Any one-time message addressed to multiple recipients that needs to be sent from a "special" address rather than a user’s personal address is considered a mass email. Mass e-mails sent to all faculty, staff and students are reserved for special circumstances and require special permissions based upon organizational hierarchy. Ultimately, these requests will require approval from the Office of the Provost. To initiate the process, please complete the AskIT Mass Email Request form. Once the permissions are granted, Central IT will construct the lists and send the e-mail. When submitting your request, please indicate the required send date and allow seven business days for completion of the request. These requests are handled by Infrastructure Services.

Checklist

1. Approvals:
   • Emails to large numbers must be approved based upon the organizational hierarchy. If the message is addressed to all faculty, staff and students, then a Provost/President level approval is required. Deans can approve for their school, VP for Student Affairs can send to all students, etc.
   • Sending to recipient addresses that are not in the phonebook is problematic, and may cause complaints and/or outside mail services to block email from UAB. If this is required, special approval will be needed.
2. Date and Time: Date and time to send the message (off hours if possible), at least 7 days before the mailing is to be sent.
3. From: A valid From: address must be provided (usually a Resources or other non-personal departmental account); if none is provided, the requestor’s address will be used.
4. Subject: Requestor must provide a Subject: line for the message.
5. Format: The preferred format is text-only; any additional formatting may be lost or altered.
6. Links: If the message has clickable links embedded in it, the visible URL must match the "real" URL, or the message will most likely be flagged as a phishing attempt and rejected by some mail systems.
7. Recipients: Recipient email addresses (to request a subset of Faculty/Students/Employees, the ticket must be assigned to both TUCC: Bill Laughlin and UNIX Group: Ed Harris)
   • BlazerID (preferred)
   • This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
   • Banner ID #
   • Oracle ID #

Please note:

A report will be sent to the requestor containing the number of emails sent, and the number and addresses not sent with reason. If time permits, this info will be provided before the email is sent.

If a major discrepancy is found, the email will not be sent until the requestor is consulted. If necessary approvals are not submitted within this timeframe, the email will be delayed. A copy of the approval must be attached to the Footprints ticket before sending the email.

What should I expect once I request software from IT Procurement?

For products that are managed/licensed through IT Procurement (certain bulk purchased software and products covered under a site or volume purchase agreement) we will work with you to determine exactly what software versions you need and ensure proper licensing for your situation.  Your order may be processed in one of 3 ways depending on the software you need.

1.    For software that is available for download without additional charges you will be directed to the IT Software Library website.  If you are unable to download because you are unable to create and ISO file or unable to copy the file to disk, you may prefer physical media.  IT Procurement can provide you with the media at a cost of $5 per CD/DVD.  For physical media requests you will need to go online to www.uab.edu/askit and submit a new request and provide a valid account number before we can release the media.

• Our goal is to fulfill requests for download instructions by the end of the same business day, and to fulfill requests for pickup of physical media by the end of the next business day (once a valid account number is provided). 
• License keys necessary for installation of the software will be emailed/provided to you through the AskIT ticket within 24 hours after the media has been picked up from the AskIT Help Desk. 

2.   For bulk purchased software for which IT Procurement is reselling the product we will validate the requirements for installation with you and provide a cost back to you for an approval via the AskIT ticket you submitted. 

• In general, you should expect a response to your initial inquiry with pricing by the end of the same business day. 
• If you approve of the cost you should reply back to the AskIT email with the appropriate quantities and a valid account number string. 
• From the time you reply back with the necessary information our goal is to fulfill your request with instructions on pickup of physical media and license keys necessary for installation of the software by the end of the next business day.

3.   For purchases of products requiring a Purchase Order to be generated to a vendor (Microsoft products covered under our select agreement) we will validate the requirements for installation with you and provide a cost for your review via the AskIT ticket you submitted.  The overall process for orders requiring a PO should take between 7 and 10 business days, depending on how long it takes for routing the request through Oracle for approvals.

• In general, for workstation related products you should expect a response to your initial inquiry with questions or pricing by the end of the same business day.  Requests for server related products should receive a response by the end of the next business day.
• Once final costs are provided to you, if you want to proceed with the order you should reply back to the AskIT email with the appropriate quantities and a valid account number. 
• IT Procurement will enter the request into the Oracle system generally on the same day we receive your approval to proceed.  The document will route for approvals according to the normal Oracle approval process for the account number provided, and then route to UAB Procurement for issuance of a Purchase Order to the vendor.  IT Procurement will update the AskIT ticket to provide you with notice that the order has been approved. 
• IT Procurement will monitor the Microsoft Volume Licensing site for validation that the UAB Purchase has been submitted appropriately to Microsoft.  This validation generally requires between 3 and 5 business days once the purchase order has been submitted to the vendor.
• Once the purchase has been validated you should expect an update from IT Procurement with the necessary information on pickup of physical media (if applicable) and license keys necessary for installation of the software.