Email has become a monster-in volume, in expectation of response, and in the potential for MIS-communication. I’ll present some facets of how I dealt with email, but I’d love to hear from others on this topic.
As a public university president, one must realize that ANY email may become public due to a public records request. So, if you don’t want to see it on the front page of the paper, don’t put it in email. Though state public record laws vary, I suggest that in most states, it is best practice to keep all incoming and outgoing email from the presidential accounts. And, I would avoid emails that indicate there is other, private information under discussion. While encouraging you to pick up the phone to call your Vice President…I discourage you from sending the VP an email saying “too sensitive for email, pick up the phone.” Two other points related to public records. In Idaho, and many other states, simply using a private email account, such as a gmail account, does not shelter relevant content from inquiry. In fact, this may open ALL your personal email to scrutiny. Second, some email is likely to be covered by attorney-client privilege. But, attorney-client privilege does not cover all correspondence with your attorney, and just cc’ing the attorney does not bring an email under privilege.
My staff suggested two email accounts-a personal one used for the bulk of my business as president and a president@university.edu address for web posting. My chief of staff monitored the president inbox. Especially when controversial decisions were made, this email inbox could contain some colorful inquiries. We responded to every inquiry…though some responses were “Thank you for your input”, which I admit was office code for “We hope never to hear from you again.”
I shared my personal email with my chief of staff, and those who worked closely with me knew this. I can imagine having three emails, one being completely private, but I preferred my CoS knew what I was doing and seeing. If another staff person had a concern about the CoS, they could always phone me. My CoS rarely replied directly to my email, though she would make requested appointments and monitor that I had responded. We found this system worked well, though I know it was a large burden for her.
One final hint…please don’t send emails at any hour of the day or night expecting immediate response. We all need our lives. If it is truly urgent, we would text, which was a much rarer form of communication.