What are groups and why do I want one?
Groups Overview
AU Access Groups give students, faculty, and staff at the Auburn University the ability to create and manage group space for clubs, workgroups, courses, committees or other affiliations and interests. Groups can be Public (open to any subscriber) or Restricted (open to subscribers only).
Groups must be requested and may be established in AU Access only if they:
- are composed of students ("Student Groups"), or faculty and staff of the University (“University Groups”)
- are to be used for activities related to University functions
- do not promote or support activities that violate University policies
Groups Policy:
Group requests are reviewed once per week. Public groups that are of general interest to students and faculty will be approved for one semester. All AU Access groups must not promote activities that are illegal or that violate the rights of others. Restricted groups may be created only if they are associated with a chartered student organization or university department. These groups do not expire. In making this group request, you are assuming the responsibility for ensuring content on the Group’s channel, in their group space and in any announcement distributed by the group abide by the procedures and guidelines outlined in AU Access Content Procedures & Guidelines document.
Each Group is responsible for conducting its affairs in a responsible manner consistent with the policies and procedures outlined in this document.
Group Features
AU Access groups have homepages or group space as well as access to features designed to promote effective communication among campus communities. These include: Group channel, chat, threaded discussions, photo archives, news, targeted announcements and more. Members of a group may have the ability to:
- Receive announcements targeted specifically to the Group
- Read articles posted by the group or course members and submit articles for posting
- Access links to other Internet resources the group or course considers appropriate and submit potential links
- View photos posted by the group and course members and submit photos for posting
- View information about and e-mail other group or course members
- Access a group chat room, message board, and an online calendar
- Post a personal homepage link for group or course members to access
Public and restricted groups also offer guest view pages which provide general information about the group and an option for non-members to join.
Types of Groups
AU Access Groups may be public, restricted, and/or hidden.
Public groups are open for anyone to join. They are visible in the Group Index and have a guest home page.
Membership in restricted groups is subject to certain conditions or requirements. - you must first be accepted as a member of that organization before requesting membership in the group. Groups for specific academic courses are also restricted and require you to be registered for the course before you can join the group. These groups are listed in the Group Index and have a guest page.