Managing Course Email

Most courses have a course email, also called the course SPA (special purpose account), to manage official email communications. Although they seem like regular @berkeley.edu email accounts, they are actually shared amongst multiple CalNet users.

Best Practices

  • Respond to emails within 1-2 business days. It should be the job of the professor(s) and head TA(s) to monitor the course email.
  • Use a vacation auto-responder during academic holidays. Don’t respond to emails on the weekend or holidays unless there is an emergency. Train students to wait for a response during regular business hours.
  • Not every TA needs access to the SPA. Talk with your instructor about who needs access to the SPA and why. It may be useful to document for your course which roles require SPA access (and why).
  • Add the SPA to important shared accounts when appropriate. This may include DNS administration, Docker Hub, GCP or AWS projects. Talk with your instructor about when to do so.