UTORlist is an e-mail mailing list service managed by the Information Technology Services department, in cooperation with the Information Commons Help Desk which provides front-line assistance to list owners of the UTORlist service. UTORlist mailing lists may be established to further one's work in the University, or to further the University of Toronto's mission.

Requests for a new UTORlist mailing list are accepted only from University of Toronto faculty or staff or from the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students on behalf of a Student Society.

Each UTORlist mailing list must have one or more "list owners". For UTORlist mailing lists created by faculty or staff, at all times at least one list owner must be a current faculty or staff member at the University of Toronto, and will be referred to as the primary list owner. Students belonging to a Student Society may be the primary list owner, by making a request through the Office of the Vice-Provost, Students (Note: not all student groups are eligible for this service. See the Student Life website for a description of the different types of student groups).

A UTORlist mailing list created by a Student Society must at all times have one list owner on such a list who is responsible to that society and will be referred to as the primary list owner.

The primary list owner must use their own currently valid U of T email address in the mailing list configuration. While a shared mailbox address can be added as a list owner address, there still must be a separate owner email address ending in @utoronto.ca which belongs to an active staff/faculty member. When a primary list owner steps down, or when a list owner ceases to be eligible (e.g. a staff list owner leaves the university), a new eligible list owner must be in place. Otherwise the departing primary list owner, or the primary list owner's department or recognized student organization executive, must close the UTORlist mailing list, by sending a message to listmaster@utoronto.ca

Other than the primary list owner, additional list owners and list members do not have to be affiliated with the University of Toronto.

All mailing list messages must conform with all University policy and all applicable law, including but not limited to the Appropriate Use of Information and Communication Technology, the Code of Student Conduct, the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters, the Ontario Human Rights Code, the Criminal Code of Canada, the Canadian Copyright Act, and the Canadian Trademark Act, in concert with various rules and guidelines adopted in local units.

List owners agree to properly maintain their lists to ensure smooth flow of email and are usually the first point of contact from their subscribers. This includes removing invalid member email addresses this is also called dealing with "bounced" messages. (Most lists are set up so UTORlist software automatically does this, but the list owner may still need to intervene. For lists requiring list owner approval for subscription, and for moderated lists, the list owner should attend to subscription requests and held messages at least weekly. These procedures are important for smooth email flow, and to keep the University of Toronto from being blocked by other internet sites. Should a mailing list create problems, it may be disabled immediately.

In order not to create log-jams which slow down other people's mail, mailing lists should not have more than 5,000 members. Mailing lists can be larger as long as (1) delivery is restricted to off-hours; (2) postings are not frequent e.g. it would not be appropriate to have many postings per day to such a list, and (3) messages are restricted in size. If a mailing list is going to have more than 15,000 members please contact the Listmaster at listmaster@utoronto.ca for assistance.

The University does not monitor content of messages and list archives. The primary list owner must regularly monitor discussion of the list and content of the messages, ensuring they comply with university policy. Therefore, each list owner should subscribe themselves to their lists.

The primary list owner (with the assistance of other list owners) acts as host, and a representative of the university. Responsibilities include ensuring that mailing list discussion remains respectful and courteous. If an issue becomes too "volatile" the primary list owner might ask that discussion continue outside the list. The list owners are also the point of contact for any technical problems that list members might have, escalating those the list owner can't resolve by working with the IC Help Desk list master.

UTORlist mailing lists have archives, unless the owner chooses not to have one. (Some list members may prefer to read list archives to getting list messages by email.) Archives are not intended as permanent storage, and older messages could be removed from the archive after notice to the list owners. Archives using excessive storage could also be removed. Archives are deleted when a list is closed.

List owners should encourage sending of URL links to documents on the Web, rather than large, attached documents in messages. The Microsoft 365 OneDrive service available with an individual s UTmail+ account is one place where such documents can be stored.

An individual's email addresses should not be added to any mailing list unless (1) the individual self-subscribed to the list, or (2) the individual gave explicit opt-in permission to be subscribed to the list, or (3) for a student, staff, or faculty member, a university manager responsible for that individual has given explicit opt-in permission (e.g. a departmental chair can authorize a departmental mailing list include all departmental members, the VP of Human Resources can authorize faculty or staff mailing lists, the Dean of Arts and Science can authorize a mailing list of students in Arts and Science, the Assistant Provost of Student Life can authorize a mailing list of students, etc.)

Please click the button to accept the "Listserv Conditions of Use".

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