Winthrop Web Policy

Adopted April 10, 2000
Revised August 19, 2002
Revised January 27, 2003

Winthrop University recognizes the educational value and societal significance of the World Wide Web, and so supports faculty, staff, and students in the electronic publication of information. In order to enhance the mission of Winthrop University, many academic and administrative units--including their departments, organizations and societies--publish web pages. In addition, individual faculty, staff, students and student organizations may publish unofficial and/or personal web pages. Such pages must not be used for business or personal gain.

Scope of Policy

This policy applies to all official web pages that make use of the Winthrop University computing and network facilities for access to the Internet, whether or not these pages are linked to the Winthrop University homepage.

Definitions

Official web pages are those university-sanctioned, publicly accessible electronic documents on official university servers which represent the university, and its colleges, departments, offices, services, or other units of the university.

Unofficial web pages are those pages stored on university computers and networks that are created by and represent an individual student, faculty or staff member or a student organization. Unofficial pages include but are not limited to faculty members' course syllabi, reading lists, and other research and instructional materials.

Page Contents

Contents of all web pages--official or unofficial--must be consistent with the policies of Winthrop University, including the Winthrop University Policy on the Appropriate Use of Information Technology Resources (http://www.winthrop.edu/guide/appropri.html), and with local, state, and federal laws.  Guidelines regarding individual and distribution list email content stated in the Winthrop University Policy on the Appropriate Use of Information Technology Resources also apply to web content located on any Winthrop University hosted web server.

Web authors must not contract with external organizations to place banner advertising or promotional copy on official web pages.  Links to external sites are permissible but must be approved by department heads in consultation with deans or vice presidents as appropriate (see below, Style and Format VII).

Links from an official web site to an external site not affiliated with Winthrop must not express or imply the University’s endorsement of the site’s products, services, or statements.  Exceptions are links to officially approved vendor contracts, e.g. ARAMARK, Bookworm, Verizon, etc.

Official web pages are expected to follow the same professional and graphic standards that apply to official publications in any other medium. Official web pages must meet certain minimum criteria in terms of technical style and format (see Style and Format below). Suggested graphics, templates, and other web page tools and information are available on the university’s Web Services Site to help web authors in designing pages and to encourage consistency throughout the site. Authors of new and existing official pages should consult and work closely with the university web developer to assure that official pages are consistent with the university’s goals and aesthetics.

Style and Format

The required components for style and format of official web sites are delineated below.

1. The official university logo type will appear at least once on the top-level web page, and should be used as a link to the Winthrop home page. Official logos are available in several sizes on the Web Services Site.
2. Every page should contain a link to or include the Winthrop University disclaimer statement. The URL for the disclaimer statement is: http://www.winthrop.edu/disclaimer.htm
3. To enhance web page functionality with internal and external search engines, and to promote university identification, all pages within a site should contain a meaningful, unique <title> tag that also includes the text "Winthrop University". Example: YOUR DEPARTMENT at Winthrop University.
4. Every home page must list a contact for those seeking additional information. The contact might be a specific individual, a generic "yourdepartment," or a link to a page of contacts for the unit. Any contact information should minimally include a mailing address, e-mail address and telephone number.
5. Every page must include the date it was last updated and the author. This information must be incorporated in the page or included in the coding of the page.
6. To enhance the accessibility of university web pages by as wide an audience as possible, all major graphic images that are used (such as navigational links) must include appropriate text descriptions in the "ALT" attribute.
7. Any links to external sites must be appropriate and accessible. Decisions to link to commercial sites, search engines that may include advertising, etc., will be made by department heads in consultation with deans or vice presidents as appropriate. When periodically requested by the web developer, department heads must provide a list of all external links currently appearing on their pages.
8. Faculty, staff, student, and student organization web sites will not be linked from official university pages unless approved by the university department or office to which the link is desired. Department heads will determine whether such links will be provided.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Winthrop University web developer, a member of the University Relations (http://www.winthrop.edu/relations) staff, serves as the coordinator of electronic publications. The University Relations office is responsible for the consistent graphic and editorial presentation of Winthrop University, its programs and services on the official web site. The web developer provides education and tools to help all departments on campus acquire an online presence that reflects well on the department and the university. The web developer also chairs the Web Advisory Committee.

The Web Advisory Committee, comprising academic and administrative representatives, is charged with bringing the concerns of users in respective units to the committee, as well as conveying information regarding the work of the committee to those users and when appropriate to department heads, deans, vice presidents, and/or other members of university governance. The committee helps guide University Relations in the development of policies and procedures as they relate to the web. A shared goal between the committee and University Relations is implementing ideas which will make the web site competitive with other comparable sites nationally.

Department heads are responsible for the content of their official web sites. This includes:

• complying with this policy and other university policies;
• maintaining the currency and accuracy of information;
• proofreading for spelling and grammar.

Department heads should designate a person to periodically review, update and enhance the department’s web site as well as to serve as a departmental contact person for the web developer. Minimally, before the beginning of an academic year, department heads should ensure a thorough review of material on their pages and deletion of any outdated or incorrect material. If assistance is needed, the web developer should be contacted.

Department heads, along with the web developer, are authorized to disable pages that do not adhere to this or any other university policy. See Enforcement below for the procedure the university web developer will follow if noncompliance necessitates disabling an official web page.

Department heads are responsible for ensuring deletion of personal web sites located on official servers when the individual author of the web site is no longer affiliated with the university. Department heads may continue to allow personal web sites beyond the separation date for a period not to exceed three months.

Enforcement

The university web developer is responsible for administering and enforcing this policy. Questions concerning this policy should be directed to the university web developer.

If an official web page does not conform to the minimum criteria for style and format or to university policies, the web developer will discuss the noncompliance with the contact person who is responsible for the official page and others (department heads, deans or vice presidents) as appropriate. If the problem cannot be resolved, the web developer may modify or, if necessary as a last resort, disable the official page. Notice of such action will be promptly communicated to parties involved. The web developer and the Associate Vice President for information technology reserve the right to immediately disable an official page if page contents could cause immediate, irrevocable harm to the university.

Policy for Appropriate Use of Winthrop University Name, Logos, and Graphic on the Web

This policy applies to all web sites that contain neither official nor unofficial Winthrop University web pages (see definitions, p. 1, Winthrop University Web Policy).  For purposes of this addendum, such web sites will be referred to as “external web sites”.

External web sites may include text links to an official Winthrop web page.  External web sites may not include – as links or non-linked graphics – the university’s copyrighted and trademarked official logos and logotypes.  Exceptions are external web sites of officially approved vendor contracts (e.g. ARAMARK, Bookworm, Verizon), organizations to which Winthrop is an institutional member (e.g. Big South Conference), or entities with which the university shares sponsorship, has partnered with, or otherwise is officially affiliated.

In ALL cases, permission to use the university’s copyrighted and trademarked official logos and logotypes must be sought and obtained in writing from the University Relations director, art director, or web developer.

External web sites may not use web graphics, icons, video or audio clips, photographs, drawings, or other copyrighted or trademarked materials residing on official or non-official web pages of Winthrop University without the permission of the creator/owner of the rights to such material.

Violators of this policy will be subject to laws pertaining to copyright/trademark infringement.

Reminder: It is a misdemeanor to use the name of Winthrop University in any way that expresses or implies the university endorses, supports, or is affiliated with any product, service or other organization, without advance permission from appropriate Winthrop officials.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions 
about the policy