LISTSERVERS AT THE USC SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
April 5, 1999
  1. Overview of lists related to faculty affairs.

    2. There are two main characteristics of lists at the USC School of Medicine:
     
      · SUBSCRIPTION: mandatory or voluntary. Voluntary lists allow anyone to subscribe or unsubscribe to the list.  Mandatory lists allow only the owners of the list to subscribe or unsubscribe someone. The use of a set of department-specific mandatory lists is described below.

      · POSTINGS: open or controlled. Open postings allow postings from any subscriber. Controlled postings allow postings only by the owners of the list.
       

  2. Voluntary lists regarding faculty affairs:

    3.  
      · USC-MED-L:  Messages from the Office of Faculty Affairs sent out over the department-specific mandatory lists. Messages can be posted only by the owners of the lists: administrators within the Office of Faculty Affairs.  Faculty already subscribed to a department-specific mandatory list-server should not subscribe to this list, as it will result in receipt of duplicate messages.

      · USC-MFA-L:  Messages from the MFA sent out over the department-specific mandatory lists. Messages can be posted only by the owners of the lists: the officers of the MFA.  Faculty already subscribed to a department-specific mandatory list-server should not subscribe to this list, as it will result in receipt of duplicate messages.

      · USC-MFAEB-L:  Messages regarding the day-to-day business of the MFA and the MFA Executive Board (MFAEB); these messages are not routinely sent out over any other list. Messages can be posted by any subscriber to the list. This list can be used by all faculty members to debate issues currently before the MFA. In addition to this list, the members of the MFAEB maintain and use small lists (not listservers) on their own computers.  Faculty subscribed to a department-specific mandatory list-server are not automatically subscribed to USC-MFAEB-L.  They must subscribe on their own, or request the Secretary of the MFA to subscribe them.

      · USC-MFA-LACHS-L:  Messages regarding issues confronting USC and the delivery of Los Angeles County health services.  Faculty subscribed to a department-specific mandatory list-server are not automatically subscribed to USC-MFA-LACHS-L.  They must subscribe on their own, or request the Secretary of the MFA to subscribe them.
       

      · USC-MFA-CLIN-TRIAL-L:  Messages regarding issues involving clinical trials in general, and particularly at USC, the USC-Los Angeles County Hospital, and the Health Research Association.  Faculty subscribed to a department-specific mandatory list-server are not automatically subscribed to USC-MFA-CLIN-TRIAL-L.  They must subscribe on their own, or request an owner of the list to subscribe them.
       
  3. How to subscribe to voluntary lists:


    4. To subscribe to a voluntary list simply send the message "SUBSCRIBE NAME-OF-LIST-L Lastname_Firstname" to listproc@usc.edu.

    To leave a voluntary list simply send the message "UNSUBSCRIBE NAME-OF-LIST-L" to listproc@usc.edu.

    It is best to turn off all signatures and requests for verification that might be normally added by your email program, as the text will not be recognized as a command, and will likely generate an error message.
     

  4. Mandatory Department-specific Lists at the USC School of Medicine.


    5. For several years, the Medical Faculty Assembly (MFA) used the listserver termed USC-MFA-L to distribute messages to faculty. This positive experience prompted an expansion of this effort: the Office of Faculty Affairs assembled a nearly complete list of School of Medicine faculty of 1,060 names, and identified email addresses for 827 of these faculty.  These addresses were subscribed to a set of department-specific lists which do not allow voluntary subscription, and messages can be posted only by the listowners. At this time, the listowners are the President of the MFA (Harvey Kaslow), the Secretary of the MFA (Robert Stellwagen), and the Assistant Dean for Faculty Affairs (Sandra Mosteller).
     

    There are 23 departments at the School of Medicine, each with its own list, as shown below. There are two other associated lists. Persons not members of a department may voluntarily receive messages sent to all faculty. Messages posted by the MFA will also be sent to USC-MFA-L (#24 in the list of lists below). Messages sent by the Office of Faculty Affairs will be sent to USC-MED-L (#25 below).


Department-specific lists at the USC School of Medicine:

1 USC-ANES-L USC-Anesthesiology mandatory listserver
2 USC-BIOC-L USC-Biochemistry and Molecular Biology mandatory listserver
3 USC-CATS-L USC-Cardio-Thoracic Surgery mandatory listserver
4 USC-CLNB-L USC-Cell and Neurobiology mandatory listserver
5 USC-EMED-L USC-Emergency Medicine mandatory listserver
6 USC-FMED-L USC-Family Medicine mandatory listserver
7 USC-MDCN-L USC-Medicine mandatory listserver
8 USC-MICB-L USC-Microbiology and Immunology mandatory listserver
9 USC-NESU-L USC-Neurological Surgery mandatory listserver
10 USC-NEUR-L USC-Neurology mandatory listserver
11 USC-OBGY-L USC-Obstetrics and Gynecology mandatory listserver
12 USC-OPTH-L USC-Ophthalmology mandatory listserver
13 USC-ORTH-L USC-Orthopedics mandatory listserver
14 USC-OTOL-L USC-Otolaryngology mandatory listserver
15 USC-PATH-L USC-Pathology mandatory listserver
16 USC-PEDS-L USC-Pediatrics mandatory listserver
17 USC-PHBI-L USC-Physiology and Biophysics mandatory listserver
18 USC-PMED-L USC-Preventive Medicine mandatory listserver
19 USC-PSYC-L USC-Psychiatry mandatory listserver
20 USC-RAON-L USC-Radiation Oncology mandatory listserver
21 USC-RADI-L USC-Radiology mandatory listserver
22 USC-SURG-L USC-Surgery mandatory listserver
23 USC-UROL-L USC-Urology mandatory listserver
24 USC-MFA-L USC MFA listserver (voluntary subscription): messages from the MFA.
25 USC-MED-L USC Med School Faculty listserver (voluntary subscription): messages from the Office of Faculty Affairs.

Other lists.

At this time, it is intended to:

· Add the MFA representative and a delegate of the Department Chair of a department as owners of that department's mandatory list.

· Create a second set of department-specific lists that would allow for voluntary subscription and posting by any member of the list.

There are also faculty- or organization-maintained lists. Owners of these lists are invited to submit the names and addresses of these lists to the Secretary of the MFA for posting on the MFA WWW site.  Submitted lists include:

· USC-HRK-GOV-L:  Messages regarding governance at the USC from Harvey Kaslow, Associate Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, USC School of Medicine.  During the mid-1990's, the issuance of altered contracts as the only employment the University would offer to tenured basic science faculty began a debate that included litigation between these faculty and the University.  This list-server arose from an attempt to inform the University community about these events and to stimulate debate.  Dr. Kaslow was then elected Secretary and subsequently President of the Medical Faculty Assembly, and email activity shifted to the lists described above.  However, certain messages that are not official communications are still broadcast via this list, and the list may become more active after the end of Dr. Kaslow's term in office.  Faculty are not automatically subscribed to USC-HRK-GOV-L.  They must subscribe on their own, or request Dr. Kaslow to to subscribe them by sending the request to hkaslow@hsc.usc.edu


Posted by Harvey Kaslow