Questions and Answers

• To submit a message, visit http://www.utmb.edu/announcements/
• The first time a new publisher uses the application, they will be presented with a set of guidelines which they must agree to follow.
• The required username and password are the same used for all UTMB resources (email, PC login).
• Subject and message may be typed or cut & paste from another document.
• Please categorize the announcement by target audience and announcement type, and complete required information such as name, department, phone number, and email address so readers may follow up or provide feedback.
• The submitter has a chance to preview the formatted announcement and make corrections before it is submitted.
• The announcements are published in a standard format and font. Images, graphics, animation and other effects are not supported to enhance compatibility with different devices, and to reduce the size of the compiled emails. The messages provide a spot for an optional web page URL that message publishers can use to share additional information or media.

Each weekday (Monday - Friday) excluding holidays, all messages are collected and formatted to be published for that day, and sent to all UTMB email account owners.

What if I need to edit or retract a message?

If a publisher realizes they need to make a revision or correction BEFORE an announcement has published, they can log back into the system via the same web page  to edit or retract the message.

Once a message has been published, it cannot be edited but it can be retracted (so that future instances do not get published).

To update a message that has already run, it must be retracted and resubmitted (as a new message) with the appropriate corrections.  You may elect to cut and paste the existing message before it is retracted, to save some time when you resubmit.

Please note: Only the person who submitted an announcement (or a system administrator) can edit or retract that announcement.

What if I don't want to receive daily announcements?

We are doing everything we can to make the announcements useful to the larger community at UTMB, to balance the needs of communicators who wish to reach a wide and diverse audience, and the desire of many recipients to avoid a deluge of irrelevant information.  Digital communication options have exploded in the years since this tool was originally developed, and we appreciate that almost everyone suffers from information overload. 

We are working on methods and tools to allow us to better target messaging, and to give recipients ways to manage what is sent to them. Until these tools are ready, you can add a rule to your email to delete or file away any daily announcement as it arrives (search online for instructions for mail clients other than Outlook). You will still have the option of going to the web to see the day’s announcements or do a search on previous ones you may have missed.

What's my deadline for posting a message for the following work day?

I have a question or need more information. Who do I contact?

Please reach out to the Information Services Service Desk for assistance, at ishelp@utmb.edu.