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Maryland Psychological Association for Graduate Students
MPAGS Listserv
The American Psychological Association Practice Organization (APAPO) provides the electronic mailing lists for MPA (and MPAGS), and other state associations, without charge as a public service. In other words, MPA’s MARYLAND listserv is "hosted" by APAPO servers. As such, MPA and all participants must adhere to APA’s specific guidelines in order to remain a part of these services, particularly as applies to posting advertising, full-text articles, political endorsements, and discussions not appropriate to the tax status.
The MPA forum is available only to members of the Maryland Psychological Association. Participation is a privilege, not a right. Participants may be removed from the list under certain circumstances as described below. The MPA Executive Director is responsible for the enforcement of list policies.
MPAGS Listserv Policies (.pdf)
Instructions, “Netiquette”, Policies and Rules
MPAGS is creating an e-mail listserv/discussion group for members only. It is intended to provide our members a means to exchange information, engage in discussion, and remain informed of MPAGS and MPA activities.
The following outlines our instructions, “netiquette”, policies and rules.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. JOINING THE MPAGS LISTSERV
- As this is a list for MPAGS members only, those who wish to join the MPAGS email list cannot do it without approval. Requests should be e-mailed to Linda Dunn at members@marylandpsychology.org. In addition, when new members join MPAGS they are asked to indicate if they would like to be included on the MPAGS listserv.
2. ADJUSTING THE LIST TO YOUR NEEDS
3. TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE MPA LISTSERV
- To send a message to the MPAGS listserv, address your email to: MPASTUDENTS@lists.apapractice.org.
NETIQUETTE
Because some of our members may be new to email discussion groups, the following email etiquette rules are posted here to help you become aware of the niceties of this type of communication. These rules have evolved over time as people have had experience with email lists.
- Please be sure to sign each message using your full name and include the email address you would want readers to use to contact you directly. Important: please also include which school or institution with whom you are currently associated.
e.g.: Ima Student, M.S.
Graduate University
Imastudent@graduateuniversity.edu
If your signature is included with your email and contains this information, this will suffice.
- Important: PLEASE send personal messages (e.g., "I would like to volunteer for the group you notified the listserv about")
back to the intended reader, NOT to the whole list. This will cut down on extraneous emails flooding people’s inboxes.
- On a related note, always be sure to check the address line before sending your message. With some email programs,
it is easy to send a message to the whole group by mistake when you think you are replying to an individual. Besides
cluttering everyone's mailbox, this could be very embarrassing or even damaging to you or someone else.
- Try to keep your messages constructive, courteous, and brief.
- If you are replying to another person’s message, include only the essential information from the previous message. When possible,
put your reply at the start of the message so that readers do not have to scroll past repeated information to get the current message.
- Be sure your subject heading reflects the content of your message. Sometimes when a thread develops,
the main content changes. If you continue to use the original subject heading, others may be confused as
to the current content of the message.
- Be supportive of fellow list members. As discussion gets going furiously on some topics, don't forget that some people on the
list don't know you are a sweetheart under that sarcastic growl! Keep it cool.
- Use copyrighted material only with permission (see below).
Please do not copy and distribute other members' communications unless you have obtained their expressed permission to do so. Listserv members' email communications are intended for the listserv membership only. Essentially, this will maintain a boundary between the members' forum and cyberspace at large and protect intended meanings and contexts.
MPAGS LISTSERV POLICIES AND RULES
The American Psychological Association Practice Organization (APAPO) provides the electronic mailing lists for MPA (and MPAGS), and other state associations, without charge as a public service. In other words, MPA’s MARYLAND listserv is "hosted" by APAPO servers. As such, MPA and all participants must adhere to APA’s specific guidelines in order to remain a part of these services, particularly as applies to posting advertising, full-text articles, political endorsements, and discussions not appropriate to the tax status.
The MPA forum is available only to members of the Maryland Psychological Association. Participation is a privilege, not a right. Participants may be removed from the list under certain circumstances as described below. The MPA Executive Director is responsible for the enforcement of list policies.
RULES AND STANDARDS FOR THE MPA LISTSERV
In subscribing to this forum, and especially if you send messages to the forum, you are agreeing to four rules.
The Rules are:
Rule 1: Do not use the forum for illegal purposes, including but not limited to defamation of character, violation of intellectual property laws, violation of antitrust or unfair competition laws, violation of criminal laws, or infringement of copyright laws. Sending an entire article to the listserv without the permission of the author or publisher results in a prima facie case of copyright violation. A synopsis of the article may be given and a link may be made to the original site.
Rule 2: Do not intentionally interfere with or disrupt other list members, network services, or network equipment. This includes distribution of unsolicited advertisement or chain letters, propagation of computer worms and viruses, and use of the network to make unauthorized entry to any other machine accessible via the Forum. CONTACT THE MPA WEBMASTER IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT A VIRUS OR WORM (webmaster@marylandpsychology.org).
Rule 3: Although members are NOT allowed to use the listserv for commercial purposes such as advertising services, MPAGS members can post job openings on the listserv as long as the members cannot benefit in any monetary compensation (i.e. a referral bonus) from the posting AND as long as the job posting is for graduate students only and during the duration of graduate training (not including job positions post graduate school or post internship, as these are posted elsewhere on the MPA site). MPAGS members can post links associated with their or their colleagues’ dissertations as long as there is no monetary or other compensation for participation.
Rule 4: Do not use the listserv to support in any way electioneering, soliciting funds, or the endorsement of a candidate for federal, state, or local political office.
The Standards of the listserv are:
- Sign all messages; include your email address and school affiliation.
- Keep messages concise and to the point.
- Please backchannel, or email individuals individually, when it is not necessary for the entire list to read your post.
- Use the subject line to describe the content of your message. This will help lists members who choose not to read all messages to decide whether or not to read your message.
- If you use software that repeats a message in your response, please repeat only that portion of the message that is essential.
By following these rules and standards, a climate will be created that encourages trust, collegiality and friendly, informative and spontaneous discourse.
LISTSERV VIOLATION POLICY
Failure to adhere to the rules may result in your removal from the list. The process for removal from the list is as follows:
1. A warning (via email) will be sent to the violator with a reminder of the rules and explanation of the violation.
2. If the member continues to violate the rules of the list, MPAGS’ Communications Chair will send the member a second warning. The member will be informed of the nature of the violation(s) and will be informed that a third violation will result in suspension from the forum for six months.
3. A third violation will result in the member being suspended from the list for six months.
After a person has been suspended from a listserv for six months they may be eligible to resubscribe to the list. A reapplication for listserv privileges will be made to the list administrator. Reapplication does not guarantee immediate reinstatement. If reinstated, prior offenses will be disregarded and the violation procedure will start again. If not reinstated, the rational for the decision will be sent to the member. Decisions not to reinstate a member shall be reviewed and approved by the MPAGS Board prior to notification to the member.
In egregious cases, MPA's Communications Chair can immediately suspend the violator.
A fuller explanation of some of the Legal Risks of APA-hosted Listserv use are described by Nathalie F. P. Gilfoyle, General Counsel, American Psychological Association:
It is amazing to think that 10 years ago it was rare to meet someone who participated in an electronic listserv. Today listservs are the means of choice for people across the country and around the world to discuss issues of common interest. This is particularly true in a professional association like APA where knowledge is highly valued and lively debate is welcome.
Lists or listservs have many positive attributes and can serve the interests of furthering organizations' purposes in myriad ways. But because this article is being written by APA legal counsel you probably know that it will highlight some of the pitfalls that can ensnare the unwary in list discussions. So here are a few of the top trouble areas and some guidance on how List Administrators and List members can avoid problems.
1. Copyright -- Not infrequently a list member wants to tell others about an article or news item related to the issues discussed on the List. It may surprise you to learn that sending the entire article to the list, without the permission of the author or publisher, results in a prima facie case of copyright violation. While there can be defenses to a claim of copyright infringement where the purpose of copying is clearly not for commercial purposes (e.g. "fair use" or academic teaching exceptions), those defenses are complicated, have been construed differently in different jurisdictions and are not necessarily applicable to listserv distribution. It is okay to provide a brief quote from the copyrighted material or to provide a link to the story if it is published electronically but it is best to refrain from posting an entire item to the List.
2. Defamation- Sometimes a robust debate about ideas spills over into ad hominem attacks on the proponents or opponents of the ideas. List members need to be reminded that a false statement that harms someone's reputation can be actionable as libel. There is a substantial difference between disagreeing with how someone did their research or treated a patient and accusing the person of fraud or incompetence. Because negative statements that impugn someone's professional qualifications can cause substantial economic and emotional harm, this is an area for careful scrutiny. Keeping criticism on an objective basis that is factually verifiable and skipping personal commentary about character, competence or motive minimizes legal risk.
3. Antitrust concerns- The antitrust laws are broad and complex but on a very basic level they operate to prohibit and even in some cases criminalize certain anticompetitive agreements between competitors. A professional association like APA is almost by definition a group of competitors that has come together to pursue common interests. Where those common interests involve agreements on such terms of competition as rates charged, salaries paid, standards applicable to members of the profession, and other issues of the marketplace, the antitrust laws apply. Listservs provide a written record of statements that can create an antitrust risk even when there is no anti-competitive intent. Thus for the protection of everyone discussions about rates charged in a given area, efforts to exert collective pressure on payors, terms of contracts with insurance companies, internship salaries, etc, all are prohibited.
4. Risks affecting tax exemption- While using the list to endorse political candidates in a federal, state, or local election or for commercial purposes likely won't expose a member to personal legal risk, it can jeopardize APA's tax exempt status under section 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code. To keep this advantageous tax status, APA cannot ever be involved in or support in any way electioneering or endorse a candidate for federal, state, or local political office. APA must assure that its activities are focused on the scientific, educative, and charitable purposes for which it gained tax-exempt status.
This list of legal risks is not exhaustive but List administrators who keep an eye on these areas should be in good shape. As always if you have doubt or questions contact any of us in the APA Office of General Counsel.
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