This document explains how to acquire and remove personal group membership in the MCommunity Directory. It also describes privacy and email settings you can request if you have concerns about your membership being public, or about unwanted email sent to a group. MCommunity groups are synchronized to U-M Google so you can use them for sharing Google resources.
For details about creating and managing groups that you own, see Managing MCommunity Groups that You Own.
Table of Contents
- What Is a Directory Group?
- MCommunity Groups Are Synchronized to U-M Google
- Finding Groups of Which You Are a Member
- Getting Into a Group
- Getting Out of a Group
- Joinable/Resignable Groups
- Group Privacy and E-Mail Settings
- When Groups Stop Working
What Is a Directory Group?
A group in the MCommunity Directory is a list of people and/or groups that can be used for sending email and for authorization. Only individuals who log in with a UMICH (Level-1) login can view or manage groups.
- Email. Directory groups are used primarily for sending email. Depending on their privacy settings, groups created in the directory can be set up so that only permitted senders or anyone with a umich.edu address can send email to the group. To send email to a directory group, send it to [email protected] (where you have substituted the actual group name for groupname).
- Authorization. Directory groups are also used for authorization; some groups control access to web sites, wikis, and other online resources.
Group settings are managed by the group's owner(s). Owners of groups are listed on the group's profile page so that group members and others can contact them with questions, requests, and concerns regarding the group. Group owners can update the group settings to restrict:
- who can add members (owners or self-joinable)
- who can view members (members or anyone with a umich.edu address)
- who can send messages to the group (anyone, anyone with a umich.edu address, members, and/or specified others)
- who receives messages from an unpermitted sender (if none, will be bounced to sender)
If you need to contact the owners of a group, use the Requests address listed in the Contact Information for the group. This address is always in the form of <groupname>-
MCommunity Groups Are Synchronized to U-M Google
MCommunity groups are synchronized to U-M Google so they can be used for sharing resources in Google and when sending invitations to Google Calendar events. For details, see MCommunity Group Synchronization to U-M Google and Box.
Groups that are used for sharing resources in U-M Google must be set so that anyone can send mail to them. Otherwise, the notifications sent from within Google to tell people that a resource has been shared with them cannot be delivered.
Finding Groups of Which You Are a Member
- Click Log In at the top-right corner of the MCommunity Directory. You must be logged in—using your uniqname and UMICH (Level-1) password—to see a list of your groups. You are the only one who can see this list. It is not available to other MCommunity Directory users.
- Click the My Groups link that appears in the top-right corner of any MCommunity Directory page when you are logged in.
- You will see a list of all the groups that you own on the Owned Groups tab and a list of all groups of which you are a member on the Member Groups tab. If you are both an Owner and a Member of a group, it will appear in both tabs.
- To see more information about a group in which you are a member, click the name of the group.
Getting Into a Group
If you want to be added to an MCommunity Directory group:
- In most cases, you need to ask the group owner(s) to add you. To do this, send an email to the address listed for Requests in the group’s Contact Information.
- You can join certain groups yourself. Some directory groups have been set up by their owners as "joinable." You can join and resign from these groups yourself as long as you have a uniqname and UMICH (Level-1) password. See Joinable Groups below for details.
Tip: To be added to a U-M group in U-M Google, ask the owner(s) of the group in the MCommunity Directory to add you there. Membership of U-M Google groups cannot be managed in Google; it must be managed in MCommunity. Refer to MCommunity Group Synchronization to U-M Google and Dropbox.
Getting Out of a Group
To be removed from a group:
- Contact the owner(s) of the group and ask to be removed from the group. To do this, send an email to the address listed for Requests in the group’s Contact Information. If you get no response from the group owner(s), contact the ITS Service Center for assistance.
- U-M members can resign from some groups themselves. Some directory groups have been set up by their owners to be "joinable." You can remove yourself from these groups if you are a member. See Joinable Groups below for details. Be aware that you can only resign your membership role in the group. If you are an owner, you must remove yourself from the group via the Members tab in the group's profile; otherwise, you will remain an owner.
Tip: To be removed from a U-M group in U-M Google, ask the owner(s) of the group in the MCommunity Directory to remove you. Membership of U-M Google groups cannot be managed in Google; it must be managed in MCommunity. See MCommunity Groups in U-M Google: Sending Email and Sharing Google Resources.
Joinable Groups
If a group in the MCommunity Directory has been set up by the owner to be "joinable," you can add yourself to the list of members and remove yourself. Note that you must have a uniqname and UMICH (Level-1) password—and an MCommunity Directory profile—to join and remove yourself from groups. (People with U-M Friend accounts and those who are not members of the U-M community cannot join MCommunity groups themselves. They must ask the group owner(s) to add them.)
To tell if a group is joinable, look at the Rules Summary in its directory profile.
If the group profile says "Anyone can join," you can join or resign from it yourself without needing to contact an owner.
Important! You must be logged in to the directory to join or leave a group. The Join Group and Leave Group buttons are only visible when you are logged in.
Joining a Joinable Group
Find the group's profile page in the directory, make sure you are logged in to the directory, and click the Join Group button in the Settings of the Contact Information for the group. If you are logged in and there is no such button, the group is not joinable. If the button says "Leave Group," you are already a member of the group.
Leaving a Joinable Group
Find the group's profile page in the directory, make sure you are logged in to the directory, and click the Leave Group button. If you are logged in and there is no such button, the group is not joinable; you must contact the group owner at the Requests email address to be removed.
Important! When you leave a joinable group, you remove only your membership role in the group. Be aware that you can only remove your membership role in the group this way. If you are an owner, you must remove yourself from the group via the Members tab in the group's profile; otherwise, you will remain an owner.
Group Privacy and Email Settings
Member List Visibility
Group owners can make the members and owners of their groups either visible to anyone logged in with a umich.edu address or hidden from all but group members who are logged in and U-M Google Calendar users.
- Groups whose members are visible only to members logged in with a umich.edu address remain private when synchronized to U-M Google and U-M Dropbox.
- There are situations where it is more appropriate to make the member list viewable by members only. If you are a member of a group that you think should have its member list hidden from anyone with a umich.edu address, contact the group owner(s) and ask that this setting be changed. You can direct the group owner(s) to these resources:
Who Can Send Email to the Group
Anyone can send email to a group, unless the group owner(s) updated the Group Setting so that only people with a umich.edu email address, the members of the group, or specific individuals can send email to it. Refer to Restricting who can Email an MCommunity Group for more information.
Warning! If you wish to share resources with a group in U-M Google, the group must be set so that anyone can send mail to it. Otherwise, the email sent from within Google to tell people that a resource has been shared with them cannot be delivered.
When Groups Stop Working
If a group of which you are a member suddenly stops working, it is likely either because the group has expired or because the group owner has deleted it. (Groups that are deleted from the MCommunity Directory are also deleted from U-M Google.)
MCommunity Directory groups expire after one year unless they are renewed by one of the group owners. When a group expires, it stops working. Mail sent to it will bounce. If you know the exact name of the group, you can search for it in the directory. The group's profile page (below the Settings) will indicate if the group has been disabled. (When a group reaches its expiry date, it is disabled. It remains in the directory in a disabled state for one year and can be renewed during this time. After that, it is deleted.)
Disabled groups can be renewed by the group owner. If the group owner(s) is unreachable and you need to have the group renewed, you can contact the ITS Service Center for assistance.
If the group has been deleted and you search the directory for it, the search results will indicate that the group does not exist.