Email Policy

සිංහල தமிழ்

Email is a form of communication which supports the efficiency and effectiveness of educational and administrative activities of the University of Colombo. The purpose of this policy document is to provide instructions to university staff and students on the proper use of email.

This policy applies to all users, including permanent and temporary staff and registered students, who are provided email services managed by the University of Colombo. The University provides Google corporate accounts as the official email accounts of the University of Colombo.

The university community entitled to the email services should be conscious of, and act in consistency with, the vision and mission of the University of Colombo. Compliance with the policies and laws of the University in relation to all forms of communication is also applicable to Email usage. Since these accounts are Google corporate accounts, users should comply with the related google agreements as well.
It is mandatory to use the assigned Official email account (which is under the cmb.ac.lk domain) for all formal communications. It is prohibited to use this service for any commercial purpose or an unauthorized activity that would result in personal financial gain.
If Faculty/ Institute use their own mailing lists (email groups), Faculty DR/SAR/AR should take the responsibility to update those mailing lists. In addition to that NOC manages their own mailing lists to increase the effectiveness of the communication.
Under no circumstances should an assigned email user of the university allow access to an outside or unofficial party to use her/his email account. All users must take every precautionary measure to prevent any form of misuse of the assigned email facility.
Strictly for students: It is a punishable offence under the university examination policy to use email as a means of cheating at examinations.

CREATION AND DELETION OF EMAIL ACCOUNTS
All email account creations will be handled by the Network Operations Centre (NOC). Every account will be created based on the request made by the relevant Establishment Branch or Faculty representative. The use of an email account that belongs to a different department or sub-domain is prohibited. When an assigned user is transferred to another division within the University of Colombo, a new email account will be created and the former email account will be deleted.

1. STAFF
   Email accounts are created based on your name followed by the department sub-domain.
   For Administrative/ Finance officers – the email account created is under the admin.cmb.ac.lk sub-domain, and regardless of the current location of your work, based in a Faculty / Institute / Department.
   Email accounts are provided only while the user is employed by the University. All accounts will be suspended after 3 months of resignation and deleted permanently after another month (i.e., 4 months after resignation) without further notice.
   Academic staff can keep their email accounts even after their retirement if only they requested to the NOC to keep these accounts long time. Otherwise NOC will suspend these accounts after 6 months and those will be deleted permanently in another 6 months (i.e., 12 months after retirement).
   If employment is suspended subject to dismissal or disciplinary action, the account will be suspended on the date of suspension and will be subsequently deleted if the employee is dismissed.
   Email accounts that are inactive for a period of 6 months will be suspended (Notification will send before suspend). After another 6 months such accounts will be deleted.
   For members of staff on long-term release, sabbatical or vacation leave, the official email account will continue to remain active.
   Account Deletion will commence once the Establishment Branch confirms this to the NOC.
   Once an email account is deleted, the contents are no longer available or recovered.
   User accounts can be suspended, when such accounts are reported for unauthorized/malicious activity. Suspension can be based on a request made by the respective Rector/Dean/Director of Campus/ Faculty/Institute/School, with the authorization of the Registrar, University of Colombo.
2. STUDENTS
   Email accounts are created based on the registration number followed by the student’s sub-domain (stu.cmb.ac.lk).
   Student email accounts are provided only while a student is enrolled in the University and will be suspended 2 months after the convocation and it will be subsequently deleted permanently 4 months later (i.e., 6 months following the convocation).
   If the studentship is suspended subject to disciplinary actions the account will be suspended on the date of such suspension, and it will be subsequently deleted in another 12 months.
   Email accounts that are inactive for a period of 6 months will be suspended (Notification will send before suspend). After another 6 months such accounts will be deleted.
   Deletion will start once the Examination & Registration branch confirms it to the NOC.
   Once an email account is deleted, the contents are no longer available/recovered.
   User accounts can be suspended, when such accounts are reported for unauthorized/malicious activity. Suspension can be based on a request made by the respective Rector/Dean/Director of Campus/ Faculty/Institute/School, with the authorization of the Registrar, University of Colombo.
3. ROLE-BASE ACCOUNTS
   In addition to the personal email accounts (University staff accounts), role-base accounts can be created upon a formal request. Such accounts can be used for official communications/content which should be handed over to the next person who comes to that position/designation. (ex: vice chancellor, registrar, bursar, dean, director, librarian, head of department, administrative officer such as DR/SAR/AR etc.)
   In some situations, an individual can have multiple email accounts. At the end of the period of assigned employment (whether it is by resignation or transfer), your role-base account should be handed over properly to the next person in office.
   Such accounts should be used for official purposes only, and not for personal messages. Users should not remove official messages as these accounts are specially used for archiving purposes.

An Email is a highly utilized communication tool, and all are required to use this service to do their day-to-day work effectively in a responsible manner.

• Do not share your account credentials to anyone.
• Do not send emails containing confidential / copyrighted information without the written approval of the Dean/Director or Registrar of the University of Colombo.
• Do not communicate highly classified information to a third party, without adopting any security measures.
• Do not open suspicious attachments / links from unknown senders.
• Do not share email addresses you have access to with third parties without consent.

Users must not use this service in violation of any other policies or guidelines of the university or breach any national laws. This includes, but is not limited to creation, storing or transmitting content that may be reasonably construed as

• Political or lobbying activities.
• Related to any commercial activities (or subscribe non-work related services).
• Which may damage the reputation of the University or University community
• Sexually Offensive, insulting, threatening, harassing
• Offensive and insulting comments about individuals or institutions;
• Religious, racial or gender insults
• Destructive, dangerous or malicious comments
• Performing unlawful activities
• Seek to impersonate another person (spoofing)
• Viruses, malware, or other items of a destructive or deceptive nature
• Alters, disables, interferes with or circumvents any aspect of the email services
• Constitutes, fosters, or promotes pornography
• Creates a risk to a person’s or the public’s safety or health, or interferes with or compromises law enforcement or national security
• Content that may violate the civil and criminal laws of Sri Lanka

When you use your University email account, you are representing the University. You are encouraged to be professional in your communications, learn about best practices in email etiquette, and practice them.

If you are using a mobile device to access University email, you must have a PIN or password on your device. The University reserves the right to disable access to University data on any mobile device used by an employee if the device is lost or stolen, or the employee separates from the University.

The University may access email records including, but not limited to, access in the event of reasonable suspicion of criminal or unauthorized activity, potential or actual legal action involving the University, or in the exercise of its legal obligations to disclose or provide records or to protect the interests of the University. The University monitors the email system and reserves the right to quota the size and volume of emails sent and received on the University system. The Director, NOC may deny access or restrict access to the University’s email resources to prevent a breach of the law or a breach of policy, or to conduct an investigation into such a breach, or to protect the integrity of the University’s information and communication systems. The University may block emails that threaten the security of the system, involve the dissemination of spam, or include content that is contrary to the expectations of this and other relevant University governing documents.

Personal use of an email is allowed but the primary purpose should be the academic and administrative communications and it should not negatively impact on the day-to-day activities of the university including the network performance of the University. This should not violate any other policies/laws of the University as well as the country.

“The information in this email is confidential. If you have received it by error, please inform us by email and then delete the message. It is illegal to disclose the contents of this message to anyone. The integrity or security of this email cannot be guaranteed over the Internet. Therefore, the sender/university will not be responsible for any damages or other liabilities caused by this email.”

Version: 1.0: Reviewed by the 58^th IT & Web Committee and approved by the 586^th Council
Effective Date: 9^th September 2021
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