Current GSA listserv subscribership includes over 1,400 GSA representatives who hold administrative positions in one or more of the five areas of GSA expertise at an AAMC-member medical school: Admissions, Student Affairs, Student Diversity Affairs, Student Financial Assistance, and Student Records.
Access to the GSA listserv is limited to*:
- Institutional GSA Representatives, who are the dean-designated persons at each AAMC-member medical school holding an administrative appointment in one or more of the five areas of GSA expertise. Typically, there are five such Institutional GSA Representatives at each member medical school. In some circumstances, a sixth Institutional GSA Representative, a member-at-large, may also be appointed by the dean; this individual shall also be an administrator in one or more of the five areas of the GSA's expertise.
- Individual GSA Members, who are self-nominated or nominated by other GSA representatives and who hold an administrative appointment at an AAMC-member medical school in one or more of the five areas of GSA expertise.
- Affiliate GSA Members, who hold an administrative appointment at a Canadian medical school in one or more of the five areas of GSA expertise.
- Members of GSA committees.
- Specific AAMC staff members who staff GSA and Organization of Student Representatives (OSR) committees or AAMC programs and services.
*The GSA Steering Committee will make exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
Rules & Etiquette
Appropriate professional etiquette is expected of all listserv subscribers. All messages sent to the GSA listserv directly by subscribers that do not contain forwarded materials from other sources will be posted, upon receipt, to the listserv. In the case of forwarded messages, listserv owners will post the forwarded message only when, in their judgment, the forwarded material is applicable to the GSA listserv audience and when the identity and institutional affiliation of the sender of the original message is included in the forwarded message. These precautions ensure that listserv subscribers will be able to judge the accuracy of information posted to the listserv and that inaccurate information will not appear on the list.
In addition, at the request of the GSA Steering Committee, the content of GSA listserv messages should be accessible only to professional staff with GSA-related responsibilities at member medical schools. Since listserv subscribers will, at times, post information of a sensitive nature, subscribers should exercise personal and professional judgment in forwarding specific listserv content to administrative staff members in their school offices who are not subscribers to the list.
Institutional Job Descriptions and/or Announcements
At the request of the GSA Steering Committee, the use of the GSA listserv to post information about the availability of administrative positions at medical schools or related position descriptions is prohibited. The GSA listserv exists to promote two-way communication among listserv subscribers about issues of importance to the GSA, not to serve as a job board. The AAMC offers a networking tool for job seekers and employers at CareerConnect.
Survey Policy
In order to avoid “survey fatigue” of its members, the GSA Steering Committee adopted the following policy on January 29, 2009:
“The Group on Student Affairs does not review outside surveys for content, structure, validity or ultimate use. It is a policy of the Group on Student Affairs not to endorse or forward surveys which are not created through its organized committee structure. The GSA will accept suggested surveys and will consider those suggested through the appropriate committees.”
Each of the five GSA national committees (admissions, student affairs, student diversity affairs, student financial aid, and student records) as well as the Steering Committee itself will review requests for surveys at their regularly scheduled meetings. Survey requests should be forwarded to the AAMC staff person responsible for the committee to which a member wishes to submit a survey. Survey requests should not be placed on the listserv. Approved surveys will be sent out by AAMC staff after approval by a national committee and the steering committee.
Signature Blocks
All GSA listserv subscribers should create a signature block that includes their name, title, institution, address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address. This signature block should be included in all listserv messages. With this information, listserv subscribers can easily identify the source of the message and contact the sender directly to discuss topics or ask questions that they may not wish to discuss publicly with all listserv subscribers.
Posting Messages
- To post messages to the GSA listserv, send an email to gsalist@lists.aamc.org.
- To respond to a listserv message, click “Reply” and your response will be sent directly to the sender of the current message. You may reply to the entire list by re-entering gsalist@lists.aamc.org in the “To:” field.
Subscribing & Unsubscribing
Send all subscription requests to gsa@aamc.org. To unsubscribe send a blank message to unsubscribe-gsalist@lists.aamc.org.
Access to the GSA listserv is limited to Institutional GSA Representatives and Individual and Affiliate GSA Members, each of whom has a GSA code in their AAMC database record designating the type of GSA-related administrative position(s) they hold at their medical school. For subscription requests please list the following in the body of the email:
- Full Name (and degree if applicable)
- Title/Position
- Institution
- Office Address
- Contact Information
Please note that, as a security measure, GSA listserv messages can be sent only from the email address contained in the subscriber's AAMC database record, since that address is used to verify the identity of the sender and the authenticity of the message. listserv messages sent from "alias" email addresses will be "bounced," (i.e., not posted to the listserv). For this reason, it is essential that listserv subscribers advise AAMC staff members immediately of any changes in their email address and use only the one email address contained in their AAMC database record when submitting email messages to the listserv.
Subscribing to Digest Format
A digest format is available for subscribers who wish to receive GSA listserv messages in a digested, three-time-per-week format. In the regular format, each subscriber receives each individual message as it is sent. The number of messages ranges from none to several per day, depending on the time of year and interest in the issue being discussed. In the digest format, a single email containing all messages for a specific period is sent to subscribers three times per week. Subscribers wishing to receive the digest format should send an email to gsa@aamc.org with the message "Prefer digested listserv format" in the Subject line. Please be advised that this is an "EITHER-OR" opportunity; subscribers can receive messages in one OR the other format. Subscribers indicating a preference for the digest format will no longer receive individual listserv messages.
Vacation Rules
Please exclude gsalist@lists.aamc.org from any automated reply rules.