Email List Audit and Cleanup Begins This Fall
This fall, Information and Educational Technology (IET) begins an audit and cleanup of Sympa email lists, an IET-managed service that provides email lists (a.k.a. listservs) to the campus community. An email list or listserv is a distribution list allowing a group of subscribers to automatically receive email messages sent to the list. UC Davis Information and Educational Technology (IET) hosts the central email lists service for academic or administrative units and members of the campus community.
This compliance effort follows a 2025 update to the university’s policy on email lists, which is summarized below.
In the next few months, IET will begin contacting listserv owners whose lists are not in compliance with the updated policy. These notices may indicate that an inactive list will be retired, or that list owners need to reassign list ownership to an active UC Davis academic appointee or staff member.
Action Steps | Email List Policy | What to Expect | Additional Resources & Support
5 Steps to Keep Email Lists Active
- Review the email lists that you own. Go to https://lists.ucdavis.edu to get started. For lists that you own, you will see ADMIN next to the list name.
- Keep only the lists that you need and actively use. Delete the lists you no longer need.
- Reassign ownership of the lists for which you are not responsible. Learn how to change list owners.
- If you are a student or no longer affiliated with UC Davis, identify an active UC Davis academic appointee or staff sponsor for your list(s), then update the list owner.
- If a list has remained inactive for more than one year but is still useful, begin using it in accordance with university policy.
Email Lists & Mass Electronic Messaging Policy Updates
The 2025 policy updates are:
- Only academic appointees* or staff may serve as administrators or owners of email lists.
- Lists must be active within the past 12 months with messages posted to the list during this period.
- All listserv content must comply with University of California and UC Davis electronic messaging policies.
- University policy limits listserv use to university-related business as described by theElectronic Communications - Allowable Use Policy and Acceptable Use Policy (Section 310-23 and Exhibit A).
- The university may close an email list if the administrator is not an academic appointee or staff member, if the list remains inactive for one year or longer, or if its use is not compliant with university policy.
For more detailed guidance, please refer to the UC Davis Communications Guide on email lists.
*Includes academic appointee members with an active appointment at UC Davis, academic appointee on leave, emeriti academic appointee.
What to Expect
In the next few months, we will begin contacting list owners whose lists are not in compliance. Lists must be active within the past 12 months with messages posted to the list during this period and must have a UC Davis faculty or staff member as an owner.
You may receive a notice that your inactive list will be retired or that you may need to reassign ownership of your list to an active UC Davis faculty or staff member.
- Follow the steps in the notification to keep your list(s) active.
- You do not need to take any action if you no longer need a list.
Additional Resources & Support
List owners may also wish to consider alternative platforms to better fit their needs. All university platforms remain subject to UC and UC Davis electronic messaging policies, but some tools may offer added convenience, improved file sharing and more dynamic collaboration. See the Communication and Collaboration section of the IT Service Catalog.
For more information, see Get Help with Sympa. For specific questions about Sympa, contact your departmental IT support, if applicable, or IT Express.