Changes to Email Communications Channels

Dear WPI Community, 

I am writing to inform you about changes to the university’s email communications channels, which will help streamline internal communication.

Goals: 

• Ensure that important messages reach you
• Reduce inbox clutter and channel overlap
• Promote consistent practices 

WPI Today and Herd Highlights are the primary vehicles for sharing news and information with faculty, staff, and students. WPI Today is emailed daily to all employees; Herd Highlights is emailed every two weeks to all graduate and undergraduate students and forwarded to parents. 

Official email distribution lists (below) will occasionally be used to communicate information that is time sensitive or requires heightened awareness or individual action (for example, benefits open enrollment). 

Official statement emails will be used sparingly for highly consequential, formal announcements. 

In service of this structure, WPI has established email distribution lists for official communication: 

• Dl-provost-faculty  and dl-provost-adjunct-faculty for communications from the Office of the Provost to faculty
• Dl-allemployees  for communications to all employees (for example, parking notifications, IT outages, or Talent and Inclusion information)
• Dl-students  for communications to all students 

Other distribution lists will function as community discussion spaces. They include: 

• Dl-faculty and dl-faculty-business—moderated by the Secretary of the Faculty
• Dl-undergraduates; dl-firstyears; dl-sophomores; dl-juniors; and dl-seniors—moderated by the Student Government Association
• Dl-allgraduate-students and dl-grads-parttime—moderated by Graduate Student Government
• Dl-potpourri—unmoderated space for buying, selling, and recommending, subject to appropriate-use guidelines  

With the exception of dl-potpourri, which is an opt-in list, you will automatically be added to the lists appropriate to your role at WPI. Some offices or departments have specific group email lists for their own focused purposes; those are unchanged. 

As we work toward a clearer and more predictable information environment, we ask for your support, beginning with spending a few minutes each day with WPI Today to know what is happening on campus. 

Thank you! 

Best regards, 

Bryce Hoffman 
Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer