Governors and use of School email address

[andy_b]

I have been looking at this all afternoon, but can't find the answer....

 

Governors have an office 365 address, but would like notification of new email sent to their personal address. Not a forwarded copy, just notification. How do you do this?

[jthompson]

I have been looking at this all afternoon, but can't find the answer....

 

Governors have an office 365 address, but would like notification of new email sent to their personal address. Not a forwarded copy, just notification. How do you do this?

 

How feasible this would be to set up for each of them I don't know, but Microsoft PowerApps would technically allow this to be done. Alternatively, IFTTT.com might be a friendlier way to achieve the same, but with PowerApps you won't need to grant any privileges to a third-party.

[andy_b]

How feasible this would be to set up for each of them I don't know, but Microsoft PowerApps would technically allow this to be done. Alternatively, IFTTT.com might be a friendlier way to achieve the same, but with PowerApps you won't need to grant any privileges to a third-party.

 

Cheers, was hoping it was going to be an easy thing like ticking a box I had missed

[mavhc]

InfiniTec - Henning Krauses Blog | How to get the number of unread mails from multiple mailboxes using the EWS Managed API and PowerShell

[Jamman960]

We’re trying to get them to use school accounts without a huge amount of success, they started using the schools phone system for conference calls at the beginning of Covid for small meetings but as we only have 8 sip trunks full meetings weren’t possible. I suggested moving to teams but that got shot down as being too complicated. I’ve met them half way by purchasing the the Audio add on for teams allowing them to dial in... they now meet via teams on the phone for £1.60/mo rather than paying out an extra £50/mo in trunks.

[andy_b]

Sometimes I do think Microsoft 365 makes hard work of things...

 

Compare and contrast Zimbra (New mail notifications) and Microsoft (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/client-developer/exchange-web-services/get-started-with-ews-client-applications)

[mavhc]

Doesn't need to be that complain, my previous link's code was much shorter

[Ditto]

Our governors have trust managed accounts, but most have used the auto-forwarding to personal accounts. This was blocked by the local IT person a couple of years ago, but on CEO instruction, it was permitted again very quickly. Out of the blue, with no forewarning, it's been turned off again and has caused a collapse in communication; again! Oddly, logging in to the account and manually forwarding is permitted. Printing and downloading is permitted. Head and other SLT are now directly emailing personal accounts. So, apart from a repeated poor implementation, I can not see how this in anyway makes things more compliant from a GDPR perspective. This will get raised in imminent governor meetings - I await the outcome.

[HPlum78]

My only thought is the FOI request? How would you be able to say with any certainty that the info that may have to be disclosed based on one of these requests is complete if you allow this kind of communication out side of systems that you can manage? Another thought that follows is if you get a right to be forgot request, again makes it hard. Like I say neither maybe a concern but you could never be sure that something may come and bite you.... I would say a managed identity and think about if allowing forwarding to personal accounts fits in to your data classification policy I would imagine that some data shared with interested parties should not be automatically forwarded on to accounts that you have no control over. Edited January 19, 2021 by HPlum78

[jmak]

The other approach would be to put any information (policies, people's names) on documents stored in Teams, ie emails would simply be "you have a document to view". Governors can send anything to the school as that would be received on the school's email system.

 

I always found it a difficult battle to get Governors to use school email systems - even the ones who said they understood why moaned that it was too onerous.

[Ditto]

The other approach would be to put any information (policies, people's names) on documents stored in Teams, ie emails would simply be "you have a document to view". Governors can send anything to the school as that would be received on the school's email system.

 

I always found it a difficult battle to get Governors to use school email systems - even the ones who said they understood why moaned that it was too onerous.

I have asked for, as a compromise, for the emailing of 'there's new communication in your inbox' to personal accounts. It's not be understood yet and the only reply we have is, "it's technically possible to manage multiple accounts on multiple devices". It's showing a lack of understanding of a issue from a governor perspective. I've worked inside schools with a significant GDPR perspective, I've worked as a governor for a good few years - one of the biggest challenges is to get each side to see things from each others perspective.

[Ditto]

My only thought is the FOI request? How would you be able to say with any certainty that the info that may have to be disclosed based on one of these requests is complete if you allow this kind of communication out side of systems that you can manage? Another thought that follows is if you get a right to be forgot request, again makes it hard. Like I say neither maybe a concern but you could never be sure that something may come and bite you.... I would say a managed identity and think about if allowing forwarding to personal accounts fits in to your data classification policy I would imagine that some data shared with interested parties should not be automatically forwarded on to accounts that you have no control over.

I think SARs are more an challenge than FOI's but I accept the point. The issue with insisting on school account usage is enforcement - you'll never stop governors communicating outside of the IT systems - be it personal email, face to face, telephone or other. Ultimately, it comes down to educating best practice and trust - in the same way as it does for staff. Teachers have a professional code of conduct, most staff have to sign up to to code of practice, governors are (should be) aware of their responsibilities and commitment to adhere to the 'Nolan principles'. In the case I quote, I see nothing in the policy that helps with GDPR, but does inconvenience governor volunteers. In fact, I know there is an element of the 'Cobra effect' where the unintended consequence of the change is likely to increase data breach chances. What really frustrates me is the blind following of a policy proposed by an outsourced GDPR consultant, or an article of TES or The Key, without really thinking through the action. It's a bit like putting black and yellow sticky tape on some dodgy steps for "H&S reasons", whilst completing ignoring the work needed to fix the steps!

[HPlum78]

@Ditto agree with your comments here I am just throwing my thoughts in to the pot as they are considerations all the same and it always leads to the comment around they can take a photo of the screen! There is only so much that a technical solution can be lent on to deliver sanity!

[mavhc]

Not emailing personal information seems to be the best way forward. Or buy £2000 of ipads for 8 governors to borrow. Assuming a 10 year lifetime that's £25/year/each. Probably spend more on photocopying and biscuits

[Ditto]

Not emailing personal information seems to be the best way forward. Or buy £2000 of ipads for 8 governors to borrow. Assuming a 10 year lifetime that's £25/year/each. Probably spend more on photocopying and biscuits

As pointed out by a well respected moderator elsewhere on these forums, the vast majority of governor work does not involve personal information. The trouble with the £25 per year/each is we don't have £2000 spare right now - so even if we saved £25 per year/each, we are stuck for a decade - it sounds like a familiar problem discussed in another thread we know?

[mavhc]

Pick the first option then, it's cheaper, view everything online via 2fa accounts, don't save, don't print

[Ditto]

We used to have all Governors using their personal emails, now they all have a domain email account and use that. I have setup some rules in o365 that alerts their personal email when they have a domain email but due to GDPR we had to just allow domain emails.

I know your reply was a while ago, but following complete 360 degree shift by our parent trust, this functionality would be really useful. Could you explain the exact steps of what and where you made the changes. We are O365 so hopefully it's something we can replicate.

[paulkerton]

Or buy £2000 of ipads for 8 governors to borrow. Assuming a 10 year lifetime

 

As the 2014 iPads won't get iPadOS 15 when it's released later this year, you might want to assume less than 10 year lifetime on those!