UP ITDC Conducts Webinar on Effective Google Groups Management

On 16 July 2025, the UP ITDC hosted a webinar titled Mailing Lists (Google Groups) Management via Zoom. The session drew 35 participants, primarily from the IT offices of UP’s constituent universities, many of whom serve as administrators or managers of Google Groups and UP Mail. Also in attendance were representatives from the UP Diliman DNA Analysis Laboratory under the Natural Sciences Research Institute, the Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, and the Department of Chemical Engineering from the UP Diliman College of Engineering.

The training aimed to: (i) share best practices for creating, managing, and moderating Google Groups, with a focus on member roles, permissions, and security settings; (ii) promote responsible and secure usage of Google Groups in alignment with UP’s IT policies and data protection standards; (iii) address frequently asked questions and troubleshoot common issues faced by users and administrators; and (iv) encourage inter-office collaboration by showcasing successful use cases from various UP units.

Vic Angelo Mamaril, Systems Administrator and Team Leader for Systems Administration at UP ITDC, served as the webinar’s resource speaker. With 14 years of service at UP ITDC, Mamaril also functions as UP Mail administrator, bringing extensive experience to the session.

Mamaril underscored the importance of: (i) clearly defining the group’s purpose to attract appropriate members; (ii) establishing and communicating guidelines for respectful communication and behavior; and (iii) actively monitoring discussions to ensure compliance with group norms and maintain a constructive environment.

He also cautioned against: (i) overloading members with excessive emails or notifications, which may lead to disengagement; (ii) ignoring feedback or member concerns—encouraging administrators to respond constructively; (iii) allowing spam or irrelevant posts by failing to set restrictions on external messages; (iv) keeping members uninformed about decisions or changes affecting the group; and (v) micromanaging conversations—advocating instead for member autonomy and self-governance.

At the end of the discussion, Mamaril held a short interactive quiz, encouraging attendees to answer quiz questions about Google Groups usage.

This training initiative reflects UP ITDC’s ongoing commitment to technological capacity-building within the University’s IT community. Through webinars and other learning platforms, UP ITDC continues to support the University’s digital transformation efforts, in line with the public service mandate and the vision of UP President Angelo A. Jimenez. (Levi Lusterio, ITDC, 17 July 2025)