• About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Students With Medically Restricted Diets Struggle to Eat On Campus
      Students With Medically Restricted Diets Struggle to Eat On Campus
    • Students find new ways to celebrate Diwali
      Students find new ways to celebrate Diwali
    • Changing COVID-19 regulations impact students’ mental health
      Changing COVID-19 regulations impact students’ mental health
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
      Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
    • The block system is a joke
      The block system is a joke
    • Spineless nonpartisanship: how the Girl Scouts convinced me they no longer care about girls
      Spineless nonpartisanship: how the Girl Scouts convinced me they no longer care about girls
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • Music Performance Courses Adapt to an Altered Semester
      Music Performance Courses Adapt to an Altered Semester
    • Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of “Rebecca” fails to deliver compared to its classic counterpart
      Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of “Rebecca” fails to deliver compared to its classic counterpart
    • “Dash & Lily” Find Love, Stranded
      “Dash & Lily” Find Love, Stranded
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
  • Health and Wellness
    • No image
      Athletic impacts of Covid-19
    • No image
      A new kind of PE
    • No image
      Maintaining wellness as the cold sets in
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • Miscellanea
    • No image
      Remote students experience existential crises; change class years in email signatures
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
      Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
    • The Artichoke
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Sravanti Tekumalla News, News and FeaturesApril 1, 2015

College announces new Commission on Email Communication

***Editor’s Note: This article was published as part of the satirical April 1, 2015 issue

The carbon footprint of sending an email is 0.3 grams of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of driving three feet. Following Sustainability IdeaFest, an event which encouraged the Wellesley community to think outside the box to improve sustainability practices on campus, the College has resolved to reduce energy use by approaching the most common form of communication among students, faculty and staff: email.

The newly founded Commission on Email Communication will be headed by President Kim Bottomly and several members of Library & Technology Services. In addition, faculty and students will be included in the new commission.

Wellesley College students receive dozens of emails every day. Such emails range from topics like, “Lost chocolate bar that I was going to eat after my midterm” to “Submit to [insert publication here]!”

“I personally think I receive too many emails each day. Honestly, most of the time, I don’t even read them — they go straight from my inbox to the trash,” Anna Anderson ’16 said.

Other students do not view the number of emails received each day as an annoyance.

“Honestly, it’s just one more email and it’s not a big deal. I also appreciate learning about all the events going on around campus,” Olivia O’Leary ’17 said.

The commission will be tasked with seeing why so many seemingly unnecessary emails are sent each day.

“Should we provide labels so that students don’t lose their things so often? How do we get rid of those cab sharing emails? How do we get people to write shorter emails, or no emails at all? These are some of the questions we’ll be investigating in the coming year,” Director of Email Communication Ernest Hemingway said.

In addition to researching the source of high email traffic, the commission also plans to educate the community about the energy implications of sending a large number of emails. Education efforts will include a panel discussion about the negative impact of emails and a roundtable discussion where students can meet those who send out emails for organizations so as to be able to put a face to a name.

“I think a roundtable discussion is a good idea. I know I’m guilty of unleashing my personal grievances toward those who send out ESA [Economic Student Association] emails or those pesky ‘Write for The Wellesley News’ emails, but at the end of the day, they’re people too,” Danielle Danner ’15 said.

Over the past semester, students have noted a decrease in “reply all” emails, which are emails sent to all original recipients of the email when in fact the reply was only meant for the sender. Also on the decline is a decrease in lost OneCard emails. One student attributes it to “that email girl,” referring to an email sent last semester to the class conferences about email etiquette. Tenets of proper email communication, according to the document, included only posting a “lost” email if it was absolutely necessary, looking up students in the directory before posting to the class conference about a lost OneCard and utilizing the class Google groups to post course-related questions.

When asked for comment, “that email girl” declined to comment on the initiative for the new email commission but said she hopes that it will build upon the principles of her hashtag included in the email etiquette message, “#CampaignForStreamlinedInboxes2014.”

The commission will act in conjunction with a campus-wide effort to reduce spam, both physical and digital, around campus. Although not fully formed, the Commission on Email  Communication asks students to submit their inquiries about the commission via email at nomoreemail@wellesley.edu.

Photo courtesy of Wellesley College Public Affairs

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleNews in Brief: 4/1
Next articleStudent of the year: Margarita Dayes ’15

You may also like

Students With Medically Restricted Diets Struggle to Eat On Campus

Students attending the puja ceremony

Students find new ways to celebrate Diwali

Changing COVID-19 regulations impact students’ mental health

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top