Web Policy
Policy
Rationale
Standards & Procedures
Revisions
Approval Dates
March 1, 2007
Policy
Georgia State University’s s will exhibit a uniform and cohesive identity through the use of the content management system (CMS) approved by the CoreWeb Steering Committee. The sites will provide accessible, accurate and informative content and will be used for appropriate and legal purposes.
Rationale
To strengthen the university’s public image through the adoption of a uniform visual identity, it is imperative that the university formalize a Web strategy to present a unified experience to internal and external constituents.
A site-wide design for Georgia State’s s will ensure a user-centric, usable and consistent environment that supports a stronger brand for the university and provides efficiency in site creation.
Standards
CoreWeb Steering Committee: The CoreWeb Steering Committee is appointed by the President and the Provost and consists of the VP for Research, the Associate Provost for Academic Programs, the Associate Provost for Information Systems and Technology, the Assistant VP for University Relations, the Chair of the Senate Information Systems and Technology Committee, and a representative from the Office of Legal Affairs. Technical advice is provided to the committee by the Director of Planning and Strategic Initiatives, IS&T.
Use of Institutional Content Management System (CMS): A content management system easily supports visual and navigational consistency across sites, decentralized management of Web content through a simple, word processor-like interface and better accountability for Web content through the use of optional departmental workflow and approvals prior to page publication.
College, academic department (including centers and institutes) and administrative s must be produced using the approved CMS (currently RedDot) with the templates and patterns approved for use within RedDot. Use of the official design templates or elements thereof outside of the CMS is not permitted except in cases where the use of the CMS is not viable (such as for some web-based applications). In these cases, basic Georgia State-branded frames are provided by the Experience Design Group, a unit of IS&T.
Development of institutional sites by external providers is permitted, with the approval of the president or designee, and must comply with this policy.
s for student organizations are not produced within the CMS.
At this time, individual faculty pages are not required to be developed in the CMS.
ADA Compliance: The university is committed to Section 508 compliance. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federally funded agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. All Web implementations are required to adhere to the Georgia State University Web Accessibility Policy.
Site Locations: All college, academic department and administrative Web pages must reside on a registered server with the required security software installed and current. Hosting of Georgia State Web pages on non-Georgia State servers occurs only rarely, and must be approved by the CoreWeb Steering Committee. Student Web pages reside on www.student.gsu.edu rather than the main Georgia State domain, www.gsu.edu.
Site Names:
Administrative addresses are in the form: http://www.gsu.edu/admin-unit-name
College-level site addresses can be in the form:
http://www.gsu.edu/college for college sites hosted on the central Web server or http://college.gsu.edu for college sites hosted on college Web servers
Academic department site address can be in the form:
http://www.gsu.edu/college/department for department sites hosted on the central Web server or
http://college.gsu.edu/department for department sites hosted on college Web servers or
http://department.gsu.edu at the college’s discretion
Center addresses can be in the form:
http://www.gsu.edu/college/center for center sites hosted on the central Web server or
http://college.gsu.edu/center for center sites hosted on college Web servers
Other considerations are possible for center sites affiliated with more than one college.
Other site names are possible and will be reviewed by the CoreWeb Steering Committee.
Commercial Use of Web Pages: Material contained on university ws must be for academic, research and business activities traditionally associated with a university, unless otherwise approved or permitted by the president or designee.
Use of Copyrighted or Licensed Material: For the use of any and all copyrighted materials not belonging to Georgia State University, written permission must be obtained from the copyright holder and kept on file. Appropriate copyright notices must be prominently displayed as necessary. It should not be assumed that images or photographs used in other university publications are the property of Georgia State University.
Content: Content should be reviewed at least biannually to ensure accuracy and freshness. Web pages linked from the Georgia State University site or stored on a server connected to the university network must comply with applicable laws and with university policies and regulations. The following must not be included in any Web pages:
- Copyrightable or licensed materials for which the necessary permissions for use have not been obtained or an exception permitting use applies
- Material for commercial gain unrelated to the university
- Material that could lead to illegal activities (unless used in an appropriate academic context)
- Material or speech that is unlawful (unless used in an appropriate academic context)
- Material that is intended to damage, to interfere with, or place an excessive load on a computer system or network
Advertising, Endorsements and Sponsorship Acknowledgements: Georgia State University is the owner of its Web pages. No advertising or third-party endorsements are authorized on university Web pages unless expressly approved by the president or designee. This includes, but is not limited to advertising, endorsements, or sponsorship acknowledgements in the form of banner ads and development credits by third party vendors. Event sponsorship acknowledgements in the form of a simple listing of company names and logos are acceptable. Links to the s of sponsors is not acceptable.
Non-gsu.edu Domain Hosting: External or non-gsu.edu domains can be hosted at Georgia State under the following conditions:
- There is an institutional affiliation with the non-gsu.edu domain relating to Georgia State’s research, instructional or service missions
- It is in the university’s interest to host the non-gsu.edu domain
- Any Web pages for the non-gsu.edu domain must maintain approved Georgia State branding
Requests are made to the CoreWeb Steering Committee using the form “Non-gsu.edu Domain Hosting”.
Off-site Hosting of gsu.edu Web pages:
Requests are made to the CoreWeb Steering Committee using the form “External hosting of Georgia State s."
Web Page Aliases: Web page aliases (short names or short-cuts) will not normally be established on the central www.gsu.edu server. The administrators of other registered web servers can elect to support aliases on their servers, at their discretion.
Oversight: The university reserves the right to remove from its servers or disconnect from its network any material or Web pages that the university determines violates university policies or applicable laws. Various units within the division of Information Systems & Technology (IS&T) are responsible for protecting both the system and users from violations of these policies and laws. Pursuant to this duty, IS&T may communicate with offending parties and give instructions as to necessary steps to be taken to correct such violations. In certain cases the university may temporarily or permanently deactivate a Web page. Any enforcement of policies will be made pursuant to appropriate administrative procedures applicable to the party in question.
Adjustments or additions to the CMS templates and patterns, or questions about whether a violates applicable policies or laws are referred to the CoreWeb Steering Committee.
Policy Revisions
Approval Dates
Reviewed by Senate ISAT Committee: 11/16/2006
Approved by: Administrative Council: 2/7/2007
Approved on: 2/7/2007
Version number: 1.0.0
Effective Date: 3/1/2007