Slate Deliver for Mass Email (Alumni)

Owned by Adam Lenter
Last updated: Dec 18, 2023
3 min read

Follow the steps below to send a mass email in Slate. You can see a visual representation of the process here:

Initial Setup

  1. Click the Deliver icon > Mailings
  2. Click the "New Mailing" button.
    1. Give the mailing an appropriate name.
    2. Select the appropriate folder (Alumni[?])
    3. Select yourself as the User
    4. Select the "Alumni" Realm.
    5. For Method, select "Email (Deliver Designer)."
    6. Select the appropriate template (if there is one).
    7. For Opt-Out, select the appropriate category of message.
    8. Click the "Save" button. You will land on your message's main screen.

Selecting Recipients

  1. Click the "Edit Recipient Lists" button.
  2. Click the "Import Query" button.
    1. Select the appropriate query. For emails to alumni, this is "Configurable Joins - Approved Alumni in My Programs."
    2. Click the "Save" button. You will land on the "Edit Query" page.
  3. To target a more specific group of students than is set up by the query, click the "Filter" button.
    1. In the window that pops up, click a field to filter on (see descriptions below)
    2. In the new window that pops up, select the appropriate parameters for the filter.
    3. Click the "Save" button.
  4. Click the name of the query (e.g. "Approved Alumni in My Programs") in the top left corner of the screen.
  5. Click the "Edit" button (not the "Edit Query" button).
    1. In the window that pops up, click the "Save" button. *** Note - it may not seem as if anything happened in this step. However, this is important. The "Approved Alumni in my Programs" query is queries the full database. However, by saving it here, the user is taking ownership of a copy of the query that only applies to his/her population of alumni.
  6. Click the name of the message in the top left corner of the screen to remove to the message's main screen.


Common Fields for Filtering

FieldDescriptionPossible Values
StatusA student's status at SPS ranging from applicant to alum.

Applicant, Inquiry, and Prospect are values that would not be used for advising purposes.

New student: A student in the first term registered for classes.

Continuing student: a student who is registered but this is not their first term.

Former student: a student who has left their program before graduating.

Alumni: a program graduate.

Program of StudyThe program that the student is enrolled in.Actuarial Science, Applied Analytics, etc.
Admit TermThe first year in which a student was enrolled in classesConsist of either Fall, Spring, or Summer plus the year.
Latest Term RegisteredThe last term in which a student was registered for classes. When set to the current term, this filter provides a list of students registered for the current term UNLESS registration is opened for the following term, in which case students' last term registered could be the next term.Consist of either Fall, Spring, or Summer plus the year.

Producing the Email

  1. Click the "Edit Message Header" button. A pop-up will appear. 
    1. Edit the Sender email address (if necessary).
    2. Put the recipient's email address into the "Recipient" field one of two ways:
      1. Click into the "Recipient" textbox so that the cursor is there.
      2. Click the "email" merge field in the top right corner of the screen. 
        OR
      3. Drag the "email" merge field into the "Recipient" textbox.
    3. Edit the Subject line.
    4. Click the "Save" button.
  2. Click the "Edit Message Body" button. You will bet taken to the edit Message page.
  3. To add a block of content, click either the "HTML Content" or "Component" button.
    1. HTML Content - The HTML content button pulls up a text editor that allows you to write and style text content. To add HTML tags, click the "Source" button. This will bring up the raw HTML source of the page, which can be edited. Click the "OK" button on the source page and/or the "Save" button in the "Edit HTML Content" window to save changes.
    2. Component - The Component button pulls up a list of predefined content blocks.
      1. Select a component to add and press the "Continue" button.
      2. A list of textboxes will appear providing an opportunity to enter the written content. (Some components do not require input and will give a warning: "There are no configuration options for this component."
      3. Click the "Save" button.
      4. The content block will be entered into the message with appropriate text.
  4. To edit a block of content, hover over it. An "edit" button will appear. Click the "edit" button. Follow the steps for Step 3 above.
  5. To delete a block of content, hover over it. An edit button will appear. Click the "edit" button. On the window that pops up, click the "Delete" button.
  6. Click the link with the name of the mailing (at the top of the screen) to return to the mailing's main page.

Sending the Email

  1. Click the "Send Mailing" button - NOT the "Send Message" button.
    1. Select a date and time to send the message (optional).
    2. Click the "Save Settings" button.
      1. In the window that pops up, enter "Send" to send the message.
    3. The email will begin to be sent at the appropriate time (it takes time to send all of the emails).