Web Policy

 

Approved by the Web Committee 7 July, 1999

  1. Introduction
    2.

    Andrews University educates its students for generous service to the church and society in keeping with a faithful witness to Christ and to the worldwide mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. While the scope of the University has changed since its founding, the distinguishing marks of identity envisioned by the founders still guide the University and will continue to guide its use of technology. In our approach to new technology, Andrews recognizes that it is merely a tool. Like other tools, resources and talents, it is how we use technology that determines how it will glorify God.

  2. Focus of Andrews Web Policy

Andrews web site management and policies will be guided by the following objectives:

  1. Be a vehicle for marketing the University to various publics.
  2. Actively project a positive image for Andrews University.
  3. Provide resources to support the educational mission of Andrews University.
  4. Improve internal communication for Andrews’ immediate and extended campuses.

III. Definitions and Descriptions

University Pages are the primary entrance points to the University web site.

  • The look and content are the responsibility of the Web Coordinator.
  • The pages will contain the Andrews University word mark and navigation bars as necessary.
  • The director of University Relations will frequently review these pages to ensure that they reflect the same high level of quality and consistency as the university’s print publications.

Centrally Supported Pages are designed to provide positive imaging to site visitors, to market Andrews and to improve campus communication.

  • The look and content are the responsibility of the Web Coordinator.
  • While news stories and announcement may come from a variety of sources, the University PIO has the authority to monitor for suitability and accuracy.

College, School or Division Pages (School Pages) are the main entrances to each college, school or division. They are the responsibility of the head of each entity and must meet the following criteria:

  • Design and look must follow the template supplied by the Web Coordinator and include:
    1. A welcome from the Dean or Director. (It is recommended that this welcome focus on the high academic quality, faculty/student interaction, and spiritual difference of coming to Andrews.)
    2. A listing of the academic departments and programs of that particular school.
    3. May contain "school highlights" to promote the excellence of the school.
    4. Contact information: email, toll free numbers, etc. for the college, school, or division and enrollment services.
    5. All information must be correct and kept up-to-date.
    6. Each page must contain the name of the person who updates the page and an email link to the Dean or Director.
    7. Each page must contain searchable keywords (meta-tags) that describe the type of information contained on that page for the site search engine.
    8. The content of web pages of the clubs and organizations that are associated with any school, college or division are the responsibility of the Dean/Director.

Academic Department/Program Pages are the pages of academic departments (such as Aviation, Accounting, Chemistry, etc.) and are divided into two sections: the department description page and the department home pages.

Department Description Page

To offer consistency to our users, each site will start with a description page that is administered by the Web Coordinator. The information supplied by each academic department will include such things as:

    1. Main purpose of the department / academic objectives or goals.
    2. Listing of all degrees offered.
    3. Faculty & Credentials: Academic background, applicable experience.
    4. Cutting edge: What makes this department unique at Andrews?
    5. Career Opportunities: What is the outlook for a student who majors in this area?
    6. Contact Information: Email contact for the department, toll free number of the University.
    7. A link to the home page of the department, if applicable.

 

Academic Department Home Pages

The Academic Department home pages are created, managed and maintained by the department and must meet the following criteria:

    • Information presented must be kept up to date.
    • Contain the name of the University employee responsible for that page.
    • Each page must contain the University navigation bar or tags.
    • Each page needs to contain searchable keywords (meta-tags) that describe the type of information contained on that page for the site search engine. (For example, the Aviation department pages need to include such keywords as: airplanes, flying, flight, CFI, certified flight instructor, ATP, air transport pilot, instrument rating, commercial pilot, private pilot, pilot, license, training, etc.)

It is expected that the design of each department site will appropriately reflect the University’s image. The director of University Relations has the authority to require changes in design for pages that he/she deems not representative. A template is available from the web coordinators for those who wish to use it.

University Services Home Pages are non-academic departments (such as James White Library, Academic Records, ITS, University Relations, Lithotech, Campus Safety, etc.) and are the responsibility of the department director. Each site will start with a description page that will be designed by the Web Coordinators and will be uniform for each department.

  • Design and look must follow the template supplied by the Web Coordination office.
  • Information presented must be kept up to date.

Clubs and Organizations Home Pages are the responsibility of the club or organization with the supervision of the club’s faculty/staff sponsor and must meet the following criteria:

  • Contain the correct Andrews University word mark and navigation bar.
  • A statement of purpose or mission of the organization.
  • The name of the person who updates the page.
  • An email link to the University faculty/staff sponsor.
  • Information contained must be kept up to date.

Personal Home Pages: Andrews University provides web service for home pages for faculty, staff, and students strictly as an educational service. The University therefore reserves the right to set standards for the content of pages stored on the University server. The University may also set limits on resources available for personal Web pages, for example on network bandwidth utilized, number of hits per day, or CPU time utilized (in addition to the regular disk storage limits associated with a computer account).

REQUIREMENTS for Personal Pages
  1. The home page must include the name and e-mail address of the person responsible for the content of the page(s).
  2. The home page must contain a link to return to the University's home page.
  3. All home pages must contain the following disclaimer: "The content of this page is the responsibility of the author and has not been reviewed or approved by Andrews University."
  4. Content on Personal Web Pages must not conflict with the ideals and mission of the University and must comply with the spirit and specific content of the Code of Student Conduct in the Andrews University Student Handbook and the Andrews University working policy. Such things as intentional misrepresentation, racial or sexual harassment, profane or obscene language, sexually explicit material including nudity and other policy violations are prohibited. Personal web pages must not depict, describe, or advocate anything that is illegal or does not meet University standards. Links to other web sites and computers are also covered under this item. Thus, a page may be judged in violation if it contains links to a page that is found in violation. All pages, and all of their contents, are subject to existing Andrews University policies as well as local, state and federal laws.
  5. The content of all pages must respect intellectual property rights. For example, no copyrighted material may be shown on pages unless permission has been obtained in writing.
  6. No commercial business endeavors are to be conducted through personal pages on the University system.

Students who publish web pages found in violation of this policy or any other applicable Andrews University policy may lose web privileges and may also be subject to the same disciplinary response as found in the current Student Handbook. Faculty and staff may lose web privileges and may also be subject to the disciplinary response found in the Andrews University Employee Handbook.

Violations that come to the attention of the University will be reported to the appropriate campus conduct boards. Where there is a question about the loss of privileges, an appeal can be made to a web review committee that will consist of two University administrators, two faculty members, and one student.

Parallel Organizations Home Pages are the responsibility of the director of the organization and must be consistent with the mission and goals of Andrews University. Supporting organizations such as (CYE, WAUS, Adventist Community Services, SDANet), may have outside domain names as needed for their marketing and advancement goals, provided that the site is registered with ITS Servers and Networks. Each supporting organization home page must contain the words "site hosted courtesy of Andrews University" with a link to the University home page. If these criteria are not met, the site will not be hosted on any Andrews University server.

IV. Quality and Content

Templates and visual identity elements will be available by contacting the Web Coordinator.

Any electronic publication produced by Andrews University is a reflection of the institution and thus must be of good quality and responsible content. Official pages of the University and its departments will be regularly reviewed by the Web Coordinator and University Relations director so that the college's electronic image reflects the same excellence as its print publications attempt to convey.

Electronic pages, and all of their contents, are subject to existing Andrews University policies as well as local, state and federal laws. Links to other web sites and computers are also covered under this policy. Thus, a page may be judged in violation if it contains a link to a page that violates this policy.

It is not expected that one web policy statement will always be able to address all situations that may arise. This policy may be reviewed and revised periodically by the web committee.

 

Credits: While various college and university web policies were reviewed, particular thanks goes to the Vanderbilt, University of Minnesota and Calvin College for their excellent examples of web policy development and structure.