Discussion Groups

Guidelines

General Etiquette

• Be encouraging of others. These forums are meant not only as a networking tool for seasoned CAs but also as a learning tool for new CAs.
• Be civil. Personal differences should be handled through email or IM, not on this forum.
• This is a diverse community. Be mindful of your sense of humor.
• Try to contribute to the conversation, rather than posting "empty" responses such as "LOL" or "cool".
• Remember this space is public: don't include anything you wish to keep private.
   

What to Avoid

• Using all caps (a.k.a. SHOUTING).
• Interjecting personal conversation into another's topic/thread.
• Posting content that violates a copyright.
   

Posting & Replying

• Post all topics and responses directly on the forum. Email replies will not post to the forum.
• When replying to a post, do not quote the original post more than necessary.
• Stay on topic. Start a new post to introduce a new topic.
• Be patient. Do not use words such as "urgent" or "important" in your thread title.
• Please contribute if you have an answer or suggestion to someone's question. Doing so encourages others to contribute when you are the one with a question.
• Please be mindful of grammar and spelling in order for your post to be understood by everyone.
• To post anonymously, please send an email detailing your topic to caac@umn.edu. Your topic will be submitted to the group on your behalf. Your question/issue will be posted as it is submitted, so please follow the same etiquette and guidelines as if you were posting directly to the group.

Requesting A New Group

Before requesting a new group, please ensure that topic isn't currently covered with the groups available. When requesting a new group, please send your suggestion to caac@umn.edu for consideration.
  

How to Join A Group

• Make sure you are logged into google.umn.edu with your X500 and password prior to joining a new Google group.
• Hover over the "Discussion Groups" button on the menu bar (see webpage header) to see current discussion group topics.
• Click into the discussion group you would like to join.
• Click the "Join Group" button.
• A settings page will pop up upon joining the group.
• You may change your display name to show your full name (rather than your email).
• Your notification setting defaults to sending you an email every time a message is posted. You may change this to one of the following:
• Send daily summaries (recommended) - this will send you one email per day recapping all the activity in that group for the day.
• Send combined updates (25 messages per email) - this will send you an email for every 25 posts in that group.
• Notify me for every new message (fewer than 1 per day) (default).
• Don't send email updates (not recommended) - this will remove you from getting email updates. We do not recommend this setting as you will not be notified of new messages or replies to postings.
• To turn off email updates on threads you've posted in, uncheck the box for "Automatically subscribe me to email updates when I post to a topic".
• Once your settings are as you like them, click "Join this group".
• To change the frequency of your notifications or display name after you've joined the group, navigate to your group's page and click on "Membership and email settings" located below the search bar on the face page of the group.