We are continually working to improve our services, and as part of this effort, we will be making some changes to our Listserv policies. Listserv is based on aging technology, has some security concerns, and has seen a decline in usage due to the adoption of new tools.  These changes will improve the efficiency and security of our email systems and provide you with more modern and flexible options for collaboration.

Starting December 1, 2024, the following changes will take effect:

  1. No New Listserv Lists: We will no longer create new Listserv lists.
  2. Removal of Inactive Lists: Any list that hasn’t been used in over 13 months will be deleted, even if you previously requested to keep an old, unused list.
  3. Active Lists Remain: Active lists will not see any immediate changes. We will begin reaching out to list owners to explore alternatives to Listserv, such as mail-enabled distribution groups, Teams, Massmail/Dispatch, and Microsoft 365 groups.

Listserv Alternatives

  • Mail-enabled distribution groups: These have an email address and can be used to send messages to multiple recipients. Mail-enabled distribution groups are suitable for simple email communication. Membership will be managed in Access Management.  This is not an option if you have external users on your list.  Senders can be limited to certain people and have moderation
  • M365 groups: These are similar to Listserv lists but also has a shared calendar and file sharing. You can create and manage M365 groups in Outlook. M365 groups can contain external users. Subscribers can manage their own membership.
  • Teams: More suitable for discussion, file sharing, and collaboration.  Teams can contain external users. Subscribers can manage their own membership.   
  • Dispatch: Use for lists that have limited senders and no discussion/replies, such as a list that sends announcements or newsletter.  These can contain external users. 

We plan to decommission Listserv by December 2026.

  1. Login to Listserv
  2. Select List Management and select your list
  3. Select Subscriber Reports
  4. In the "Report Format" field, click the down arrow
  5. Choose CSV Format and click Update
  6. Open File Explorer and find the downloaded file.
  7. Save it with the name of your list.

NOTE:  you may need to clean up the email address field if names are listed after the email address

The list owner should send the following to its-email@uiowa.edu.  In the message, tell us:

  1. What the new mail-enabled group should be named
  2. Should the group be listed in the Global Address List? Y/N
  3. Should external users be allowed to send to the group? Y/N
  4. Does the list require moderation or limited senders? Y/N
  5. Attach the subscriber list that you exported to the message.  
  6. Who should be allowed to add/remove members?  The group will need to be added to Access Management for managing members in the Listserv Lists service.  

M365 Groups will appear in the Global Address List (GAL) unless you specifically ask us to hide it.  This means that anyone could select the group and email all the members.  

Be careful with the naming of your group -- you want to make sure it accurately reflects what the group is for and doesn't misrepresent a department, club, person, etc. since it does appear in the GAL

  1.  List owner will create the Microsoft 365 Group.  In Outlook, in the folder list, right click on Groups and select New Group.  
  2. Type the group name in the Name field
  3. Type the description of the list
  4. Select the Privacy of the group using the down arrow in the Privacy field
  5. Select "send all group email and events to members' inboxes.  They can change this setting later"
  6. Click Create
  7. Click X on the Add Members screen
  8. Click the down arrow on Group Settings
  9. Select Invite Others
  10. Click the Send an Email Invitation link
  11. In the To field, paste the addresses from your exported subscriber list (one address per line) and send the email.  NOTE: you may need to clean up the email address field from your exported subscriber list.  If it contains names after the email address, those will need to be removed)
  12. If the list requires moderation or limited senders, email its-email@uiowa.edu with who should be allowed to send and any moderators.  Note, if the subscribers send a message and it is approved by a moderator, the message may end up in Junk Email on external email systems (Gmail, Yahoo, etc)

For more information on Microsoft 365 Groups see https://its.uiowa.edu/services/microsoft-365/microsoft-365-groups and https://its.uiowa.edu/services/microsoft-365/microsoft-365-groups

The list owner should send an email to its-email@uiowa.edu with the following information:

  1. What the new Team should be named
  2. Attach a copy of the exported email addresses to the message
  3. Who should be owners of the Team

More information on Teams see https://its.uiowa.edu/services/microsoft-teams/what-microsoft-teams

Contact dispatch-support@uiowa.edu requesting access to Dispatch.

https://its.uiowa.edu/services/dispatch - this page contains general Dispatch information and FAQ's and a Quick Start Guide

If the list hasn't been used in over 13 months, it will be deleted.  We have to work on removing unused lists so we can concentrate on moving active lists to an alternate platform. 

Before December 1, review the archives to see if there is anything you need saved. 

If you want the raw data, we can share that, but it is a collection of text-only log files.  If you need to save the archives, please email its-email@uiowa.edu and request a zip file. 

Moderated lists may want to switch to a mail-enabled distribution group and limit who the group will accept messages from.  All messages would need to come from the email address(es) listed. You can also setup moderation on the distribution group if you want to limit senders or have approval of messages before they are sent to the group.

Teams you can limit the senders to only members of the group or only owners.  There is moderation ability if you create a new channel (other than the General channel)

Microsoft 365 groups allow you to limit to only users within your organization and you can also setup moderation to only allow certain individuals to send to the list, or have an individual who must approve messages.  NOTE: messages sent by non moderators to external subscribers may be placed in Junk Email

Dispatch would also allow you to send your messages from a select group of users to your list of recipients.

A Microsoft 365 group or Teams may be the best option for that.   Dispatch and Mail-enabled distribution groups will allow user to request to be removed but the owner will need to do it for them. 

If none of the Listserv alternatives seem like they will work for you, there may be external services that might work such as:

  • Another university or entity to host your list
  • Lyris listserv software  
  • GoogleGroups
  • Third-party mailing service such as Constant Contact, Salesforce, Mailchimp and others (if choosing this option you would need to work with ITS Enterprise Communications to setup DMARC for the service)

NOTE:  we do not provide support or recommendations for these services (except to setup DMARC) but we wanted to list them as options

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