Rationale

The maintenance and effectiveness of our institutional websites must be a priority in order to achieve our institutional goals, given the following facts:

1. Users will often use the internet and websites first when wanting to learn something new or complete a task, given websites are available at practically any place or time.
2. Users can start their visit at any page on a website, given search engines or site search are often used over page-by-page navigation.
3. Users expect that every resource they view to be current, accurate, and complete.

It takes significant effort to maintain a website that is current, accurate, and complete throughout, especially for sites like d4lx.239877.com which presents most of the college to the world. The best way we have to maintain our institutional websites is to have each department, office, and program–the content experts–share the work and generally manage their content directly.

In short, we must ensure our external-facing websites, our most-viewed communication platforms, are maintained and effective. To that end, we must set minimum expectations for the broader campus community to contribute to the maintenance of their websites and minisites.

Purpose of College Websites

The primary purpose of our websites is to advance our critical college interests: Enrollment and Advancement. The primary audience is external users, and content should be written and organized so that it can always be understood and navigated by any external user, including those with little to no familiarity with Beloit College.

The secondary purpose of college websites is to facilitate day-to-day college business and activities. The secondary audience is internal users, but content for those audiences should have some value for external audiences, such as campus-only events demonstrating an active student life. Strictly internal-only content should not be added to college websites serving external audiences.

In general, college websites must focus on college business. Content may serve additional purposes, such as promoting college employees as professionals in their fields, but all content must contribute to the college’s mission and goals.

Scope

The following criteria determine if a website is in scope for this policy:

• It is owned by the college, presents itself as an institutional website, or contributes to college business.
• It is edited and maintained directly by the college or college employees.
• It is visible to and can be used by external audiences.
• It is not social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.).

Prominent examples include the institutional website, the Athletics website, Slate (Admissions), NetCommunity (Alumni), and the Portal.

Vendor Websites

Vendor sites (e.g. food service, college bookstore, etc.) are generally not in scope. However, it is strongly recommended that those working with vendors ensure the vendor maintains their website appropriately and in a manner that reflects positively for the college.

Student Organization Websites

Websites managed and maintained by student groups or organizations (e.g. WBCR, Round Table, etc.) are generally not in scope. However, it is expected that any student website which uses college or student government funds will provide administrative permissions to at least one college employee in order to ensure continuity of access at a minimum.

Definitions

• Website, or Site: A single web presence defined by a single domain name. e.g. d4lx.239877.com, admissions.239877.com, etc.
• Minisite, or Group: A section of a website, most often representing individual offices, departments, and programs.
• Content: The text, images, and media added by editors to a website which convey information and meaning to users.
• User: A person who visits the website for information or to complete a task.
• External Audiences: Anyone not directly involved with the day-to-day operations of the college. This includes prospective students and families, enrolled students before their first day of classes, alumni, donors, friends of the college, peers at other institutions, and the general public.
• Internal Audiences: Anyone directly involved with the day-to-day operations of the college. This includes current students, faculty, staff, members of the board of trustees, and vendors.
• Domain: The main address and identifier of a website. e.g. 239877.com or beloitcollegeathletics.com.
• Subdomain: A subdivision of a website identified with a component appended to the domain. e.g. d4lx.239877.com, admissions.239877.com, moodle.239877.com, etc.

Roles

Web Staff

College employees who are principally responsible for ensuring adherence to this policy as delegated by the President’s Office.

• Expected to track college websites and the Website System Manager who manage them, and ensure these roles are assigned.
• Expected to identify areas where this policy is not being followed and encourage proper adherence. As needed, elevate concerns about adherence or take action in response to policy violations.

Website System Manager

College employees who are responsible for the management of a website entity.

• Must be a college employee.
• Expected to ensure the availability and continuity of the website.
• Expected to track Minisite Owners and Editors, and ensure these roles are assigned.
• Expected to provide training for new Editors of the website.
• Expected to help Web Staff identify areas on the website where this policy is not being followed.
• May delegate tasks to others, but retains the responsibility for the work.

Minisite Owner

College employees who are responsible for ensuring the content of a minisite is current and accurate. Only one Minisite Owner is needed for a website that does not constrain multiple minisites.

• Must be a college employee.
• Is the leader or advisor of the office, department, program, or entity represented by the minisite.
• Expected to ensure minisite content is maintained.
• Expected to be the primary contact for any inquiries involving the minisite or its content.
• Should direct the work of editors for the website or minisite they maintain.
• May delegate tasks to others, but retains the responsibility for the work.
• Encouraged to also be an editor.

Editor

Individuals who have access to edit content in one or more websites or minisites.

• Must be an individual and not a shared account.
• Expected to attend a training session managed by Website System Manager to learn the website’s fundamental operations and best practices before receiving editor access.
• Expected to maintain content as needed and as directed by the Minisite Owner for their minisite.
• Student editors are to be supervised and have all work reviewed by an employee editor.

Expectations

1. Web Staff have administrative permissions for each institutional website.
   • Web Staff are to be able to ensure continuity as Website System Managers change.
   • Web Staff are to be able to intervene and make edits to a website as needed.
   • If suitable permissions are not possible, then Web Staff and the website’s Website System Manager are to develop the best possible arrangement to meet these needs.
   • Web Staff are not to be involved in the regular maintenance of a website or its content unless also assigned to be a Website System Manager, Site Owner, or Editor.
2. Websites and minisites have maintenance roles assigned at all times.
   • Each website is to have a Website System Manager.
   • Each minisite is to have at least one Minisite Owner and at least one Editor.
   • Effort should be made to fill vacancies quickly, as well as anticipate and avoid vacancies.
3. All content is kept current, accurate, and relevant.
   • Editors should be editing content as changes are needed.
   • All faculty/staff profiles and contact information are to reflect current employees.
   • All lists of stories are to have one relevant story that is less than one year old.
   • All campus events are to be added to relevant website calendars and lists, unless the event is strictly invite-only.
4. All content meets applicable laws, college policies, and technical standards.
   • Examples include data protection laws such as FERPA and GDPR, accessibility laws such as ADA, and copyright laws that affect all content, including text, images, video and music.
   • College policies, such as the Ethical Use of Computing and Information Resource Policy, apply to college websites and systems.
   • Reasonable efforts must be made to secure any public digital representation of the college. This may include secure (http) connections for authenticating users or collecting sensitive data. Security warnings/errors from browsers should be rectified as soon as possible.
5. All websites support the institution and its audiences.
   • Institutional websites are not to be used to intentionally damage the reputation of the college, for personal interests or profit, or, contractual obligations aside, to advertise or endorse businesses, political entities, or other institutions.
6. All websites follow the college’s editorial style guide and visual brand identity.
   • While each website may be distinct, all websites are to be clearly identifiable as part of the same institution.
   • Content may be edited/altered as needed by Communications and Marketing for clarity, grammar, spelling, usage, and style, as well as to conform with college naming conventions and branding. Any significant alterations will be discussed with the responsible office.
7. All new sites, domains, or subdomains follow review and approval processes.
   • Requests for new domains or subdomains are to be reviewed and approved by Web Staff.
   • Any domain purchases are to be made via Library and Information Technology Services.
   • Requests for new or unique domains for public content are not a common practice.

Non-Compliance

Minisite Owners are responsible for addressing content issues related to the aforementioned policies and guidelines. Website System Managers are responsible for addressing website issues related to the aforementioned policies and guidelines.

Violations should be brought to the attention of Web Staff who will contact the person(s) responsible. If no attempt is made to address known violations within a reasonable timeframe (~2 weeks), Web Staff may take further action to resolve the violation.

Web Staff may also take immediate action to resolve serious violations, including the misuse of copyrighted materials, exposure of sensitive information, or any use which does not support the institution.

Actions related to non-compliance include:

• Elevating the violation to the member of senior staff who shares responsibility for the site and its maintenance to encourage action, identify a solution, or to provide discipline.
• Resolving the violation unilaterally by adding or editing content or assigning a vacant role.
• Minimizing the impact of the violation by hiding websites, minisites, or content from search results, or by making inaccessible to website users.
• Eliminating the impact of the violation by removing content from the website.
• Mitigating future violations by revoking access or reassigning roles.

The person(s) responsible will be notified of each action taken, if they can be determined.

Maintaining this Policy

This policy is maintained by the college through the President’s Office and senior staff. The policy will be reviewed periodically by stakeholders to determine whether updates might be warranted.

Web Staff will help gather feedback and observations from operations to assist stakeholders in decisions regarding this policy.