Overview
The MavLife app provides students, faculty, and staff with quick links to commonly-used tools and services across the University, events and volunteer opportunities, community channels to communicate with their peers, opportunities to engage with Recognized Student Organizations, and a forum for discovering and engaging with University departments and services.
The University Departments & Services Group Page in MavLife provides an opportunity for students to view posts, newsletters, emails, and see any workshops, presentations, or other events hosted by the department or service. This page also provides the department or service with an opportunity to share documents, links, and to host chat forums specific to their area of interest. Students may choose to Join Group in order to receive alerts when new posts or events are available, and to allow the department or service to easily contact them via email or newsletter via the MavLife solution.
Service Discovery
Having a Departments and Services Group Page automatically includes that Page in the “Departments and Services” section of MavLife, which includes a brief description of the services offered, contact information, and a link to the department or service website.
By default, MavLife users will be able to browse to a Departments and Services Group Page and view any Posts, Events, Photos, Documents, Newsletters, Surveys and Forms, Forums, and Video links on that page, whether they are “members” of the group or not. (This is different from the RSO Groups, where one must be a member in order to see anything other than the basic Group contact information.)
Through the Page Settings, designated Staff members assigned to the Group Page will have the option to determine which functions (Events, Photos, Documents, Newsletters, Survyes & Forms, Forum, and Videos) are displayed on the page for their users.
Group Membership
While users can view the information on the Group Page, they will not receive alerts when new posts are made to that page or receive newsletters and emails from that group unless they become a member through the “Join Group” button.
Note: Best practice would be to pin a Post on the page recommending that students “Join Group” to receive notifications of new posts and communications from the Department or Service in question. University Departments and Services are also encouraged to promote joining their group page in MavLife through their existing marketing channels.
Posts
Designated Staff will be able to post messages to the Group page, which will be visible to all users viewing that page, whether they are a “member” or not.
Users who have chosen to become members of the Group will get a notification (the alarm bell in the upper right-hand corner of the MavLife portal, and in the Mobile App itself, once that update is available on October 7th) when there is a new post. Students can click on the alarm bell to see a summary of the new post, and can click on that specific notification to go directly to the post on the Group page.
Additionally, users will see the new post in their Community Feed under "All Posts", along with all of the posts from the Community Feed channels, and any posts from the other RSO and specific Departments and Services Groups they are a member of.
Anyone posting to a Group will get email notifications if/when a student likes or replies to that post.
Push Notifications
Designated Staff can choose to “Send Notification” (a 1000-character message) that will appear as a Push notification for users who have downloaded and logged into the mobile app and in the Notifications icon in the upper right-hand corner of the portal. Staff can choose to send the notification to all of their Group members or to a subset of their members, as appropriate.
Email
Under the Member section, designated Staff can choose to “Send Email” through MavLife to their Group members or to a subset of their members, as appropriate, either as a standard message or using a template the Staff has created for this group. There is an option to also post emails as a “Post” to the Group Page.
Newsletter
Designated Staff can also send a newsletter to Group members. Similar to an email, Staff can use a newsletter template they create for the group. There is an option to also post newsletters as a “Post” to the Group Page.
Important Note About Communicating Through MavLife
Users can choose to leave or unsubscribe from a Group, so even though they were automatically added to start with, we still want to ensure that any communications we post for the group members are timely, relevant to our audience, and not overwhelming in frequency. Keep in mind that users are also getting notifications from the other RSO and Department and Services Groups they have joined, as well.
If a user leaves a Group, they will still be able to browse to the Group page and view any postings on that page. Users can choose to “Join Group” from that Group Page if they want to start receiving notifications again.
Events
MavLife allows Group Pages to create events and select which audiences will be able to view these events. For events that are open to the public, or which may be of interest to the larger community and/or prospective students, staff can select that the Event be available to anyone, logged in or not, via the page at https://mavlifeapp.mnsu.edu/events
Surveys and Forms
MavLife allows Group Pages to create Surveys and Forms within the MavLife app itself. We recommend consulting with your Solutions Architect to determine when the MavLife surveys and forms are an appropriate tool, compared to several of the other options available to our campus.
Documents, Photos, Links, and Video
Group Pages have the ability to store relevant documents, photos, and links, including links to Kaltura or YouTube videos that are relevant to your audience within MavLife. Refer to best practices regarding accessibility found at the Digital Accessibility Hub and branding at the Brand Hub | Minnesota State University, Mankato | Minnesota State University, Mankato when uploading documents, photos, and video links to your Group Page.
Forum
Designated Staff can create Forums – essentially discussion or Q&A channels specific to their particular Department and Services Group – if these would be helpful for the services they offer. By default, Forums are available to all users just as Posts are, unless the Staff restrict viewing/participation in the Forum to members only.
Community Channels and the "University Updates" Group for All Students
It is important that University Departments and Services do not post (and do not have their student workers post) information specific to their department or service directly to the student Community Channels (Maverick Forum, Housing, Lost & Found, Buy & Sell, and Ride Sharing). These channels are reserved for students to share and communicate with each other, rather than for general departmental updates, or for faculty and staff to connect directly with students.
Individuals wishing to post messages to all students in MavLife via the "University Updates" group that all students are initially enrolled in must have the authorization of their respective Vice President, or the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, or their designees.
Requests to post to this group can be sent to the Office of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management at student-affairs@mnsu.edu
Please include the text of the message and the date you would like the message to be sent out. With the exception of emergency notifications managed by and through University Security, all requests must be made at least two weeks in advance of the date that the message should be shared with our students.
For all other posts, events, and important dates, you may post these to your own University Department and Services page. By default, Posts and Events (including Important Dates, if you set those up as Events), will be visible to Everyone, and the Event will be included on the "Upcoming Events" slider on the home page.
There will be scheduled reminders posted to the University Updates group just before the beginning of the semester, during the first week of the semester, and in the middle of the semester reminding students to browse through the Departments and Services section and subscribe to those pages that they want to receive alerts for when there are new posts or updates from those pages. University Departments and Services are encouraged to promote joining their group page in MavLife through their existing marketing channels.
University Departments and Services who post to the Community Channels will receive a warning. University Departments and Services that continue to post to the Community Channels after that warning will have their access to the MavLife tool suspended. Questions or suspension appeals can be directed to the Office of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management at student-affairs@mnsu.edu
FAQ
Can I post "on behalf of" my department, rather than as an individual?
Currently the MavLifeApp portal does not allow us to post "on behalf of" a Department or Service, as we are able in the current mobile app. However, if a group has a shared service account/email we can set up a separate account for this in the app and add it as an officer/staff member for the group. Staff members with the login credentials for this account can then log in and post as that “Staff member”.
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