Google Groups FAQ

Summary

Beginning May 2025, Information Systems will begin migrating existing listservs to Google Groups. This article provides information on what the changes are and how they will impact moderators.

Body

Beginning May 2025, Information Systems will begin migrating existing listservs (yourlistname@list.murraystate.edu) to Google Groups. An email will be sent out Friday, May 9, 2025 to all current listserv moderators to explain the change and provide information. This article provides additional information and resources.

Article index:

 

Why we are moving to Google Groups

Due to the increased integration with Google Workspace apps, Google Groups offers functionality that Sympa (our current listserv management application) cannot including:

  • Set security permissions for Google resources, including Google Drive, Docs, Calendars, and Sites
  • Use to invite groups to calendar events
  • Manage Google folders, documents and resource permissions

Even if you just use Google Groups for email list management, Google Groups has the following advantages over Sympa: 

  • More user-friendly and simple-to-use interface
  • Virtually unlimited membership quota
  • Web-based management of lists instead of command based emails
  • Editing the Google Group will edit permission settings in other Google Resources at the same time.

What happens to my old @list.murraystate.edu account?

  • That list will be “closed”.  Anyone sending to it will get a rejection message.
     

How moderators and members are impacted

Listserv name vs. Google Groups name

Currently, listserv addresses follow the listname@list.murraystate.edu format. When a listserv is migrated to Google Groups, the new format will be list.listname@murraystate.edu. This is a similar format to how departmental email accounts are handled, and help the campus community distinguish departmental email accounts, Google Groups, and user email accounts from each other.
Ex: As an example, infosysoffice@list.murraystate.edu will now be list.infosysoffice@murraystate.edu. 
 

Updating memberships

With our old listservs, you would have to email commands to admin@list.murraystate.edu to review and update listerv memberships. With Google Groups, you will be able to manage memberships much easier through the Google Groups interface at https://groups.google.com/. Please view the section below for information regarding this. This change will make moderation and membership updates much easier.

Working with Google Groups

Request a new Google Group or support for an existing Google Group

To request a new Google Group or support for an existing Google Group, please use the Google Groups/Listserv Support request form.


Sending and receiving email

  • Your old list, example@list.murraystate.edu, will be transitioned to list.example@murraystate.edu. 
  • At a basic level, after everything has been set up, actual usage of Google Groups is very similar to that of the Sympa email listserv.  If you send an email to the list.example@murraystate.edu, all the users in that Google Group will get that email.
  • Depending on the moderation settings for that group, users can reply to that email and have it go back out the group as well.
     

Reviewing your groups

You can go to https://groups.google.com/ and see all the groups you are a member of.

 

Moderating messages

If you need to release a message or deny spam you can select the Pending option in the left hand column.  This can be done after selecting the group that you are a moderator of.


User management

If you are an owner/moderator, you can click on the group and add/remove members as you see fit.

 

Enabling Conversation History

If you would like to retain conversation history for your Google Group (any email sent to the Google Group), you can turn this on. To enable this, access your Google Group, then Group settings, and scroll to Email options, then Conversation mode. Toggle the ON radio button, and click Save.



Enabling a Subject Prefix

Previously, emails from a listserv contained a prefix in the subject line. By default, this option is not enabled for Google Groups. To enable this, access your Google Group, then Group settings, and scroll to Email options, then Subject prefix. You can give your Google Group any prefix, but we recommend using the name of your Google Group surrounded by brackets: [mygooglegroupname]. Click Save


 

Additional support and resources

Google has provided support articles to assist you with learning how to manage Google Groups and to take advantage of the feature integrations. You can find these articles at https://support.google.com/groups. Please keep in mind that some features may not be available as we are on Google Workspace for Education. 

To request a new Google Group, please use the Google Groups/Listserv Support request form. You can also use this form to request assistance with an existing Google Group.