IST 553: Information Networking

Sample Policies and Procedures Document for Governing a Web Site

COLLEGE WEB SITE

Policies, Structures, and Guidelines

Purpose and Policies:

The College web site shall distribute information of interest to the College community in the broadest sense. All material published on the web site shall comply with copyright and other applicable laws. Concerns include, but are not limited to:

• use of copyrighted images, text, or software without permission
• use of pages to provide obscene, offensive, or threatening materials
• use of pages for private financial gain not relevant to the mission of the College
• use of pages to intimidate or single out individuals or groups for denigration or harassment
• use of pages to engage in any illegal activity

Structures and Responsibilities:

The Webmaster: is appointed by the Dean of the College as the senior staff member responsible for information technology. The webmaster has primary responsibility for the upkeep of the College web site. The webmaster, in conjunction with the Web Oversight Committee, is immediately responsible for organizing the information and links on the top level page and for overseeing the site as a whole. To that end the webmaster maintains a register of all entities publishing on the web site.

The Web Oversight Committee ("WOC"): consists of the Webmaster, the Area Coordinators (see below), a student chosen in accord with normal procedures, and a faculty member chosen by a method determined by the Committee on Committees. The committee:

1. is responsible for overseeing the web site as a whole,
2. develops policies, guidelines, and procedures regarding the web site, and recommends policies to the Senior Staff
3. assists and advises the Webmaster in issues concerning the top-level page of the web site
4. assists Areas and other Information Providers (see below) in developing appropriate information for official pages (see definition below),
5. recommends to the Senior Staff what shall constitute an Area in the sense of this document.

An Area: is the administrative or academic unit responsible for the pages created by itself directly or submitted by Information Providers in its purview.

An Area Coordinator: is the faculty or staff member who oversees the web-related work of that Area. The Area Coordinator is designated by the director of the Area, with the approval of the Dean of the College as the senior staff member responsible for Information Technology.

An Area Coordinator:

1. prepares and maintains information for that Area's own official pages,
2. closely oversees the official pages produced and maintained by Information Providers in that Area,
3. more loosely oversees unofficial pages produced and maintained by Information Providers in that Area,
4. brings difficult questions to the Web Oversight Committee for discussion and resolution,
5. looks for appropriate links to and from other Areas.

An Information Provider: is a department, program, chartered student organization, or individual (faculty member, staff, or student) that creates and maintains information. An Information Provider must:

1. assume responsibility for the content and maintenance of a page, including assurance of accuracy, correctness of spelling, grammar, and style, and compliance with copyright and other applicable laws,
2. follow the guidelines designed by the WOC, including clear labeling of who is responsible for creation and maintenance of each page (see below),
3. update the page regularly to assure its continuing accuracy and reliability,
4. provide each page with the appropriate statements defining the relationship of the page to the College (for example, that the College claims no editorial control over material maintained in unofficial pages).

Definitions:

An Official Page: is a page created by or for an Area. Only official pages may carry the College logo or other identifying graphics or purport to represent the College.

An Unofficial Page: is a page created by Information Providers (including faculty members, students, or staff) not immediately representing an Area.

Guidelines:

All official pages on the College web site must include:

1. contact information on the Information Provider and Area, including department, program or organization name and email address. In cases in which the Information Provider is not the Area itself, the page should carry the name and email address of both the Information Provider and the overseeing Area,
2. graphical identification (through use of the College logo or other standardized means) that the page is official,
3. a link back to the College Home Page,
4. the date of last update.

All unofficial pages must include:

1. contact information on the Information Provider and the sponsoring Area,
2. a disclaimer that the information does not purport to represent the College (see below)
3. the date of last update

Unofficial pages must not include the College logo or other graphical material that would identify the page as officially representing the College.

Disclaimer to Appear on all Unofficial Pages:

Information on the College web site provided by individuals reflects their own ideas; it does not implicitly or explicitly represent official positions and policies of the College. The College claims no editorial control over material maintained by individual faculty, staff and students. The owner of the page assumes responsibility and liability for the content of his/her documents.

Disclaimer for all Unofficial Servers:

The College disclaims all responsibility for servers that may emerge on campus other than the official College server. No such server may use the College name, logo, or other symbols identified with the College, nor purport to speak for the College or any of its departments, nor imply an association with or sponsorship by the College.

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