UPPS No. 04.01.06, University Website

University Website
Texas State University-San Marcos
Official UPPS No. 04.01.06
Issue No. 2
Effective Date: 05/10/01
Review: November 1 EY

01. POLICY STATEMENTS

01.01 We at Texas State are committed to supporting the educational mission of the institution through efficient information storage and retrieval, appropriate auditing procedures, professional personnel services and a safe environment. The following procedure contributes to the fulfillment of this policy.

01.02 With respect to Texas law, TSUS Regents' Rules, and Texas State policy, all University Website components (see Section 02) qualify as information resources, which are the property of Texas State and the State of Texas.

01.03 Texas law (Section 403.273(d) of the Government Code and Section 39.02(a) of the Penal Code) prohibits the use of state property and resources for commercial purposes or personal gain. TSUS Regents' Rules (Chapter VII, Sec. 3) restrict the use of Texas State facilities and equipment in solicitation, advertising and other commercial activities. Texas State UPPS No. 01.04.13 contains policy guidelines for the use of Texas State equipment by outside entities, and requires written agreements prior to such usage. Pursuant to these restrictions on commercial use, the University Website may not be used by profit-oriented third parties, or for solicitation, advertising or other commercial purposes, except as provided under the terms of the above listed regulations. Additionally, computers connected to the Texas State network are nodes within the Texas State computing domain. Network services hosted by these computers (e. g., web servers, news readers, email servers, etc.) must always represent themselves using the string "TxState.edu" as the final two components of the service's network address.

01.04 The security of University Website components are protected by policies described in Texas State UPPS No. 04.01.01.

02. DEFINITION AND COMPOSITION OF THE UNIVERSITY WEBSITE

02.01 The University Website allows electronic access to a wide array of information and resources in support of the mission of Texas State. Information typically accessible via the University Website is university-related information and pointers to other information resources that are accessible via the Internet. The University Website is a distributed information system made up of numerous interconnected components including:
a. The Texas State Home Page server (www.TxState.edu) provides the official web presence and represents the entire Texas State community.
b. The campus news reader (news.TxState.edu) provides access to various Internet news groups.
c. Other campus servers (i. e., servers within the TxState.edu Internet domain) provide access to additional web pages associated with Texas State via links with the Texas State Home Page.
d. The campus-wide local area network provides the data communication infrastructure for the University.
e. The campus Internet gateway provides Texas State with access to the Internet.

03. DESCRIPTION OF THE ELEMENTS THAT COMPRISE THE UNIVERSITY WEBSITE

03.01 Computing Services Servers. These servers supply Texas State's official news reader and world wide web services, including Texas State's official Home Page. These servers also provide access to other servers on campus and around the world. For a variety of reasons, these servers may not be a suitable location for some information resources. In these situations, the information provider (see Section 05.05) will need to identify or establish another server to facilitate access to the information resources.

03.02 Other Campus Servers. If applicable guidelines are followed, colleges, departments, and recognized Texas State organizations may establish their own servers within the TxState.edu Internet domain as part of the University Website. Links will be established from the Texas State Home Page server to these "department" servers to provide access to the information resident on them. Colleges, departments, and organizations which establish such servers are responsible for their administration and content.

03.03 Texas State LAN. Texas State's Campus-Wide Local Area Network (LAN) and its connection to the Internet are administered by Computing Services. The Texas State LAN provides connectivity to all servers that provide local University Website services and to external servers accessible via the Internet.

04. GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNIVERSITY WEBSITE

04.01 It is Texas State's belief that freedom of access to information is the primary principle for administration of the University Website. The following principles are intended to protect and express various aspects of this principle.

04.02 It is in the public interest for the public to have access to the widest range of electronic information including the widest diversity of views and expression including those that are unorthodox or unpopular with the majority. It is also in the public interest that there be a clear distinction between official Texas State content and that which is attributable solely to the individual authors.

04.03 By facilitating access to electronic information, Texas State does not endorse every idea or presentation contained in the information available in electronic form. It would conflict with the public interest for Texas State to establish political, moral, and/or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what information should be made available. Similarly, it would conflict with the public interest for individually held political, moral, and/or aesthetic views to be erroneously set forth as those of Texas State or any recognized component of Texas State.

04.04 It is contrary to the public interest for anyone in a position to restrict access to electronic information, to determine the acceptability of information on the basis of his/her personal history, beliefs, or political affiliation.

04.05 It is not in the public interest to force Internet users to accept any information with the prejudgment of a label characterizing that information as subversive or dangerous.

04.06 It is the responsibility of those who provide electronic access to information to contest encroachments upon that freedom of access by individuals or groups seeking to impose standards or taste upon the community at large.

04.07 It is the responsibility of those who can provide electronic access to information to give full meaning to the freedom to access information by providing information that enriches the duality and the diversity of thought and expression.

05. RESPONSIBILITIES OF GROUPS USING THE TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY WEBSITE

05.01 Currently, the University Website for Texas State is jointly developed, maintained, and monitored by the University Website Oversight Committee, Computing Services, and the Library. Three (3) additional groups also bear responsibility for appropriate use of the University Website: information providers, information consumers, and server administrators. The definitions and responsibilities of each of these groups are listed in Sections 05.02 through 05.07.

05.02 The University Website Oversight Committee (University Website Committee) is appointed by the Vice President for Information Technology to provide oversight and direction in the planning and implementation of the University Website. It is specifically charged with recommending University Website policies and procedures, and with developing guidelines for the types of materials and information resources to be made available via the University Website. Current members of the University Website Committee are listed in the Texas State Roster of Councils and Committees, which is accessible via the Texas State Home Page.
Responsibilities assigned to the University Website Committee include:
a. Acquire and maintain personal knowledge of the University Website implementations and the management and provision of information to diverse constituencies.
b. Promote the University Website as a publication medium; solicit and coordinate the inclusion of information from the constituencies they represent in support of the Texas State mission.
c. Establish and routinely review university policies and procedures relative to the operation of the University Website.
d. Establish criteria for prioritizing various University Website development and maintenance activities.
e. Periodically review and establish format(s), language(s), and tool(s) to be supported as standards for the Texas State University Website (e. g., html).
f. Serve as an appeal body for disputes among the University Website stakeholders: Computing Services, the Library, information providers, information consumers, and server administrators.

05.03 Computing Services is responsible for support of the University Website technical infrastructure with the exception of the department servers. This includes the hardware, software, and network resources associated with the Texas State Home Page server, as well as Texas State's Internet connection. Computing Services also provides technical support to the Library in the administration of the University Website, including the development of tools for use by Library staff in University Website operation. In addition, Computing Services enforces applicable policies and procedures necessary to meet these responsibilities.

05.04 The Library is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Texas State Home Page and other key public entry points to the Texas State web site, including the applicable guidelines, policies, and procedures. The Library is responsible for the organizational structure of the University Website menu information. The Library coordinates orientation and training activities for information providers, suggests standard formats for various types of information, and may require the inclusion of certain types of information (i. e., identity of the author, disclaimers, etc.) for any local resource accessible via the University Website. The Library enforces applicable University Website policies and procedures necessary to meet these responsibilities, and may periodically audit the University Website for quality. The Library may direct the removal of links from the Texas State Home Page, or any other page it administers, if the link directs users to a page or site with content determined by the Library (in consultation with the University Website Committee, as needed) to be (a) in violation of any University, State, or Federal regulation, or (b) unacceptable in presentation. Examples of the latter include, but are not limited to, broken graphic images, bad links, out-of-date or erroneous information, etc.

05.05 Information providers include any colleges, departments, or organizations that are officially recognized by Texas State, or any individual students, staff, or faculty members that provide information for access via the University Website (see Section 07 for information specific to personal pages). The information may be resident on the Texas State Home Page server or on other server(s) within the TxState.edu Internet domain. Information providers are encouraged to implement their own server(s) and experiment with electronic publication. They are responsible for:
a. the accuracy, timeliness, and appropriateness of the information they make available;
b. complying with applicable policies, procedures and guidelines established by Texas State;
c. insuring that the information which they make accessible includes identification of the college, department, organization and/or individual to contact regarding that information; and
d. complying with any copyright, license, libel, harassment or other policy or statute that may be applicable to the publication or distribution of the information they provide.

05.06 Information consumers include all individuals who utilize the Texas State University Website as an information resource. These individuals are expected to use the information resource for its intended purpose, and to comply with any copyright, license, or other policy or statute that may be applicable to the publication or distribution of the information they obtain.

05.07 Server administrators are the individuals responsible for day-to-day operation of any computer that hosts a World Wide Web server within the TxState.edu Internet domain. From a University Website perspective, server administrators are responsible for:
a. the hardware, software, and network resources associated with the server, up to its connection to the Texas State LAN;
b. the organization of information provided on the server;
c. operating the server and providing information in a fashion consistent with these guidelines; and
d. keeping the University Webmaster informed of any changes to the configuration of the server, or the personnel designated to administer it.

Server administrators are strongly encouraged to collaborate in addressing issues and resolving problems.

06. CRITERIA FOR PRIORITIZATION OF UNIVERSITY WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

06.01 The University Website is a system-in-progress and is expected to remain in a state of evolution. Information will be placed on the Texas State Home Page server as it is received on a first-come, first-served basis. When the demand for timely placement of information exceeds the capacity of available support resources, requests must be prioritized. The following prioritization criteria have been established by the University Website Committee:
a. Information whose primary target audience is the current Texas State campus community (i. e., students, faculty and staff) will have the highest priority, superseding information whose primary target audience is external to the campus community. Within each of these groups, competing demands will be ranked by the number of likely consumers of the information (i. e., the more consumers, the higher the ranking).
b. Information of compelling interest to the university community, as determined by the University Website Committee, will be given high priority. The Committee will consider the information's overall impact on the mission of Texas State in making this determination. The priority for development and/or acquisition of such information may be elevated by the University Website Committee until the need is satisfied.

07. PERSONAL WWW PAGES

07.01 The Texas State University Website exists to support the University in achieving its teaching, research and service mission. Texas State recognizes that personal publication on the Internet may contribute to the achievement of this same mission. However, the publication of personal pages is limited by university resources.

07.02 Texas State accepts no responsibility for the content of any personal pages. The views and opinions expressed in personal pages are strictly those of the page authors and any comments with respect to the content of personal pages should be directed to the page authors.

07.03 The resources used by the Texas State University Website are the property of Texas State and the State of Texas, and are consequently subject to appropriate use statutes and guidelines; refer to Section 01.02. Consistent with these guidelines, the author of a personal page is responsible for the accuracy, timeliness, and appropriateness of the content of that page.

07.04 Because of the need for clarity in distinguishing between official Texas State content and the content found in personal pages, all servers providing access to personal pages must designate and maintain a separate, clearly identifiable area for personal pages. Personal pages must contain the following official Texas State disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this document are strictly those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Regents of the Texas State University System, the Texas State administration, any Texas State college, department, or any recognized Texas State organization. Comments on the contents of this document should be directed to the author(s).

08. REVIEWERS OF THIS UPPS

08.01 Reviewers of this UPPS include the following:

Position Date

Ms. Joan Heath University Librarian November EY

Chair, University Website Oversight Committee November EY

Ms. Fazia Rizvi University Webmaster November EY

09. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

This UPPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities, and represents Texas State policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.
Ms. Joan Heath, University Librarian; senior reviewer of this UPPS
Dr. C. Van Wyatt, Vice President for Information Technology
Dr. Jerome Supple, President

	Position	Date
	Ms. Joan Heath University Librarian	November EY
	Chair, University Website Oversight Committee	November EY
	Ms. Fazia Rizvi University Webmaster	November EY