

Expunged – completely removed from the system and unrecoverable.

Related Documents

SUNY Email Retention Guidance

Acceptable Use Policy

Litigation Holds FAQ

Farmingdale State College Records Retention and Management Policy

SUNY Records Retention and Disposition Schedule

NYS General Retention and Disposition Schedule

Email Management Web Page

FSC Records Management Web Page

Responsible Office

Information Technology

Policy History

Approval Date: 3.15.23
Effective Date: 6.1.23