This document defines policy and guidelines regarding the creation and maintenance of the Buena Vista University site on the World Wide Web (WWW) for all departments, offices, faculty, staff and students at Buena Vista University.

OVERSIGHT

The Office of University Communications, the BVU Web Coordinator and the Web Management Team (WMT) have the responsibility for promoting, enhancing and enforcing these guidelines.

WEB MANAGEMENT TEAM

The Web Management Team will establish the University&'s web site design and structure, as well as track and evaluate effectiveness of the site. The WMT will be responsible for maintenance and future development of BVU's web presence, consider and handle instances of web policy violations, will communicate to the campus community about effectively using the web as a marketing and communications medium, and will revise and/or amend the web policy as needed. The WMT will also be responsible for training site administrators.

The committee will be chaired by the Web Coordinator. Other committee members shall include the Director of University Communications, Student Web Server Administrators, a representative from the Teaching and Learning with Technology Center, and Director of Information Services.

University Responsibility

Buena Vista University has made World Wide Web access available to students, faculty and staff in order to promote dissemination and collection of information. BVU encourages faculty, staff and students to take advantage of the global reach of the web. BVU also respects individuals' rights to be free of harassment and intimidation and therefore expects its users to use common courtesy, common sense and restraint when placing information on the web. It is the University's policy to comply with all federal and state copyright and trademark laws. BVU reserves the right to inspect and remove from the network any pages, files or links that may violate the law or any written BVU policy or procedure. BVU may also remove files that are detrimental to the performance of the web server or network. For more information, please see the University's Electronic Information Policy.

User Responsibility

Members of the BVU community should use information resources responsibly, considerately and in accordance with the following rules:

Individuals should comply with the Federal Lanham Trademark Act (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/). Reproduction and/or distribution of any copyrighted material is permitted only in accordance with a valid licensing agreement. Copyrighted materials may include, but are not limited to, computer programs, literary works, photographs, computer graphics and logos, sound recordings and musical works. No photos or videos of people shall be placed on an official or unofficial BVU web page without the permission of the people in the picture or video. Every person has a right of privacy which includes the right to restrict the use of his/her own image. Requests for removal will be honored by faculty, staff and students.

TYPES OF PAGES

Official Buena Vista University Sites:

The Buena Vista University home page (http://www.bvu.edu), department sites/pages and office sites/pages constitute official BVU pages and are overseen the Web Management Team (WMT). The WMT is responsible for the structure and development of the BVU web presence, as well as determining guidelines for consistent graphic design, writing style and accuracy of information. Permanent "site administrators," who are designated by their department head and the Web Coordinator, have sole access and responsibility for updating this information and maintaining the quality and accuracy of these pages. These pages are the University’s formal presence on the World Wide Web.

Required of Official Pages:

All page publishers must adhere to the BVU Electronic Information Policy and all copyright laws. All pages must contain the contact information for the page administrator. BVU style is required for the top level of official pages. Please refer to the BVU Style and Standards Manual (under development) for specifications. The exact number of levels requiring BVU style will be determined on an office-by-office basis.

Encouraged of Official Pages:

Site developers should follow the principles of web style as outlined in the BVU Brand Toolkit. Templates and official graphics will be provided to all members of the BVU community. The BVU style is developed by the Web Coordinator and Web Designer(s) in conjunction with the Office of University Communications. It is intended to present an attractive and consistent image of BVU as would be expected of any official University publication.

Unofficial (Personal) Sites

Unofficial pages include faculty and staff instructional and personal pages, and those of student organizations and individual students. Authors of these pages must abide by the BVU Electronic Information Policy, BVU Web Policy and all policies stated in the Faculty Handbook, Student Handbook and Academic Catalog. Authors should also consult the BVU Brand Toolkit for good web page development practices.

Required of Unofficial Pages:

All unofficial pages residing on the BVU servers must include the name and e-mail address of the individual responsible for managing it.

Encouraged of Unofficial Pages:

The University encourages the use of the following statement on the front page of personal sites:

"Views and opinions expressed on this unofficial page are strictly those of the page authors. Personal page publishers assume complete responsibility and liability for the content of their documents."

BVU is not responsible for unofficial pages; however, the University reserves the right to remove from any University server any pages found to be in violation of the law or University policies. This includes pages that are detrimental to network or web server performance (see User Responsibility above).

NEW WEB SITES

Requests to create new web accounts will be submitted to the Web Coordinator on-line at (site under development) prior to being uploaded to the BVU web site. (Please e-mail webmaster@bvu.edu until site is developed.) The Web Coordinator will respond within 24 hours in one of two ways:

1. Request compliance with University guidelines
2. Verify that the guidelines have been met

This is to ensure the initial page is in compliance with guidelines put forth in this document. The University is not responsible for changes made after the initial launch of the web page.

CHANGE ORDERS

Changes to official pages maintained by the WMT can be submitted on-line at (site under development). (webmaster@bvu.edu) the Web Coordinator will respond within 24 hours in one of two ways:

1. With an estimated timeline for changes
2. To verify that the change has been made

All changes will be verified by the Web Coordinator and made known to the individual making the request.

COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK OWNERSHIP

No photos or videos of people shall be placed on an official or unofficial BVU web page without the permission of the people in the picture or video. Every person has a right of privacy which includes the right to restrict the use of his/her own image. Requests for removal will be honored by faculty, staff and students.

All text, graphics and photographic images on official BVU pages and sites are copyrighted by Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa. Any use of the BVU logo or identity markings must adhere to the requirements of the BVU Brand Toolkit and federal and state laws. Permission to use marks can be requested through the Office of University Communications. Redistribution or commercial use of this material without express written consent is prohibited.

COLLABORATION

If a University department collaborates with an outside group to create a web page or pages, the collaborated work will be governed by the guidelines and policies of the BVU web policy. This applies to both official and unofficial pages hosted on the University's web servers, as well as University pages hosted on outside servers.

COMMERICAL USE

Commercial activity on the BVU network is permitted for business done on behalf of BVU or its organizations and must comply with all policies stated in the Faculty Handbook, Student Handbook, Academic Catalog, the BVU Electronic Information Policy and the BVU Web Policy. Pages housed on University-owned servers that direct traffic to commercial sites for potential revenue generation through advertising or other partnerships are not allowed. Fundraising and advertising may be conducted on the BVU network only under the supervision of officially recognized campus organizations. The University’s name must not be used in ways that suggest or imply the endorsement of other organizations, their products or services.

WEB ACCESSABILITY

BVU is committed to providing equal access to web-based information in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. This ensures that BVU web pages will be readable by users with disabilities. Refer to the BVU Brand Toolkit for specifications.

ENFORCEMENT

Complaints or concerns regarding this policy should follow the appropriate grievance procedures as outlined in the Faculty Handbook, Student Handbook and/or Academic Catalog.

Violations of this policy should be reported to the University's Web Coordinator, the Office of University Communications, or the Help Desk of the Stewart Siebens Computer Center.

Any questions in regard to this policy or classification of pages should be directed to the Web Coordinator.