Valparaiso University
Electronic Information Services
Standard Operating Procedure
Number 1.5.4.1

These policies for Valparaiso University World Wide Web Pages fully adopt the university policies for electronic resources (known as the VU Acceptable Use Policy) and are subject to review and modification. It is the responsibility of the web page managers to be in accordance with these policies and keep updated on changes. Presence on the VU web site is a privilege granted on the condition that University policies will be observed.

In addition to the Acceptable Use Policies, the following items must be followed:

I. Web Purpose

Information contained in the Valparaiso University web site is provided as a service to users at Valparaiso University, to alumni and friends of the university, and to the Internet community world wide. The purpose of the VU web pages is to provide information about the University, its mission and services, its faculty and students, and its events and programs. In addition, the World Wide Web resources provide access to scholarly resources, informational tools, and navigational aides. Like other University publications, the VU Web site serves as an ambassador, building good will while conveying a sense of life at VU.

The staffs of the offices of University Relations and Electronic Information Services have specific responsibilities for management of the Valparaiso University web site, but the University's presence on the web is a collaborative effort involving the labor of many people. Each site must have a page manager who is named at the bottom on the home page for that site and for whom contact information is provided.

II. General Content and Appearance Guidelines

Non-commercial content and purposes only -- Pages may not be used for personal gain or for cause celebre and may not be detrimental to the University's image.

Resource utilization -- The web space should contain web documents only; use of the web as auxiliary storage space is a misuse of resources. Violators will be asked to remove such documents.

Consistency and coherence -- To achieve consistency and coherence on the VU web site, the Office of University Relations will provide standards and guidelines on format and layout. Pages should in some way reflect the graphic themes or images established on the VU Home Page such that users find some unifying elements guiding the site. Designers should use the newest official VU seals and marks. See EIS documentation for standards and for suggestions about VU marks, etc.

Outside links -- Links to resources outside of the VU Web site are the responsibility of the page manager. Links should be periodically checked to make sure they are still valid.

III. Departmental, Office or Organization Home Pages

Eligibility -- Student organizations must be recognized by Student Senate or by the Dean of the Law school to be eligible for an organizational home page. All exceptions must be approved by the University Web Committee.

Closely Affiliated Organizations will need to have approval from the Provost's Office to obtain web space. Please consult the policy on Hosting Web Pages for Related Organizations (EIS SOP 1.5.4.8) for general eligibility requirements and details.

Content -- All Department, Office or Organization Home (top-level) Pages should conform to the following standards:

The Office of University Relations will provide pagemanagers with a general template for page design which includes common navigational elements and standard graphics for official design. It is expected that all top-level pages will adhere to these standards and use the common template.

Template code is provided on the web resources site at http://www.intra.valpo.edu/web/ or via email, directed to Web.Coordinator@valpo.edu

On each web page, page managers must indicate the date and timestamp for the most recent update of the web page, the name and <mailto:> link to the page manager's address and a standard copyright notice as follows:

Copyright © 1995 - 2003 Valparaiso University. All Rights Reserved.

The text is to appear as a hyperlink, anchored to the address of www.valpo.edu/copyright/ where the official terms of use for all web pages are located.

All VU web pages that conform to the above guidelines will bear the official VU seal at the absolute bottom of the page which will also act as a recognizable link back to the VU Home Page.

Use of Java applets, large animated GIFs and other large embedded files that increase load time of web pages and cause web browsers to crash is prohibited. Please test your pages on low-end equipment and 56k modems so that all pages are accessible to the broadest possible audience.

Use of third-party plug-in programs, e.g., Macromedia Flash, Shockwave, etc. is allowed for special presentation purposes, provided there is an alternative method to access the information without having to download a separate plug-in. There are still users with low-end computers and slow modem connections, and also the pages should cater to users dependant upon braille readers, text-only browsers, etc. Pages providing information necessary to marketing the university must be complaint with the Americans With Disabilities Act, which states that all pages must be accessible to the sight-impaired (must be able to be browsed in a text-only format). For further information, please consult the VU ADA policy at our Copyright Information & Legal Disclaimer page.

Alumni Involvement -- Alumni may manage a page provided

1. A full-time faculty or staff member sponsor the page
2. The page is updated in a consistent and timely manner
3. The organization in question is recognized by VU

IV. Student/Faculty/Staff Personal Home Pages

Eligibility -- Students, faculty, or staff related to the University through enrollment or employment are eligible for a home page during their relationship with the University. Those who establish an individual home page will be known as page managers in terms of these web policies.

Content -- Must contain material, including links, that is in accordance with the University's mission, views, and heritage. Page managers should keep in mind their pages reflect on the University as a whole as well as on themselves and thus should exercise common sense and good taste in content and design.

Every personal web page is subject to University policies and local, state and federal laws.

Material of individual home pages may be restricted or the owner may be asked to change the content if the pages receive undo amount of traffic or consume unreasonable computing resources, which determination lies with the staff of Electronic Information Services (see VU AUP for more information on excessive use).

Page organization -- Links to other pages on the VU Website need to be relative links. A relative link does not have "http://www.valpo.edu/" in front of the link address. Instead, a link will refer to the directory location in which the page exists. For example, a link to the Admissions Home Page, located under the Admissions directory will be /admissions/. Links to the VU Website from the outside world will need to have the full URL that includes http://www.valpo.edu/.

A relative link to the VU Home Page is simply /.

The main page of your web pages should be named: index.html

V. Responsibilities of Home Page Managers

Information may not be published on the World Wide Web in any manner prohibited by law or disallowed by licenses, contracts, copyrighted material or University regulations. Groups or individuals are responsible for information they publish; they should be aware of University policies pertaining to confidentiality and the use of computers, particularly those described in the Acceptable Use Policies. Groups or individuals are expected to read and adhere to these guidelines and also to standards for content and format of top-level pages.

Disclaimer -- The individual pages of students, faculty, and staff must contain a standard disclaimer releasing the University of any responsibility for the content of the personal web pages. The disclaimer of the VU website is as follows:

The content, views, opinions and positions expressed on these personal pages are strictly and exclusively those of the page author, and not of Valparaiso University. Comments and reactions to these pages should be directed to the page authors directly.

It is the responsibility of the page owner to keep the disclaimer updated on the owners page.

Signature of page manager at the bottom -- Each page manager will have his/her name appear on the bottom of his/her home page. The page will also contain an e-mail address of at least the page manager and optionally a person other than the page manager from whom information can be obtained.

Updates to pages -- Page managers should include the date when information was last updated on their home page. Removal of pages or revocation of access may result if the pages are not maintained in a timely manner.

VI. Establishing Web Space on the VU Web Server

Individuals, departments, offices and groups must place a request with the EIS Help Desk (x5678, or <eis.helpdesk@valpo.edu>). New requests can also be made by using the online form found at:

http://www.valpo.edu/eis/dirius/dirhelp/newrequest.html

All account requests from departments must be approved by a department chair or director. Requests from VU organizations must be approved by the president or director of the organization. Request from student organizations must be approved by the president of the student organization and the faculty advisor.

VII. General guidelines for content

Page managers should carefully consider page contents and design in the light of the purpose of www.valpo.edu as outlined in the current web policy. Users that publish personal home pages should carefully evaluate reasons for including personal information, family pictures, etc., to be included since pages are available world wide to viewers where motives are unknown.

Legal and Ethical Considerations -- Invariably, the material on, or accessible through, your home page should be work you are entitled to display. You are entitled to display your own work or information about yourself. There are some caveats regarding display or access to work of others:

Post copyrighted material (video, audio, image, text, etc.) or pointers to copyrighted material only with appropriate permission and with that permission cited. THIS IS IMPORTANT! Such organizations as ASCAP, news feature syndicates, and software publishers have aggressively pursued legal action against those whom they believe are violating their rights.

Certain items may be chancy. For example, if you photograph a celebrity, you still may not be entitled to display your photograph publicly. As another example, you may tape a TV show for your own use, but not for public display. When in doubt, omit the item or get permission.

If you intend to post or link to material of questionable social acceptability, you would do well to review applicable legislation and regulations. Sensitive issues such as race, religion, national origin, age, gender, disability and sexual orientation are covered by various federal and state laws and regulations. The safest course of action is, of course, to avoid questionable material altogether.

Remember, you may personally incur liability exposure for any information you post or link to!

VIII. Violation of policies

Failure to adhere to these rules may result in sanctions, including possible loss of privileges and/or University disciplinary action.

Questions and comments about the VU Web Standards and Policies may be directed to the Coordinator of Web Communications web.coordinator@valpo.edu or the VU Webmaster webmaster@valpo.edu.