Google Groups Basics

Overview

Google Groups empowers our community to stay connected with or share content with lists of people. Managers of a group can update group memberships, share documents with a group, and even invite an entire group to a calendar event. Managers can also determine who can send messages to the group and allow others to co-manage the group membership. Find out more about Google Groups and their possibilities on the Google Groups help center.

Types of Google Groups at Pepperdine

Self-Managed Google Groups
Automated Google Groups

Automatically generated lists, like class lists or faculty/staff lists, are updated through automated processes based on class or employment statuses.

Self-Managed Google Groups

A Self-Managed Google Group is a group that has been requested by a person or department at Pepperdine. Once created, it is the responsibility of that person or team to manage the group settings and membership. The requestor can choose how the group will function, such as an announcement list, a group email list/discussion forum, or a collaborative inbox.

Individuals who wish to create a self-managed Google Group for use as a distribution list must submit a Self-Managed Google Group Request Form and assign a group owner to the group. Again, the group owner is responsible for adding and removing members to/from the group or adding managers to assist with group membership. The managers of the group can determine how messaging or posting to the group will function, whether people can request to join the group, whether the managers will invite everyone, etc.

To visit or manage a group, log in to the link below:

groups.pepperdine.edu

Email a Group

In the "To" field of an email message, instead of adding each team member's email address to your email, just enter the group's address as a recipient.

Invite a Group

Inviting an entire group means that people will automatically be added or removed from a meeting based on their group membership. On your Calendar event details page, in the Guests box, enter the group's address. The group's individual members then appear under the Guests box.

Collaborate with a Group

To share a Google file with a group—like an online document, spreadsheet, or presentation—open the file and click Share. Then, enter the group's email address.
People you add to the group later can also access the document. Similarly, if you remove a member from a group, that person no longer has access to any content you shared with the group.

Update Group Admin

If one manager is sick or on vacation, other managers can continue running the group smoothly. Or, if you have a very active group, divide membership responsibilities between different managers. You can do this by changing a member status to manager or co-owner.

In your group, click "Manage" near the top right.
Select the people you want to make managers.
Select Actions > Add to role > Manager or Owner.

You can also remove yourself as owner of a group, but you have to make someone else an owner before you can remove yourself as owner.

In your group, click Manage.
Check the box next to your name and click Actions > Remove from role > Owner.

Invite New Members

Near the top right, click Manage.
On the left, click Members and then Invite members.
Enter the email addresses of people to invite.
Optional: Enter text in the "Write an invitation message" field.
Click Send invites.

To change pending invitations, click Members and then Join requests. Click Resend invitation or Revoke invitation.

Add Members

Near the top right, click Manage.
On the left, click Members and then Direct add members.
Enter the email addresses of the people to add.
Enter a welcome message.
Set how members will get email from the group.
Click Add.

Accept Requests

Near the top right, click Manage.
On the left, click Members and then Join requests.
Check the box next to the person who wishes to join your group. Click Approve applicant or Reject applicant.

View Membership

Near the top right, click Manage. To see a list of current members, on the left, click Members and then All members. To see a list of all banned members, click Members and then Banned.

To search by role, whether members are banned, and other features, use the search bar on the "Group Members" page. You need the "View members permission" to search by role.

Automatically Generated Class Google Group

Class distribution lists are automatically generated based on enrollment in a course for a specific academic term (i.e. semester or trimester). The lists allow instructors and students of a particular course to communicate to the entire class quickly via email. Only officially enrolled students are included within a managed class email list. Waitlisted or auditing students are not included.

Professors and students can compose a new message in Pepperdine email and begin typing the name of the class. Each class is given a unique list name based on the class subject, class number, section number, academic term, and year. The format is similar to SUBJ123.01-TermnumberSemesterYear. If CLASS 555 section 01 was held in Spring 2013, then the name would be CLASS555.01-2Spring2013.

Class lists are created and then removed on a set schedule. Membership is updated automatically each day.

Class List Creation Schedule
Academic Term	Class List Creation	Class List Removal
Fall	August 1*	March 31*
Spring	December 1*	July 31*
Summer	April 1*	November 30*

* NOTE: Lists will be created or removed on a business day. If the date falls upon a weekend, then the lists will be created or removed on the next business day. The list creation process can take 1-2 business days to create the groups and populate the faculty and student members.