Emma Email Processes

Emma Email

Emma is an email platform for designated Texas A&M University users to support streamlined and consistent communications efforts. This service is for critical or time-sensitive messages that should be sent as mass emails to the entire university community. We strongly encourage divisions, colleges and schools to use Emma to distribute internal communications to Texas A&M University community members.

Some examples of time-sensitive emails include but are not limited to:

  • Critical messaging that is pertinent to the University’s mission
  • Building issues (e.g., ruptured water line)
  • Address an issue of campus safety or health 
  • Health and wellness (e.g., flu shots are available)
  • Security (e.g., beware of phishing scams)
  • Address a recommended or required action that applies to the campus
  • Transportation notifications
  • HR Benefits (e.g., open enrollment)

Emma’s features include the following:

  • Texas A&M University branded, professionally designed email templates
  • Accessible and compliant emails that meet state and federal mandates
  • Support for preconfigured contact lists from Texas A&M University 
  • Personalized salutations (“Dear [name]”)
  • Multiple user roles (creator, reviewer, sender),
  • Analytics (for example, open and click rates)

Emma HQ should not be used for:

  • Event promotion - Event information is not considered essential and should be promoted using the university’s calendar.
  • Emails for donors and former students should use the Texas A&M Foundation’s Emma HQ account, not the university account.
  • Campaigns specific to your division or academic unit.
  • Independent mailings for Internal job postings 
  • Direct email communication from faculty to students should be sent from the Learning Management System (i.e., Canvas).
  • For direct email communications related to student billing or financial aid, existing communication outlets designed for messaging should be used (i.e., Banner, Compass).

Terms of Service (TOS)

Emma is an email marketing platform available to Texas A&M University divisions, colleges and schools. This document outlines the terms of use.

Definitions

The following terms are used about Texas A&M University’s Emma HQ service throughout this document:

  • Account – Texas A&M’s contractual agreement with Emma’s corporate office, Campaign Monitor
  • User Group – Configured in Emma for each department/division
  • Subaccount – Assigned to a User Group
  • Contact - Email contact added to audience list within each subaccount
  • Groups - Contacts are organized as an audience group
  • Segment - Contacts are placed in segments that match specific criteria based on custom fields
  • Campuswide communications - any email sent through Emma to an organizational or academic unit outside of the organizational or academic unit sending the communication
  • External communications - any email sent outside the university or its associated members for marketing purposes. Recipients must have the ability to opt out of these types of mailings.

Contact Lists

Lists are used to send emails from Emma to internal addresses, external addresses or a combination. Users who must send to internal and external addresses in the same mailing must have two Emma subaccounts configured for their list management. Donors and persons identified as Texas A&M University affiliates do not have records in the Texas A&M University Identity Management System and are not available for automation in Emma.

Contacts for internal communications lists are created from the automated processes in place with the master account. Segments and Groups are created from the import that is distributed to subaccounts.

NOTE: Contact lists are not available nor permitted to be exported, downloaded or otherwise saved for use outside the Emma platform.

Internal Addresses

An internal email address is listed as the ‘preferred email’ for Texas A&M University faculty, staff and students in the Texas A&M University Identity Management System. These email addresses are available in Emma as a synced Group or Group Manager list. Sending to large Texas A&M University groups, such as all staff or students, is generally restricted to the data owners (e.g., Texas A&M University) or university divisions. However, permission can be granted to colleges and schools to send a campuswide email upon approval through the Texas A&M Division of Marketing and Communications. 

External Addresses

An external address is an email address that does not appear in the preferred email field of any record in the Identity Management System (for example, addresses for peer institutions, donors/friends of the university). 

NOTE: Texas A&M University community members often have multiple email addresses. Using a Texas A&M University email address that is not designated as a recipient’s ‘preferred email’ is considered external. 

Emma Subaccounts

As part of the Emma registration process, Texas A&M University’s Digital Experience team provides consultation on the type of account needed. Depending on whether an internal or external list is required, one or more “subaccounts” will be assigned. Subaccounts are created to use either automated or manual lists. To request onboarding, please contact the Digital Experience team.

  • Automated: Texas A&M University’s Identity Management Team maintains and generates automated lists of internal Texas A&M University email addresses. Emma users cannot add recipients directly to automated accounts. Emma users may not export or store list data.
  • Manual: Users may gather lists from sources within Texas A&M University or elsewhere, and external addresses are permitted for external subaccounts only. Emma power users in subaccounts designated as external communications must maintain these contact lists. If the recipient is “elsewhere, they must have opted in.”

If you need both automatically generated Texas A&M University internal lists and lists for contacts outside the university, please contact the Digital Experience team for assistance.

Support

For help with Emma, contact Texas A&M University’s Digital Experience team. Support hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. on weekdays. 

If your issue is time-sensitive, include this information in your request. Typically, the team will respond within one business day. However, if template customization is needed, please plan to allow for adequate development time.

NOTE: If your Emma email is essential to the university business and must be sent within two business days, we’ll prioritize it as an “urgent” request and escalate it to our support team. 

Templates

All email communications sent through Emma must use the templates designed for each subaccount’s email communications. These customized templates represent the cohesive university brand and are flexible to allow for customization. Users may not overwrite or add templates' custom styles or layout elements, including but not limited to font sizes and styles, text colors, button colors and styles, rows and columns, content padding, etc. Changing these elements can affect brand consistency and negatively impacts accessibility. If additional customization is needed, please seek assistance from Texas A&M University Marketing and Communications. For questions, contact the Digital Experience team.

Subaccount User Responsibilities

The following are the responsibilities of all Emma users (e.g., divisions, schools and colleges). 

Subaccount Administrator

Subaccount administrators are designated communications staff members supporting a school, college, division, unit, etc. Primary users for subaccounts must be staff members for Texas A&M’s centralized marketing and communications unit. Responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

  • As the marketing and communications primary point of contact for each subaccount, the subaccount administrator is responsible for the following:
    • Escalating issues
    • Staying up-to-date on Emma and its associated Texas A&M University email processes and policies through training, documentation or user group discussions.
  • Before scheduling emails:
    •  A test email must be sent to a designated reviewer for the content of the email.
    • Review selected groups or segments before emailing an internal campaign.
  • Adhere to all data security policies (see below).
  • Adhere to Texas A&M University’s group email policy (see below).
  • Archive old campaigns after six months.
  • For external subaccounts only: Uploading an updated contact list for each mailing.
  • Submitting issues to the Digital Experience team and advising them of issue priority.
  • Designate a backup to support the responsibilities associated with the primary user role (full user access). This delegate must also be a Texas A&M centralized marketing and communications unit member.
  • Types of roles and responsibilities assigned in the subaccount are 
    • Author - Can create but not send mailings
    • Editor - Can access the Campaigns, Response, and Insights tabs.  Can create but not send mailings.
    • Full - Can access all tabs (Audience, Campaigns, Response, Insights, Automation). Can create and send mailings. Can archive campaigns.

Scheduling

All group emails sent through the university’s Emma HQ account must be scheduled in the Emma Email Schedule Calendar. Campuswide emails must be approved and scheduled by emailing the Digital Experience team. Scheduling requests must be submitted a minimum of three business days before the proposed send date. Please be mindful of email communications to not conflict with the university administration messages. 

Segments and Groups (Specialized List of Contacts)

If the currently available Group and Segment options in your Subaccount do not meet your recipient list needs for an upcoming email, please submit a request to the Digital Experience team. Recipient list support will require 2-3 business days, depending on the complexity of the recipient list request. Please be sure to plan accordingly.

Data Security

Do not send personal health information (PHI) through Emma. All of Texas A&M University’s policies regarding the sharing and public access to sensitive data apply. 

Opt-Out or Unsubscribe

When sending external emails (non @tamu.edu), you must include an unsubscribe link required by Emma’s Anti-Spam Policy. Exceptions to this policy are email messages needed for the business function of the university, considered transactional or relationship messages (as defined by the Federal CAN-SPAM Act). 

Templates are provided for external audiences with an unsubscribe link for mailing to external emails. Templates for internal messages will have the unsubscribe link removed. 

Email Policy

Group emailing to individuals at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University campuses and branches are subject to the group email policy. 

Service Provider Responsibilities

The following are Texas A&M University’s responsibilities for delivering the Emma mail service:

  • An assessment of email sent behaviors during onboarding to improve efficiencies
  • Maintain appropriately organized and trained staff
  • Develop customized templates for subaccount needs
  • Create a subaccount structure for a department/organization
  •  Maintain services impacting Emma:
    • NetID Authentication
    • Automated SFTP contact sync provided by Technology Services Identity Management Group
    • Automated contact distribution for subaccounts sending only internal emails.
  • Maintain contract with Emma for effective pricing and vendor service
  • Monitor service and communicate impacts to users in real-time