Practices and Guidelines

Rutgers Email Systems Usage Guidelines

 

Overview

Rutgers University provides two distinct email systems: ScarletMail and Rutgers Connect. These systems serve different purposes and are intended for different user groups within the Rutgers community. ScarletMail is primarily for students, while Rutgers Connect (a.k.a. Microsoft 365) is designated for employees. This document outlines the proper use of each email account, highlighting how students who have accounts on both systems should manage their accounts and follow university policies regarding communication.

 

ScarletMail Accounts

Purpose:

  • ScarletMail is the official email system for Rutgers students. It is the primary channel for academic and personal communications, and students should use it for all matters related to their education, coursework, and other non-work-related activities.

Key Features:

  • Student-centric: ScarletMail is tailored for student use and provides easy access to academic resources.
  • Lifetime access: After graduation or leaving the university, students retain access to their ScarletMail account (as long as they keep using it), allowing them to continue to access any information stored there and maintain communications using their ScarletMail address.
  • General Use: ScarletMail is ideal for personal academic communications with professors, classmates, academic departments, student organizations, and outside entities from which they plan on continuing to correspond after graduation.

When to Use ScarletMail:

  • Academic communications: For discussions with students, course-related inquiries, class assignments, and grades. (not for duties as a research assistant, teaching assistant, or student worker)
  • Student organizations and clubs: Communication with student-run organizations or clubs.
  • Personal correspondence: Any personal email communications unrelated to work, employment, or university business.
  • Post-graduation access: Since ScarletMail accounts remain active even after graduation, students can continue accessing important records or documents.

 

Rutgers Connect Accounts

Purpose:

  • Rutgers Connect is the official email system for Rutgers employees, including faculty, staff, and student employees. This platform is used for all work-related communication, both within the university and with external entities regarding university matters.

Key Features:

  • Employee-focused: Rutgers Connect is tailored for professional and administrative functions, providing a secure and organized way to manage university business.
  • Integration with other tools: Rutgers Connect is integrated with the university’s collaboration tools, such as calendars, document sharing, and task management systems.
  • University Policy Compliance: Rutgers policy requires that all communications regarding university business, including work assignments, HR matters, and institutional activities, be conducted through Rutgers Connect to ensure secure and compliant handling of official university information.

When to Use Rutgers Connect:

  • Work-related communications: For emails with colleagues, administrators, and others related to university business, including employment matters, institutional communications, and official project discussions.
  • Official university communication: Any email regarding university policies, procedures, departmental updates, or employment-related concerns should be conducted through Rutgers Connect.
  • External communications: When emailing people outside the university for official purposes, such as external collaborators, contractors, or vendors, the communication should be sent through Rutgers Connect.

 

Guidelines for Students with Both ScarletMail and Rutgers Connect Accounts

General Guidelines:

  • ScarletMail for Academic Use: Students should use their ScarletMail account for all personal academic matters and anything they may need access to even after graduation. This includes:
    • Communications with professors and academic departments.
    • Correspondence with classmates regarding class projects, study groups, and other academic matters.
    • General student affairs communications.
    • Communications with prospective employers or future collaborators.
  • Rutgers Connect for Work-Related Communications: Students who are employed by the university or involved in any university-related work (such as research assistants, teaching assistants, or student workers) must use Rutgers Connect for all work-related communication. This includes:
    • Emailing supervisors, department heads, or administrators about work tasks.
    • Submitting reports, assignments, or other documents related to university employment.
    • Discussing work schedules, pay, or any HR-related matters.
    • Lecturers and Graders can use ScarletMail for communications with students as per the SAS Student Employee Email Usage Practice.

Reasons for This Separation:

  1. University Policy: Rutgers’ official policy mandates that all work-related communication must go through Rutgers Connect to maintain proper records and ensure compliance with university standards.
  2. Post-Graduation Access: ScarletMail remains active after graduation, which means students should use it for communications they may need to reference in the future (e.g., academic records, important class-related emails, and personal academic correspondence). Rutgers Connect is only available to employees, so work-related emails should be kept within that account.
  3. Data Security: Using Rutgers Connect for work-related matters ensures that university communications are secure, in compliance with legal and institutional requirements, and are appropriately archived for future reference.

Guidelines for Faculty with both ScarletMail and Rutgers Connect Accounts with the following information:

General Guidelines:

ScarletApps accounts should be used when collaborating with students and can be used when communicating with them individually. Bulk communications and administrative file storage (grade listings, etc) should reside in Rutgers Connect.

Provisioning a ScarletApps account means that you also have a ScarletMail account. This is a separate account from Rutgers Connect and you should decide how you want to manage ScarletMail.

There are three options:

  1. By default, mail sent to your ScarletMail address will remain in that mailbox and you can access it separately. Many people choose this to keep the ScarletApps related communications separate.
  2. You can set up forwarding from your ScarletMail account so the mail will automatically be forwarded to your Rutgers Connect account. This is recommended so you don't run the risk of missing emails sent to this account. You can always turn this off if you find that you're receiving spam or other unwanted communications through ScarletMail.
  3. You can set up an auto-response in your ScarletMail account letting those sending to the account know that this is not your official email address and providing any other information you deem necessary. For example, you could provide your Rutgers Connect account and inform the sender to re-send their message to you there.

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