GUIDELINES FOR ALL ACVO EMAIL DISCUSSION LISTS
Veterinary Ophthalmology (VOPH@), ACVO Member (MEMBERS@), ABVO Resident (ResidentS@), ACVO MEMBER Social (SOCIAL@) AND PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY (PHARMTOX@) EMAIL DISCUSSION LISTS
Updated 08-25-25
IMPORTANT: Please take a moment to review the UPDATED guidelines for the new ACVO Email Discussion List system which now allows for inclusion of photos and attachments. Participants will need to follow these guidelines to maintain participation in the discussion lists, please read carefully. By submitting a post to any email discussion list, participants are agreeing to abide by these guidelines. Abuse of these guidelines may result in temporary or permanent withdrawal of Email Discussion List privileges for the offending participant across all lists.
NEW: As of August 25, 2025 the new ‘Email Discussion Lists’ will replace the past UGA Listserv system, please submit to the new system. It has all past archives, 30 years worth, from the UGA Listserv available to search. Instructions on how to search will be posted here and distributed to participants by mid September. Attachments and photos, no larger than 7MB total, can now be included in discussions and will be archived.
Discussion List(s) participation:
Initial membership in any discussion list is subject to the approval of the ACVO administration (office@ACVO.org) or the chair of the ACVO Listserv Committee (ListServs@acvo.org).
MEMBERS@ is open to all Diplomate Members of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.
VOPH@ is open to:
ACVO or ECVO Diplomates
ACVO or ECVO residents, and those who have completed their residency and are not yet boarded
Ophthalmologists in other countries with training similar to DACVOs and/or the residents of these ophthalmologists.
If someone is unsure if they may qualify for discussion list membership, they can send the ACVO Email Discussion Committee chair their qualifications. They may also send the ACVO Listserv Chair the name of a current VOPH@ list member in their country who can recommend them.
Resident@ is open to individuals in an ABVO-approved residency program.
PharmTox@ is open to all current ACVO Members.
Social@ is open to ACVO Diplomates and their residents.
What the ACVO, VOPH, PharmTox and Resident Email Discussion Lists should provide:
Opportunities to benefit from the collective veterinary ophthalmology wisdom of the group.
A chance to share commonly valuable information inexpensively and quickly (e.g. information on conference or regional meeting times and locations).
Information specific to ACVO Diplomates only should be limited to the ACVO Member Email Discussion List.
Posts that are announcement only will be allowed. This would include job postings, social announcements, equipment, or books available. The caveat to these postings is that they include an off-list email address to respond to and do NOT involve any response or dialogue on the discussion list.
What the ACVO-Social listserv should provide:
A forum to discuss items whose principal premise does not have to be related to the practice of veterinary ophthalmology. Subjects that may be important to society as a whole or to the larger veterinary community, but not specifically relevant to veterinary ophthalmology, are appropriate for this platform.
Social photo postings need to align with the general guidelines for photo postings across all Email Discussion Lists. See details in this guideline document.
What the Email Discussion Lists other than SOCIAL should refrain from:
Items whose principal premises do not have a veterinary ophthalmology related component. Subjects that may be important to society as a whole or to the larger veterinary community, but not specifically relevant to veterinary ophthalmology, are not appropriate for this platform.
Items that principally involve communications that are germane to just a few people.
Items that essentially lobby fellow Email Discussion List participants on an issue being debated within the veterinary profession.
Anything that involves subjects of an anti-trust nature, or that violates US law.
Any discussion or promotion of products, services, digital platforms, etc. that violate US law, including copyright and/or trademark use violations.
Messages that contain information that is abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, profane, discriminatory, racist, sexist, political or otherwise inappropriate that could be offensive to one or more participants.
Any advertisements from vendors regarding their products.
Email Discussion List formatting:
When posting on the Email Discussion List please include a signature with your message which should include your name, credentials, affiliation, location and email address. Signatures must not contain any images as that will cause them to be rejected (size or content). Exclude any signatures or auto signatures that are political, religious or otherwise state an affiliation that is unrelated to veterinary ophthalmology.
Concisely and clearly state the specific topic of your email in the subject line, for quick and future reference.
You should reply to the Email Discussion List when the information you are sharing is something everyone can potentially benefit from (e.g. how you or your organization handles an issue which was posted as a question). You should reply only to the individual asking the question when your response is confidential, has application to only the person asking, and/or is seeking to determine your attendance at a function.
The Email Discussion Lists can accept and display photographs. Photographs must be accompanied by standard text and pertain to the clinical query. Ownership of photographs remains the property of the user and other members of the Email Discussion list do not have the rights to reproduce, distribute, or transfer them.
The total size of the photographs submitted, collective, cannot be above 7.5MB. This is a technical limitation, images larger that this will be rejected.
If you must post photos totaling more than this image size, consider providing a DropBox link, or similar, and include that link in your post.
Each photograph should have an accompanying caption, and/or explanation.
For clinical cases, please write at least a short comment for each photograph, such as “eosinophilic keratitis pre-treatment.”
Other photographs pertaining to clinic design and equipment will also be accepted. Comments providing more information should be added accordingly.
If there is any question as to the appropriate nature of a photograph that is to be posted, please contact a member of the ACVO Discussion List Committee via this email: ListServs@acvo.org.
Images posted that are not appropriate, political, sexual, memes, images not owned or posted without permission, may be grounds for immediate and permanent removal of the individual from ALL subscribed lists.
Email Discussion List etiquette:
User agrees to refrain from posting information and/or participating in online discussions having antitrust implications, and that may lead to, whether expressed or implied, price fixing, boycotting of any industry, company or business, or any other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Discussion of specific prices or fees that could lead to price fixing is prohibited.
User agrees to refrain from posting information and/or participating in online discussions that are, or could be, considered a breach of ethics or a violation of ACVO’s harassment policy, or violate US law, including copyright or trademark use law.
Please note that when you select the "Reply" button on your email, the response will be distributed to everyone on the Email Discussion List. To respond to an individual, place that individual’s email address in the "To" box.
Be professional at all times. As we all know, there are many ways to solve the same problem. We must all be able to “agree to disagree” without attacking anyone or anything on the Email Discussion List. If someone feels a professional or ethical line has been crossed, there are appropriate arenas to resolve that conflict, but it is NOT the Email Discussion List.
Listserv confidentiality:
Please do not forward Email Discussion List content to non-participants without the permission of the original sender.
Please do not forward personal emails to the Email Discussion List without permission of the original sender.
The Email Discussion List is “private” meaning that subscriptions have to be entered manually.
Email Discussion List users need to recognize that, even though the Email Discussion Lists are considered “private and confidential”, there is nothing to prevent a user from violating Email Discussion List etiquette and forwarding a posted email to a non-participant. Such violations, if traceable, could lead to withdrawal of Email Discussion List privileges for the offending participant.
Violations of Email List guidelines:
If an Email Discussion List participant feels that someone has access to the Email Discussion List without proper credentials or that Email Discussion List etiquette or rules have been violated, please contact the Email Discussion List administrator via this email: ListServs@acvo.org. Such matters will be considered by the entire ACVO Discussion List Committee as needed. Abuse of the Email Discussion List guidelines may result in a warning for first offenders, followed by at least 6 months of temporary or permanent withdrawal of Email Discussion List privileges for the offending participant. No warnings will be given for inappropriate photographs that are posted to the Email Discussion List. The first offense will receive a 6-month temporary withdrawal. The second offense will receive permanent withdrawal from all Email Discussion List privileges across every ACVO-hosted Email Discussion Lists. Review the Committee’s policies and procedures document for explanations of how violations will be handled.