Resources - ListServ

A. Purpose

The Association of Recovery Schools Discussion List is an open, non-moderated, electronic distribution list sponsored by the Division of Practice and Systems Development at the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). It is set up to aid communication among researchers, educators, treatment agencies, the recovery community, treatment providers, and all levels of government. This list focuses on ideas, questions, announcements, and concerns specific to the field of recovery schools.

CSAT has identified a contractor to provide assistance with the ongoing activity and administration of this discussion list.

B. List Membership

There are no membership restrictions on who can subscribe to the "ARS Discussion List" or the messages that you can post. However you must be a registered member in order to post a message to the list (See Section D below). The list administrator reserves the right to remove subscribers for repeated failure to follow the general guidelines (below) and inappropriate postings.

C. Guidelines for Posting Messages

1. Only subscribed users are invited to post messages. To post a message to all the current ARS subscribers, simply mail it to the address: association_recovery_schools@listserv.csat-ta.net

The list manager will distribute a copy to everyone on the list.

2. Keep postings within the scope of the list. The ARS Discussion List should be used for messages of professional interest to persons concerned with the role of schools in the addiction recovery continuum of care.

3. This list should NOT be used for

a. Discussing or arguing matters outside of the topic area
b. Self-promotion, advertising of services or facilities, or lobbying.
c. Personal attacks

4. Format messages to communicate more effectively by doing the following.

a. Use a descriptive subject line. The more descriptive you are, the more likely it is that the right people will read and respond to your posting.
b. Be brief-keep paragraphs and messages short and to the point.
c. PLEASE, do not send attachments to the list. Instead, paste short documents within the body of your message. For lengthy documents, please describe the document and give instructions for retrieving it or offer to send it only to those interested.
d. For conference announcements, job postings, etc., send a brief message with an e-mail address or web address for further information.
e. Always give your postings a full signature. Include your name, affiliation, and e-mail address.

3. The ARS Discussion List is configured so that replies are sent to all members, not just to the individual who posted the message. Send personal replies to the individual, not to all subscribers. Examples of messages that should be sent directly to the individual include the following:

a. Very specific requests for information (e.g., a mailing address)
b. Any "Thank you," "I agree," and "Good for you" type replies
c. Requests for copies of offered materials
d. Survey responses

To send a personal reply to an individual's message you must manually replace the list address in the "To" field with the individual's address, which appears at the end of the message. CAUTION: your mail system may appear to have a command that will direct your reply to the individual rather than the list, but often this selects the ARS Discussion List as the recipient rather than the individual.

6. Read all the incoming mail from the list before responding; someone may have already sent a reply similar to yours.

7. "Out of Office" auto-replies will be rejected by the list automatically, but occasionally one may get through to the full list, depending on how the individual has worded the message.

8. When sending a reply to the list, do not include the header from the previous message in the body of your message (this is the part that includes "Sender," "From," etc.). The list server may not distribute your reply.

9. When sending a reply to the list, do not include the entire previous message. Extract only those brief portions that are necessary to identify the issue and make your point. Repeating long messages and headers needlessly clogs the list archives.

10. Messages appearing on the list may be forwarded to other lists or individuals as long as proper credit is given to the original author.

11. CSAT assumes no responsibility for the opinions and information posted by users.

D. How To Subscribe/Unsubscribe

You may subscribe or unsubscribe to the Association of Recovery Schools listserv by contacting Darren Fulmore at DFulmore@MayaTech.com. Please state the full name of the organization in your request. Mr. Fulmore can also answer technical questions about the list.