There is an online email tutorial created by the Library which serves as a useful introduction.
All enrolled students are provided with an email account by the University. Each student will have a Username (or login id) and Password which will be handed out on a printed form to first-time enrolling students at enrolment. If you have already been issued with an email account in previous years, continue to use this account.
Email is an abbreviation for electronic mail. Like normal mail, email is used to communicate between individuals but unlike normal mail, email is delivered almost instantaneously. Flinders University provides email via a program called IMP which is accessed through an Internet browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer.
Email will be used by students to communicate with each other and with University staff and is provided for your individual use on University-related work. Students cannot be required to use email for academic purposes unless the relevant School provides or funds the equipment required to access the service in circumstances appropriate to completing any required work.
Yes, there is a web page which provides the facility to change your password,located at http://www.flinders.edu.au/fan/ .
Flinders Authentication Names (FANs) and passwords will be issued to new students at enrolment. Continuing students who have never used their accounts previously and have lost their details may obtain them from Student Records on presentation of identification.
Each faculty will have designated computer laboratories where email can be accessed. The Library has machines available for students to read and send email on each level of every branch. Details of these locations can be found on page 10. You may also access your email from anywhere off campus that has a computer with Internet access and a copy of a web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer.
Your email address will look like this:
abcd1234@flinders.edu.au
where abcd are the first four letters of your surname and 1234 are numbers as shown on the printed form given to you at enrolment (If you have less than four letters in your surname then this will be used ‘as is’).
If someone on campus is sending you email they can use abcd1234 as your email address. If they are off-campus then they must use the formabcd1234@flinders.edu.au.
The support staff in the faculty where you normally access your email can reset your password. You can also go to the Information Desk at the Central or Sturt Libraries where staff can reset passwords. The staff of the Student Records Office cannot reset passwords.
Nothing. Once you have your login details and have found a site that supports email access you are ready to begin. Since there are many sites on campus and each site is slightly different, you will need to collect site-specific information for the location from which you intend to access email. This information will be placed either at the entrance to the computer laboratory or in the laboratory itself. If you cannot find any information, inquire from the people designated as responsible for that particular location.
Either Firefox or Internet Explorer may be used. The Internet address (commonly called a URL - universal resource locator) that you need to access is
This web page has an on-line users guide (New User Introduction)with detailed descriptions on how to use IMP. It is well worth an initial browse of the guide before you begin your first email session, however most of the basic steps to send and receive email are described below.
The IMPweb page has space for you to supply three pieces of information. One of these is already selected as a default - the name of the email server which holds your email messages and preferences, namely CENTRAL email server.
The other two fields are Username and Password. This is the information supplied to you at enrolment time. The username consists of the first four letters of your surname followed by a four digit number (If you have less than four letters in your surname then this will be used ‘as is’).
Once you have typed this information into the spaces provided (click the mouse button in the space before you type, or use the tab key to move from field to field) click the button labelled LOGIN and you will be connected to a web page which will allow you to begin sending and receiving email.
The first thing you should do now is send some email to yourself to make sure everything is working correctly. Consult the IMP user notes on pages 12-16 of this leaflet.
At the end of every session, you must remember to click the LOGOUT button. If you forget to do this, then the next student to sit at the computer you have just vacated will be able to read your email, delete your saved email and send email messages in your name!
ALWAYS logout before you walk away!
The important thing to remember about email is that it is not private. Once you send a message you have no control over what happens to it. The recipient may forward it on to someone else, or print it on a common printer where others may see it. Even if the recipient deletes your message, it will probably be stored on a backup tape somewhere, so it can come back to haunt you.
Use of email and the University's computing facilities are governed by the University's Computer Facility Rules as listed in the University Calendar. A copy is also available on the Administration World Wide Web server in Volume 3 of the Calendar (http://adminwww.flinders.edu.au/Calendar/Vol3/SecD.htm)
In addition, you must adhere to the local rules of a particular Computer Facility and to any instruction given by University staff responsible for its operation.
Misuse of email or a Computer Facility can result in the loss of email privileges. Some of the items defined in the Computer Facility rules as misuse are listed below:
4.1.4 Divulging to any other person the password associated with the user's identity.
4.1.6 Using any password other than the password associated with the user's own identity.
4.1.10 Gaining access to another's electronic mailbox or reading another person's electronic mail without his or her permission.
4.1.11 Sending any fraudulent electronic transmission.
4.1.13 Using the University's computer facilities to harass or threaten other users.
If you detect a misuse of email or receive email which you find offensive you should initially contact the staff member responsible for your local computer laboratory.
Email is provided for your individual use on University related work. University network and computer facilities are available to you for the pursuit of legitimate University work and may not be used for commercial gain, private business interests, promulgation of personal ideologies and vendettas, chain letters, harassment or the like.
Misuse of the facilities will result in immediate suspension of your email access privileges pending disciplinary procedures.
What is my email address?
Your email address will look like this:
abcd1234@flinders.edu.au
where abcd1234 is the username shown on the printed form received at enrolment.
The form of the username is the first four letters of your surname followed by a four digit number. (If you have less than four letters in your surname then this will be used ‘as is’).
Can I change my password?
Yes, there is a web page which provides the facility to change your password,located at https://www.flinders.edu.au/fan/.
Where can I access email on campus?
Every faculty has designated areas where email can be accessed. The library has machines available for students to read and send email on each level of every branch.
Can I print email messages?
You can print email messages in some locations. Please see your local support area documentation for details. A charge may be made for printing and printing may not be available in all locations.
Can email be sent on and off campus?
Yes, email can be sent anywhere on and off campus. You are reminded however that email has been provided to assist and support you with your University work.
Can I dial-in from home?
Yes, if you have an account with a commercial Internet Service Provider and a copy of a current web browser, such as Firefox or Internet Explorer. You may access your email from anywhere in the world.
Can I forward mail to another email account?
Yes, if you have access to the World Wide Web. Use the URL https://mail.flinders.edu.au/ to type in your forwarding address.
Is email secure and private?
No, email is potentially neither secure nor private. Once you send a message you have no control over what happens to it. The email message passes through various networks and computer systems over which we have no control. The email is also in plain text.
Is email monitored?
The University reserves the right to monitor all email but will only do so where there is evidence of misuse.
How do I find another person’s email address?
You ask them. There is no directory of student email addresses.
Can I use email to communicate with my lecturer?
Ask in the first lecture since not all staff use email. Some lecturers may encourage the use of email as a means of communication, others may prefer written or verbal communication.
What happens if I withdraw from study?
Email will remain active while you are a currently enrolled student. If you withdraw completely or if your enrolment is cancelled you will no longer be able to access email.
Will I lose email access over the summer vacation?
No, provided you complete your re-enrolment in the normal enrolment period.
Can I keep my email messages?
Your email is saved in a home area on the email server and will not normally be deleted. However the system administrator may delete any email older than 4 months if storage space is over stretched. As a general rule you should regularly clean up old messages, paying particular attention to any sizeable email attachments.
Mail left in your inbox which has been read will be expired after 30 days, and unread mail after 60 days. Expired mail is deleted on the first of every month.
How much space do I have for messages?
The disk storage space set aside for student email is considerable. However this can be rapidly filled if just a few people begin to receive extremely large email attachments (such as pictures) and they do not delete them within a reasonably short time (days). For this reason, every student email account has a disk quota of 10 megabytes (the soft quota) and some leeway (an extra 2 megabytes) called the hard quota. Once you exceed your soft quota you will receive an email to alert you to this, and you then have 7 days to remove excess messages to get under the soft quota. After 7 days over your soft quota new incoming email will bounce back to the sender with an explanation. You cannot exceed your hard quota, doing so will also cause email to bounce.
Can I send or receive files?
Yes, files can be sent or received as attachments to email, but beware of the space restrictions mentioned above. Download your attachments as soon as possible and then delete them from the server.
There are many locations on Campus where email can be accessed. Some locations are shared facilities across faculties (eg Sturt Buildings) and some areas can only be used by students from a particular school (eg School of Medicine).
Each laboratory has its own rules and regulations. Please read the rules relating to the site you are using.
Many of the computer laboratories are also used for teaching. Please check the information on the door for opening hours and avoid using laboratories when they are booked for teaching.
Engineering Building
Computer Labs: room 214 Contact Staff: Carla Cripps room 433
Ruth Mitchell room 433
Flinders Medical Centre (students enrolled in School of Medicine topics only)
Computer Labs: rooms 5E205, 5E208 - 5E224, Medical Library Contact Staff: Neil Huggett room 5E202
Paul Stoll room 5E203
Humanities Building
Computer Labs: room 105 Contact Staff: Ralph Knobloch room 128
Information Science Building
Computer Labs: Information Science & Technology Building Contact Staff: IST Help Desk room 259
Law/Commerce Building
For Law/Legal Studies students Computer Labs: room 1.15 Contact Staff: Brendan White room 2.06
For Commerce studentsComputer Labs: rooms 1.13, 1.14 Contact Staff: Trevor Mather room 253SSN
Chris Hankel room 254SSS
Library
Branches: Central, Law, Medical, Sturt Contact Staff: Information Desk
Physical Sciences Building
Computer Labs: Computer Mediated Learning Unit Contact Staff: Computer Support Unit room 2026
Social Sciences Buildings
Computer Labs: rooms 106N, 107N, 221N, 010S Contact Staff: Trevor Mather room 253SSN
Chris Hankel Room 254SSS
IMP NOTES
What is IMP?
IMP is an electronic mail (email) system. It works from any standard web browser and your electronic mail can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
How do I use IMP?
The best way to learn to use IMP is to explore it on your own. IMP was designed to make it easy for you to learn to use email: there are buttons to click on each screen for all common email tasks and there is an online users guide if you wish to read about it in more detail.
This leaflet is a basic guide to sending, receiving, deleting and saving mail messages using IMP. The following sections are an abbreviated version of the on-line New User Introduction.
To Send an Email Message
Click on the Compose button to bring you to the Compose page. Fill in the various fields and then click the Send Message button. You can move between the various fields by using the tab key.
(a) To: Field
This field is for entering the address of the recipient of the piece of email you are about to send. Mostly this will be a full email address, such as bobsmith@unipas.com. However if you know that your email is only going locally (on campus) then you may just use the short form email address e.g. will3475.
(b) Contacts - how to use it.
Contacts is an address book, which is there to allow quick access to email addresses that you use regularly. To add an address from your Contacts list, click on the book icon next to the address in the Read Message page. Alternatively, you can click on the Contacts button in the left-hand menu, or on the Contacts link on the Compose message page.
Simply select the contact from the drop-down list and click Select, then click on the button for the field you wish to paste the address into- there are 3 buttons available: Insert into To:, Insert into Cc: and Insert into Bcc:. Each new address you add is placed at the end of the line with a comma separator so you will not always see the most recently added address. Clicking the Clear button removes everything from the selected field.
You can add, delete or modify an address in your Contacts list, from the Contacts page.
(c) CC: Field - Carbon Copy List
This text box is provided for you to enter the addresses of other people who are to receive a copy of the email message that you are writing. All recipients are aware that others have also received the message.
(d) BCC: Field - Blind Carbon Copy
This allows you to enter an address or list of addresses for blind carbon copies. Blind means that the main recipient of the message will not know that you have sent carbon copies to others.
(e) From: Field
Normally this will be your email address, which will already be filled in.
(f) Attachments: Field - Attachments
This field is for you to type in the full path to any files that you would like to send as an attachment. Attachment is the term for a file that is sent to the receiver of your message along with your email. The receiver can save the file when it arrives and then use it as if they had created it themselves.
To help you quickly find the file that you want to send you can click on the Browse... button. This will open a Find File or Upload File window in your web browser from which you can look around your machine or network to find the file you are after. If the Browse button does not appear next to the Attach field it is probably because the browser you are using does not support this feature - you might need to upgrade your browser if this is the case.
(g) Subject: Field
This field is provided for you to enter the subject of your message. This entry is normally what is displayed by most email programs on their New Mail Lists so that the user can see what the message is about.
Make your message subjects short and concise. Often there isn't much room for it to be displayed in a mail list and so your subject will be cropped to fit the space.
(h) large unlabelledField
This big field is where you finally get to type your important message. You can press the enter or return key at the end of each line or just let the browser wrap the lines as you type them.
(i) Spell Check In link
Clicking on this link once you have entered your message, will initiate a spelling check of the message body , in the language you select from the drop-down list (normally this will be the default of English). The spell check will return a page indicating any words which it does not know or thinks are spelt incorrectly. From there you can make corrections, add the words to the dictionary, etc.
(j) Cancel Message button
If you change your mind about sending the message, click the Cancel Message button
(k) Save Draft button
If you are interrupted or have to leave the Compose message window, before you are ready to send your message, you may want to save your incomplete message as a draft, rather than lose all yout typing. Click on the Save Draft button to save the message.
(l) Send Message button
When you have finished typing your message, and are ready to send it , click on the Send Message button.
To Read an Email Message
First click the INBOX button to see a list of incoming email messages. Then click on the subject of the message that you want to read in the mail list. Each subject line has been made into a clickable link (it is underlined), which takes you to a page for reading that particular message.
The main portion of this page simply contains the message. The first few lines, known as the 'Header Lines', give information on the message, such as who it was addressed to, who it was from, time sent, etc. The Header Lines are then followed by the body of the message, usually the part that you're actually interested in.
Clicking the Delete link (underlined) makes IMP delete the message you are viewing. IMP automatically makes a copy of deleted messages in the Trash Can folder, which is stored until the Trash Can is emptied. The Trash Can is emptied either when you logout of IMP, or when you click on the Expunge link on the INBOX page.
Clicking the Reply link takes you to the Create a Message page while automatically inserting the sender's address into the To: field. The body of the message being read will also be pasted into the new message's body in a commented out form, i.e. with '>' marks at the start of each line.
Clicking the Reply to all link is as per the simple Reply link, but the reply that you write is sent to all of the addresses on the original message's To: and CC: fields.
Clicking the Forward link loads the Forward Messages page so that you can type in the address of the person to whom you wish to forward the message.
Clicking the Bounce link loads the Bounce page so that you can type in the address of the person to whom you wish to bounce the message.
Clicking the Resume button takes you back to edit the previous message you composed
Clicking the Save as button allows you to save the message on your local computer.
You can also Move or Copy the message to another folder. Select the folder from the drop-down list and the click on either Move or Copy, depending on whether you want to keep a copy of the message in your INBOX folder (Copy) or not (Move).
.Yo can move between message by clicking on the arrows next to the "Back to INBOX" link, or click on the link itself to return to the listing of your incoming mail in your INBOX.
Conclusion
This document is a basic guide to using IMP. You can only really become familiar with all of IMP’s functionality by using it.
The online help is quite good and should provide you with any additional information that you may want.