Overview
In spring 2024, ITS is launching Listserv for mailing list management at USC. Listserv is a modern and secure platform, and it replaces USC's previous mail list tool, Sympa.
Who is affected
Sympa mail list addresses are formatted as list-name@mymaillists.usc.edu and list-name@usc.edu. If you have send access to an @mymaillists.usc.edu address, you are affected by this change: please review the information below to prepare for the migration to Listserv.
If you receive emails from an @mymaillists.usc.edu address but do not send emails to the address, you are not affected by this change and do not need to take action.
Changes to existing mail lists (for anyone with send access)
Once the mail list owner schedules the migration from Sympa to Listserv, the mail list email address will change:
- Old (Sympa address): list-name@mymaillists.usc.edu; list-name@usc.edu
- New (Listserv address): list-name@maillist.usc.edu
To avoid a delivery failure when emailing the mail list, please obtain the new email address from the list owner. You can email ts@dornsife.usc.edu if you are unsure who the list owner is.
Changes to existing mail lists (for list owners)
Select a migration date for your mail list
List owners will receive an email from ITS later in the coming weeks. This email will ask owners to select a date to migrate from Sympa to Listserv, and includes training and resources.
Update the mail list address and let list members know
Once your mail list is migrated from Sympa to Listserv, the address will change:
- Old (Sympa address): list-name@mymaillists.usc.edu; list-name@usc.edu
- New (Listserv address): list-name@maillist.usc.edu
You will need to communicate this address update to any list users with permission to send to the mail list: otherwise, their messages may result in a delivery failure.
Changes to new mail lists
Starting February 14, new mail lists must be created in Listserv, not Sympa:
A note about Emma (MyEmma)
If you use the Emma (also known as MyEmma) platform for email distribution rather than Outlook or Gmail, you are most likely not using mail lists and are unaffected by this change.
To make sure that you are not affected:
- Log into your account at https://home.e2ma.net.
- Click the Audience tab.
- Type mymaillists into the Search field.
- If there are no results, you do not need to take further action. If results display, you will need to update those contacts from @mymaillists.usc.edu to @maillist.usc.edu.
As a longer term best practice, we recommend adding list subscribers as individual contacts in Emma, rather than grouped together into mail lists.
Additional resources
ITS will be offering training sessions to list owners. Additionally, ITS provides the following resources for learning to use the Listserv interface:
Make sure that you are in compliance with USC policy when using mail lists: