Good afternoon, ACUPA members, Now that the new ACUPA site is live, I just wanted to shoot a quick email to remind you of the "forums" feature. Below I have pasted the explanation, adapted from the most recent ACUPAexchange newsletter. We're looking toward eventually replacing the current e-list with the forum feature, because it's a more robust tool and provides much better archiving and search functionality, so we encourage you to start using it and subscribing to forums as they become populated. The e-list phase-out will happen over the coming months.
Please don't hesitate to ask questions as you start getting used to the site. We built it with you in mind, but we're ready and willing to make changes as we learn what would be best for members. Some things may not be possible, but we will tailor the site for the members and roll out new features as we can. Kind regards and happy browsing, Joshua Description of the forums follows: A forum is a Web discussion site where people can start and participate in conversations by posting messages. On the ACUPA site, conversations are called topics. If you are an ACUPA member, you can start any topic (conversation) you choose, and here's how: Go to the ACUPA home page. On the top, horizontal navigation bar, click on "FORUMS." On the page that appears, you will see two categories: "Policy" and "Other." Each category has two forums. "Policy Process" and "Policy Subject Matters" are in the "Policy" category, and "Website Management" and "Suggestions and Other Administrative Matters" are in the "Other" category. When you want to post a new topic (i.e., start a new conversation thread), simply click on the forum in which the topic belongs, and then click on "New Topic." This will open a dialogue box into which you can post your question or comment and, optionally, attach photographs or other documents. When you have completed your post, click on "SUBMIT POST." That's all there is to it! Let's say you want to ask members whether their institutions have an institutional conflict of interest policy. Open the "ACUPA FORUMS" page, go to the "Policy" category, click on "Policy Subject Matters" and then "New Topic." Type in the title bar "Institutional Conflict of Interest Policy," and in the conversation dialogue box, type your question: "I'm asking peers: Does your institution have an institutional conflict of interest policy? Any thoughts would be appreciated." Similarly, if you want to read or be part of a conversation that is already in progress, go to the "ACUPA FORUMS" page and click on any of the forum topics that have been created; the entire discussion thread will open, and you can post your comment or reply the same way that you would begin a topic. Accessing and posting on ACUPA forums is that easy! But there's an additional feature within the forum function that is very important: subscribing. You can subscribe to instant updates from the front page of any topic thread in which you have interest. Let's say the senior administration at your institution is considering whether or not to establish an institutional conflict of interest policy. You see on the ACUPA site that someone at another institution has posted the hypothetical question in the example above. Click on the topic thread, then, under "Thread Actions," on "Subscribe to Instant Updates." After that, you will receive an email anytime another member posts in that topic. Joshua Adams Director, Cornell University Policy Office and DFA Communications 35 Thornwood Dr, Suite 200 Ithaca, NY 14850 t: 607.255.8279 f: 607.254.1555 w: www.policy.cornell.edu<http://www.policy.cornell.edu/> ? Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
