Communication Guide

Internal Communications

SUNY Oneonta’s internal communications efforts are designed to support a more informed university community, opportunities to engage and success among employees and students.

Internal Audiences

The institution communicates with two primary internal audiences:

  • Current employees (including state employees (faculty and staff) and employees of the Research Foundation, Bugbee, Oneonta Auxiliary Services and Sodexo)
  • Current students
  • People subscribed to our parent and family online community and email list
  • Retired employees
  • Alumni
  • Other partner organizations (e.g. Catskill Regional Teachers Center)

Primary Form of Internal Communication

Email sent to oneonta.edu email addresses is SUNY Oneonta's primary and official form of communication for institutional messages and announcements sent to current students and employees.

Employees and students are issued a SUNY Oneonta email address upon hiring/enrollment and are expected to check it regularly to receive critical information and stay apprised of university news, deadlines, etc.

SUNY Oneonta maintains other spaces and software where announcements and university news may be shared after it is shared to Oneonta email. These include, but are not limited to:

  • The myOneonta portal
  • Flyers/posters
  • Dialogue sessions/town halls/open forums
  • The suny.oneonta.edu website
  • Social media
  • Text message notifications
  • Phone calls

It is important to note that individual departments and instructors may have their own preferred or required method/medium to communicate within the unit or class. An example of this would be an office or class using Microsoft Teams to communicate about projects, assignments, etc.

Internal Communication Channels & Procedures

There are several channels through which internal audiences can receive information and communicate with one another. All employees and current students can use the Oneonta Bulletin to make announcements to employees or the OneyEvents Broadcast to make announcements to students. Find information about submitting request to share announcements through various channels below. Any requests for announcements to be made outside of these channels should be directed to the Deputy Chief of Staff & Director of Executive Communication for assistance.

The Oneonta Bulletin delivers university-related news, notices, events, faculty and staff achievements, and other announcements to SUNY Oneonta employees. All departments and employees are encouraged to submit entries. This is the primary medium for SUNY Oneonta-related announcements to be distributed to all employees.

This is in response to feedback to research by an internal communications task force in Spring 2021 that found employees and students were experiencing email fatigue or overwhelm due to the high quantity of broadcast/mass emails they were receiving from various departments at SUNY Oneonta. There were many requests and suggestions for announcements to be aggregated and included in one announcement/news email. Mass emails and access to the “All Employees” and “Enrolled Students” ListServs are limited. Exceptions for ad-hoc email announcements may be considered and must be requested using the procedure outlined in the “Broadcast Emails” section below.

The Oneonta Bulletin is delivered via email each Monday. In the event of a national holiday falling on a Monday, and classes are not in session, the Bulletin will be delivered the next business day. All announcements are also posted on an online archive that can be accessed and searched at any time.

The Oneonta Bulletin Entry Submission Form

The Oneonta Bulletin Online Archive

The OneyEvents Broadcast contains a list of upcoming events and announcements directed toward current students. All events that are submitted to Campus Connection and open to all students will be included. This is the venue for SUNY Oneonta-related announcements to be distributed to all current students. Exceptions for ad-hoc email announcements may be considered and must be requested using the procedure outlined in the “Broadcast Emails” section below.

The Broadcast is delivered each Friday and is developed in partnership between the Office of Student Life & Leadership and the Deputy Chief of Staff & Director of Executive Communication. All departments are encouraged to submit entries for student announcements using the Broadcast Entry Submission Form. Please note, these announcements will be cross-posted in the myOneonta portal.

A link to the student broadcast email is included in the Oneonta Bulletin for employees each week. Faculty and staff can also sign up to receive the OneyEvents Broadcast directly in their inboxes.

Announcements to employees are managed through The Oneonta Bulletin, and announcements to students are managed through the OneyEvents Broadcast, or other emails developed in partnership with the Deputy Chief of Staff & Director of Executive Communication.

Offices that may want an ad-hoc email announcement to be sent separately from the Bulletin or student Broadcast must submit a request form and contact the Deputy Chief of Staff & Director of Executive Communication for assistance. This process replaces usage of the enrolled_students and all_employees ListServs*. Requests for ad-hoc broadcast emails will be reviewed by the Deputy Chief of Staff/Director of Executive Communications and discussed with the requestor. Not all requests may be accommodated, but every request will receive a customized plan for communicating their message to the SUNY Oneonta community in an effective and coordinated manner.

Request an Email to All Students or All Employees

There are instances where other offices have access to smaller email lists (ListServs), but these are used for more targeted communications that are very specific to the list (eg: the Teaching_Faculty ListServ for updates to teaching faculty members). ListServs are managed in partnership with Information Technology Services and the Deputy Chief of Staff & Director of Internal Communications.

*This shift in procedure regarding broadcast emails and LIstServ usage is in response to feedback to research by an internal communications task force in Spring 2021 that found employees and students were experiencing email fatigue or overwhelm due to the high quantity of broadcast emails they were receiving from various departments at SUNY Oneonta. There were many requests and suggestions for announcements to be aggregated and included in one announcement/news email, thus the current format Oneonta Bulletin was developed.

Notifications in response to university-wide class delays or cancelations due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances, as well as emergencies or situations that poses a serious health or safety concern, are sent to all student and employee Oneonta email addresses.

SUNY Oneonta uses the Everbridge emergency alert platform to provide O-Alert (previously known as NY-Alert) text, phone call, and email notifications to those who opt-in regarding on-campus emergencies or urgent situations. All students and employees will receive O-Alert notifications to their oneonta.edu email addresses but can also add up to three phone numbers for texts, and calls, and additional email addresses. To enroll or update contact information, students, faculty and staff must log in to myOneonta and click the “Oneonta Emergency Alert” link.

Please see the Urgent Message Policy for more information.

The myOneonta portal is a central location for employees and students to access important links and tools like their Oneonta email and other Microsoft 365 apps, Web Services, the Learning Management System (LMS), IT Service Desk, SUNY employee portal, library services, and more. myOneonta also contains a spot for announcements to employees and students.

Have an announcement you want posted in the portal?

Submit your announcement to the Oney Events Broadcast form (students) or Oneonta Bulletin form (employees), and it will automatically be posted in the portal.

Email the Deputy Chief of Staff & Director of Executive Communication or the Assistant to the VP for Finance & Administration with any questions about announcements in the portal.

Campus Connection is SUNY Oneonta’s event calendar that contains up-to-the-minute information about what’s happening across the university and when. It’s easy to use and users can browse using filters to find events in different categories or hosted by specific organizations.

All employees and students have access to post events to Campus Connection. Events can be posted on behalf of a department or organization, or on behalf of the institution. Event announcements to employees can be submitted to The Oneonta Bulletin but should also be posted in Campus Connection.

Campus Connection has a corresponding mobile app called Corq. A free download for iOS and Android, Corq automatically syncs with Campus Connection. Putting the Corq badge on your promotional posters or flyers will encourage others to get the app and help drive traffic to your event.

SUNY Oneonta provides a portal just for family members of current students. Families@Oneonta is a space where family members can subscribe to newsletters, online communities, and receive announcements. For more information about how the university interacts with families, please visit our Families webpage.

Yammer is an informal social media-like, communication and connection tool accessible to members of the SUNY Oneonta network through Microsoft365. Think of it as an internal social network for casual conversations to connect with colleagues from across the university and foster community in an online setting.

This is not an announcement platform and doesn’t replace mediums like The Oneonta Bulletin or Teams, but allows employees to connect co-workers with common interests or objectives, share industry related articles, etc. The use of Yammer is guided by the information below and the Information Technology Acceptable Use Policy.

View additional procedures and guidelines for using Yammer.

About SUNY Oneonta's Internal Communications Practices

To ensure that internal audiences receive accurate, useful information in a consistent and efficient manner, SUNY Oneonta’s internal communications are coordinated by the Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Executive Communication in the Office of the President. The goal is to develop useful messages and disseminate information using the most effective channels. This coordination takes place in close partnership with Information Technology Services, The Office of Communication and Marketing, University Police and many other departments across the SUNY Oneonta community. The President’s Advisory Council on Internal Communication also provides input and feedback on internal communications initiatives.

Departments or organizations interested in unit-specific internal communication planning/strategy, communicator training, communications best practices and more can reach out to the Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Executive Communication for assistance. (Example of internal communications planning: Assessment of current practices and audience needs, objective setting, and strategy/tactics development.)

Please contact Karyn Wendrow, deputy chief of staff and director of executive communication with questions or for assistance.

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