Dear members 

JISC email function closing 

For some time now AUDE has been running a dual system of online discussion boards: on our own website members raise topics about which they would like support, and this option is supplemented by JISC-mail discussions. 

It is increasingly apparent that members have found this duplication confusing, and that newer members are preferring the functionality of the discussion boards on AUDE’s own website.  

Both systems have their advocates. But for a number of reasons we now intend to simplify this duplication by closing down the JISC-mail discussions. 

The AUDE Executive have reached this conclusion together with our partner bodies in PHES (BUFDG/HESPA/UHR) for a combination of reasons which include: 

• Focusing peer support onto one discussion board system maximises the benefit of that support to members. Messages sent through JISC-mail cannot feed into content for our website, limiting the value of any advice and support given. We cannot measure member engagement on JISC-mail, again limiting the value of the support offered 
• Our best technical advice suggests to us that online discussions on our own website are inherently more secure than those on JISC-mail, and subject to our technical control (for instance in terms of management of data security, servers etc). It may be our perception that a JISC-mail message is secure, but in fact an accidentally forwarded JISC message instantly loses this assumed “privacy” 
• The functionality for discussion within the AUDE website is superior to the options provided by JISC-mail. Discussions on our boards are saved (so that similar threads don’t appear time and again), and searchable so archived discussions are found more easily. One overall daily reminder email summarises the whole, rather than users receiving a steady stream of update emails 
• One of the key reasons for joining our fellow HE membership organisations under the PHES umbrella is to benefit from operational efficiencies. Operationally managing two similar systems providing similar cross-over services is time consuming and we believe our staff could broaden the ways in which they support members if we could cut back on the inefficiency of running both discussion board systems 
• JISC-mail is significantly more open to human error than our own website discussion board. For instance, members using JISC-mail must maintain their records (often in more than one place). In comparison the discussion board offers a single place for members to update their preferences via tick boxes, and offers more granularity with subject based discussions 
• We take this decision against a background of the GDPR regulations coming into effect on 25^th May 2018. Our legal advice has been that our current dual-system is not only possible but likely to lead to a breach of principle 4 of the regulations (on accuracy of all data kept).  

In no way is this decision intended to reduce the quality of service to members. Instead we believe we can clarify and strengthen the quality of peer discussion by concentrating it onto one platform.  

What next? 
To smooth the process we propose the following timeline. 

Immediate: With immediate effect we suggest to members that they begin new discussions on AUDE’s website discussion boards and not on JISC-mail.  Any discussions started on JISC-mail during this period will be transferred by the AUDE team onto the AUDE website discussion board. 

Friday 25^th May: The JISC-mail option will be closed and no new JISC-mail discussion threads can be started.   

How to use the AUDE discussion board 
If haven’t already done so, register with the AUDE website to create an account.  

To start a new discussion 
Go to www.aude.ac.uk/discussions  

Select the relevant subject area from the drop down menu, top right and press go.

Add a title and write your message. To add a link to a website, highlight the text and click on the chain icon. You can also attach documents via the tab toward the top of the page. Once you are happy click OK to submit. Your post will be live straight away to AUDE members and it will be included in the summary email that goes out each afternoon to members. 

To respond to a discussion 

Go to www.aude.ac.uk/discussions 

Click on the relevant area and click reply to the thread and follow the same steps above. 

If you have any questions please do let me know.

Kind regards,

Jane White: Executive Director

AUDE | 3 Holywell Drive | Loughborough University | Loughborough | LE11 3TU |

jane@aude.ac.uk | 01509 228836 | www.aude.ac.uk | 07714 742 670