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Seven things you should know about
email at CAHNRS/ Extension & beyond

1. Email that you send and receive at WSU is not confidential. In fact, it is public information under state law and must be disclosed (under summons) in any kind of legal action, such as a lawsuit, or even upon request from a member of the public.
2. WSU Extension and CAHNRS email servers do not back up your messages. If you send or receive a message, it is possible to fully delete it from your computer. However, your correspondent may still have a copy. And your correspondent's ISP or mail server may keep copies.
3. Email is the most easily reproducible form of communication known. A confidential message sent to one person could be forwarded on to dozens or hundreds more, and make the evening news. Emails can also endure in the recipient's InBox for a long time. It is a good exercise, before clicking the Send button, to assume that the contents of the email will be public in six months (or less). This will train you to be prudent when sending messages. Confidential or hot-button items might be better discussed on the telephone or face-to-face.
4. It is technically possible for a third party to intercept email while in transit. Do not use unencrypted email to distribute private financial or "non-directory" information, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, medical histories, etc. Don't know if your email is encrypted? Then it's not.
5. When dealing with a point of friction between yourself and another individual, email seems like a good choice, because you can clearly think through and prepare your thoughts before launching a broadside. But this strategy is a mistake, because it is easy to escalate tensions behind the veil of email. When you sense rising hostility in an email conversation, grab the telephone or meet with your correspondent face to face. Anger will be more quickly dissipated, and you can work together constructively towards a resolution.
6. CAHNRS maintains numerous email lists on the Lyris list server. This is a good way to learn and share information about a variety of topics, from the general (e.g. general news about CAHNRS and Extension) to the specific (discussions for Web masters, Learning Centers, etc.).
7. If you have an extremely short message, such as "Please call me about your report," you can simply put this on the subject line, with "<EOM>" (End Of Message) at the end. Recipients will know that they can safely delete the message without opening it.

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