Vox Daily Guidelines

VOX Daily is a digest of news, announcements, and events sent to faculty, staff, and students.

Submissions to Vox Daily are managed by the Office of Communications. For help, see the frequently asked questions below. For other questions or further help, email vox@dartmouth.edu or call the Office of Communications at 603-646-3661.

Frequently Asked Questions

VOX is an electronic news digest sent to faculty, staff and students each business day (if there are items awaiting publication). Published announcements are also available for online browsing on this website.

How is this different from the official bulk email messages sent out?

Official bulk email messages involve major announcements or emergencies, sent as the need arises, with one specific message. VOX is intended to communicate news that is relevant to the educational process or ongoing College business. Messages must relate to Dartmouth College programs, operations, or facilities. Unlike official bulk email, it is sent on a regular basis at preset times and may contain several messages from different senders.

How often does VOX get sent?

Monday through Friday, except for holidays.

Can I post my event to VOX?

Yes, but departments and offices are also encouraged to publicize events on the Dartmouth Events Calendar.

Submission Guidelines

What are the submission guidelines?

VOX is intended to communicate news that is relevant to the educational process or ongoing College business. In general, messages should pertain specifically to Dartmouth academic or administrative announcements or events.

Submissions must contain the name of the submitter, a valid Dartmouth email address, a subject line, and a summary of the announcement in 500 characters or less. If any of these are missing, or there are misspellings or other grammatical errors, the submission will be rejected.

We've received feedback from our readers that items using ALL CAPS makes reading all the messages challenging. Moving forward, we will be editing those posts and removing the all caps.
Please refrain from submitting VOX posts containing ALL CAPS.

Not permitted are solicitations for human research subjects; political announcements; academic course promotions; or sales or solicitations for donations to a personal cause.

What are some recommendations for successfully communicating a message?

Be succinct, placing the most pertinent facts first. Write for the reader, answering the question "how will this affect me?" Assume the reader knows little or nothing about the item being announced, especially taking care when using acronyms. It's best to first spell out the entire name, followed by the acronym in parentheses. For events, include what the event is, who is involved, where it will take place, the day and time, and contact information.

Who can submit items to VOX?

Only faculty and staff of Dartmouth College may submit items for VOX; submissions from students are not accepted.

What are the publication deadlines?

Items submitted before 3 p.m. on weekdays will usually be distributed to the appropriate list(s) early the next morning, unless a different distribution date is indicated. All items are reviewed for approval by the Office of Communications.

Any edits or changes must also be completed by 3 p.m. on the business day before publication. Items submitted over weekends or holidays will not be approved until the next business day. For example, to ensure publication in a Monday issue of Vox Daily, the item must be submitted by 3 p.m. on the previous Friday.

What groups are available?

You may send the item to all populations or select specific groups, including all undergraduates or undergraduates by year; graduate students by school; all faculty or faculty by school; and all staff or staff by school.

Who approves messages?

Messages are approved by a staff member of the Office of Communications.

Can I opt out of receiving the VOX Daily digest?

No. VOX is an official Dartmouth communication and its announcements may affect your day-to-day activities and responsibilities.

Could my announcement be edited by VOX staff?

The submitter is solely responsible for the content of a message. VOX staff review messages and approve or reject them, in their entirety, based on the submission guidelines. The staff assume no editorial responsibilities.

Using VOX Daily

How do I submit a new item?

Step 1: Log on to http://vox.dartmouth.edu using your NetID and password.

Step 2: Click on the "Manage Updates" link in the top navigation bar, then choose "Submit Item."

Step 3: Select which groups should receive the posting. Specifying ALL of any group will automatically select all subgroups.

Step 4: Complete all appropriate fields.

From Name: This information will appear in the From line of your news item in VOX. You may enter your name as the sender, or the department, organization, or person for whom you are writing, as the sender.
From Email Address: This is the accompanying address for the From Name. It should be an actual email address, though it can be a group, department or alternate email address.
Subject Line: Enter up to 60 characters summarizing your item. Be specific: Don't just say "Deadline" or "Announcement." Try to include a noun and a verb. The subject line should explain your item enough to give readers an idea about the content of the message.
Publication Date: Your submission will be published in the next issue unless you specify a different publication date.
Message Text: Enter up to 500 characters (approximately 5 lines of text). You may type directly into the field or copy and paste it from another source, but note that special formatting (bold, italics, specified fonts, bullets, etc.), HTML, or attachments are not allowed. You should therefore be brief and to the point. This message text will be included in VOX. If your message requires more space, use the "Extended Info" field.
Extended Info: This is an optional field. Either enter a URL directing the reader to more information on your website or enter an extended message. This text will be readable from the VOX Daily website but is not included in the sent digest.

Step 5: Preview your posting and make any changes before submitting your news item. Note that what is displayed approximates what the reader will see, as formatting depends on the email client being used and its configuration. In other words, you will not be able to control how the message looks, only the content.

Step 6: Submit the item for publication. Once submitted, you can still view, copy, edit or cancel it (if unpublished).

How do I copy an existing item?

Step 1: Click on the "Manage Updates" link in the top navigation bar.

Step 2:Locate the item you wish to copy and click on "Copy" in its Action field. Note: The Copy function, similar to a "Save As", creates a duplicate of an existing posting.

Step 3: The item is displayed on the submission page, containing the same content of your original message. Make any necessary changes (such as selecting a different group and/or publication date, or altering the message text).

Step 4: Preview your posting and make any further changes.

Step 5: Submit the item for publication. Once submitted, you can still view, copy, edit or cancel it (if unpublished).

How do I edit an unpublished item?

Step 1: Click on the "Manage Updates" link in the top navigation bar.

Step 2: In the right side column, select "View Your Items." Locate the item you wish to edit and click on "Edit" in its Action field. Note: The Edit option is available only if the item has not already been published. It is used to alter an existing item. To create a duplicate item that is similar but different, use the Copy function.

Step 3: The original item is displayed on the submission page. Make any necessary changes.

Step 4: Preview your posting and make any further changes.

Step 5: Resubmit the item for publication. Once resubmitted, you can still view, copy, edit or cancel it (if unpublished).

How do I cancel an unpublished item?

Step 1: Click on the "Manage Updates" link in the top navigation bar.

Step 2: Locate the item you wish to cancel and click on "Cancel" in its Action field. Note: The Cancel option is available only if the item has not already been published.

My announcement becomes effective next week. Can I post an announcement in advance of when I want it sent?

Yes, you can post an announcement and set it to be delivered up to a month in the future.

Can I send a message on behalf of my department and have it come from an address other than my own?

Yes, you can enter a name and address on behalf of someone else or the department in the corresponding "From" fields. The address must be an active Dartmouth email address. The entered name will appear in the VOX digest item. Note that upon submission of an item, a confirmation is mailed to the submitter and to the address in the "From" field (if these differ).

What's the deadline for a next-day submission?

Items should be in by 3 p.m. during business days. Any edits or changes must also be completed by 3 p.m. on the business day before publication.

I would like my item to appear every day for a week. Can I do this?

You are limited to sending a specific announcement once a week unless a significant detail has been changed (i.e., room change, time change, deadline altered, etc.)

I submitted an item but learned that the announcement has been delayed. What can I do to make sure this isn't mailed out to everyone?

Click on the "Manage Updates" link, then locate the item you wish to cancel in the queue. If it has not been published, either cancel it or edit the necessary details and resubmit a corrected version.

My item was rejected. What can I do differently to make sure it's acceptable?

Review the guidelines for VOX Daily to make sure you have stayed within them. The item should relate to Dartmouth College programs, operations, or facilities. Sales or solicitations for donations are not permitted. Anyone submitting an item that is not approved will receive an email notification that includes an explanation. If you have further questions after reading the email, contact vox@dartmouth.edu.

I have a flyer I'd like to distribute. Can I send attachments through VOX?

Attachments are not allowed. You can instead post the flyer to your website and include its URL as part of your announcement.

How do I insert an active URL or email address in my message?

Simply enter the complete URL, including the http://, or for an email address (Name@dartmouth.edu) to make them clickable links in the messages.

Last updated: November 20, 2020