ITS Postmaster / U-M Information and Technology Services

The ITS Postmaster team is responsible for identifying, diagnosing, and appropriately responding to problems related to the delivery of electronic mail received by or sent from members of the U-M community.

The ITS Postmaster team does:

Monitor email traffic to ensure the adequate performance of IT systems.
Recommend action to prevent issues related to email delivery.
Take action to resolve imminent threat to U-M IT systems.

The ITS Postmaster team does not:

Mark email as spam.
Block email.
Control Google’s junk mail algorithm.

Problems Related to Email Delivery

Type of problem	Examples	U-M Response
Inappropriate email etiquette by sending host	Email with false sender information. Email to many invalid UMICH addresses. Email containing viruses or phishing attempts.	Such email messages are automatically blocked at U-M's primary mail gateway.
Concerns with email volume	Mass email with a subject line indicating non-UM business (e.g. buy/sell ads (spam)). Email to large unmoderated MCommunity groups. Email that may cause IT performance concerns.	Such email messages are flagged for escalation and follow-up with the sender. The ITS Postmaster may contact the sender and recommend action such as designating MCommunity group moderators.
Concerns with message content	Unsolicited email. Email the recipient finds inappropriate or offensive. Political speech.	Rude or offensive behavior, though inconsistent with the standards of civility that we hope would prevail on a university campus, sometimes falls within the legitimate exercise of freedom of speech and, when it does, may not be suppressed (SPG 601.01). The ITS Postmaster team will not take action in these cases, but as a recipient of such email, you can: Follow unsubscribe instructions, if provided. These are usually located in the footer of marketing emails. Mark the message as spam. This would automatically send future email from the sender to your Spam folder. If you have repeatedly asked the sender to cease contact, but contact persists, please call the ITS Service Center and refer to IT User Advocate.

Type of problem

Examples

U-M Response

Inappropriate email etiquette by sending host

Email with false sender information.
Email to many invalid UMICH addresses.
Email containing viruses or phishing attempts.

Such email messages are automatically blocked at U-M's primary mail gateway.

Concerns with email volume

Mass email with a subject line indicating non-UM business (e.g. buy/sell ads (spam)).
Email to large unmoderated MCommunity groups.
Email that may cause IT performance concerns.

Such email messages are flagged for escalation and follow-up with the sender.

The ITS Postmaster may contact the sender and recommend action such as designating MCommunity group moderators.

Concerns with message content

Unsolicited email.
Email the recipient finds inappropriate or offensive.
Political speech.

Rude or offensive behavior, though inconsistent with the standards of civility that we hope would prevail on a university campus, sometimes falls within the legitimate exercise of freedom of speech and, when it does, may not be suppressed (SPG 601.01).

The ITS Postmaster team will not take action in these cases, but as a recipient of such email, you can:

Follow unsubscribe instructions, if provided. These are usually located in the footer of marketing emails.
Mark the message as spam. This would automatically send future email from the sender to your Spam folder.
If you have repeatedly asked the sender to cease contact, but contact persists, please call the ITS Service Center and refer to IT User Advocate.

Contact

To contact the ITS Postmaster team, contact the ITS Service Center, and the team will connect with you.