THE CHAIR & ADMINISTRATOR'S LISTSERV

The Chair & Administrator's listserv is a wonderful resource and tool available to all of our administrative members to share, request input, or connect with other chairs & administrators across the country. The listserv is accessed via our Connect portal, accessed here. Follow the steps below to post or respond to the listserv. 

1. Access the listserv via https://connect.adfm.org/
2. Sign in the upper top right-hand corner (Use the same credentials you use when accessing ADFM, STFM, or NAPCRG. Use the "Forgot Password" tool to reset your password) 
3. Once signed in, select "Communities" -> "My Communities"
4. Select either "ADFM Chairs" or "ADFM Administrators" 
5. To post a message that will be sent to all others on the listserv, select "Discussion" and then "Post New Message." 
   1. Here, you can also access the archive of all previous conversations, as well. 
6. Alternatively, you can save the email link send any message from your email inbox to the listserv without logging into Connect. 
   1. For Chairs: ADFM-adfmchairs@connectedcommunity.org
   2. For Admin: ADFM_adfmadministrators@connectedcommunity.org
7. It is important to note whether you are using the "Reply All" or using the "Reply Privately" function. 

If you are not receiving listserv messages, it is important to 

1. First, check your spam folders for filtered messages
2. Second, log into Connect
   1. Navigate to the community
   2. Select the settings wheel, located right next to the community title
   3. Ensure that your emails are being received "Real Time" and not "Daily Digest" or "No Email"
   4. 
3. If you have checked these things, please contact your department's IT for any institutional blocks
4. If you still need any assistance after working through these steps, please contact Jessie Vera at jvera@adfm.org

LISTSERV ETIQUETTE

General Etiquette for both listservs: 

• Only members of the listserv may post items, though they may ask others to serve as resources for their entries 
• Reply to the individual alone, without contacting the whole listserv when appropriate (e.g., when congratulating; members of the Executive Committee or the Board of Directors may reply all since this is symbolically important when congratulating new or established members) 

o If you send the first note letting the listserv members know about something noteworthy that is likely to generate a lot of email response (a transition, an added role, a nomination, etc.), please put the individual you are congratulating in the “to” line and the listserv in the “blind copy (BCC)” line so that replies will automatically go to the individual privately 

• No personal attacks 
• Include the chain of the discussion 
• Brevity is a virtue 

What can and cannot be posted: 

• Sharing of specific salary information for an individual or a position is not allowed as it violates antitrust laws that promote fair competition in the marketplace. • Forwarding of material: Many ADFM members wear multiple leadership hats. It is vital that personal opinions and conversations not be forwarded for purposes of informing outside organizations of our conversations. Before forwarding any messages, please consider these points: 

o Does it pass the “Front Page Test?”: if the material were made public, would any individual or department or ADFM as an organization be 

compromised? 

o Has the writer given permission for the email to be forwarded? 

o Can the email be “sanitized”?: deleting names, addresses, and locations from the email prior to forwarding? 

• No surveys beyond those within standard ADFM operations (e.g. Annual  survey, financial survey, occasional "quick hitter" surveys on urgent issues as determined by the ADFM Board of Directors) may be sent over the listserv. Exceptions to this rule are made for one annual survey of Chairs and one annual survey of all CERA members approved by the CERA Steering Committee (whose membership includes an ADFM representative) and use of ADFM data approved in advance according to the ADFM Data Use Policy. ADFM does not entertain requests for use of our listserv for surveys or other purpose beyond ADFM operations surveys and the annual CERA surveys. Similarly, individual email addresses of members are not allowed to be used for survey purposes unless approved according to ADFM's Data Use Policy. 
• Job postings and other advertisements: Questions about managing personnel or searches (how to find people, best places to look, etc.) or announcements of chairs/administrators stepping down and searches for new ones are  appropriate. Job postings/advertisements are not generally allowed on the Chairs’ listserv, except for the following types of positions in US and Canadian departments: Department Chair; Dean and assistant or associate deans; Director of Health Systems or ACOs; and Senior Department Administrators. Faculty job opportunities may not be posted, but leadership opportunities (such as participation on national committees) are acceptable to share. Allowable postings for the Administrators’ listserv are postings for Senior Department Administrator openings. Posting of family medicine organization leadership positions will be allowed at the discretion of the Communication Chair and Executive Committee.
• When in doubt, please check with the Communication Chair or Executive Director. 

The utility of these guidelines for job postings will be reviewed annually by the Communication  Chair and Executive Committee and may be revised to align with the changing administrative landscape of healthcare delivery and medical education. 

Questions can be referred to the Communication Chair, Linda Speer (Linda.Speer@utoledo.edu)  

Revised per Nov 2013 Board Action. 

Updated Aug 19 2014 per Executive Committee, ADFM Secretary, ADFM Research Development Committee Chair & CERA representative to include language re:surveying via the listserv. 

Updated May 27, 2015 by ADFM Secretary, President and staff. 

Updated June 16, 2016 by ADFM Secretary, President and staff. 

Updated March 28, 2017 by ADFM Secretary and staff. 

Updated April 2, 2019 by ADFM Secretary and staff 

Updated March 12, 2021 by ADFM Communication Chair and staff 

Communication Chair name updated March 1, 2023.