Holy Cross Web Policy

1. Introduction
The College of the Holy Cross Web site is the electronic embodiment of the institution for many of its constituents and, as such, should reflect the College's purpose and standards with coherence, precision and grace. Maintenance of the highest quality Web content, including consistent design and factual information, is essential in order to present a positive, uniform image of the College.

The College home page and the associated Web pages, including those of academic and administrative departments or affiliated organizations, are considered official publications of the College. These upper level pages are often the first point of contact visitors have with the College and should reflect a consistent and progressive image of Holy Cross.

2. Definitions

  • approved Web template: A Web page template that has been specifically designed for use on the College Web site.
  • course Web page: An HTML file designed by a member of the faculty to assist in the instruction of any specific course.
  • department Web page: An HTML file designed by an academic department to include information about its purpose, members, resources offered, activities, and any other relevant information.
  • Editor, College Web Communications: individual responsible for innovative development and maintenance of the College's Web site. Editor reports to the Director of Public Affairs.
  • faculty/administrator Web page: An HTML file designed by a member of the faculty/administrator to include his/her professional profile, CV, and any other relevant professional information.
  • home page: The opening or main page of a Web site, intended chiefly to greet visitors and provide information about the site or its owner. In the case of Holy Cross: www.holycross.edu.
  • HTML file: A computer file that employs a markup language to structure text and multimedia documents and to set up hypertext links between documents.
  • official College Web pages: The College's home page (www.holycross.edu), primary directory, index, search and site navigation pages on Holy Cross Web servers, academic and administrative department or organization pages (this includes all pages in the College Web site, except those of unofficial or personal nature).
  • office Web page: An HTML file designed by any office of the College to include information about its purpose, members, resources offered, activities, and any other relevant information.
  • organization Web page: An HTML file designed by an organization affiliated with the Holy Cross to include information about its purpose, members, resources offered, activities, and any other relevant information.
  • personal Web page: A non-College HTML file designed by any individual member of the Holy Cross community to include his/her professional and/or personal information.
  • unofficial College Web pages: the following are not considered official pages: course pages, workshop pages, pages on the intranet, and any other pages not intended to be part of the main Holy Cross Web site.
  • Web content: The information-textual, graphical, multimedia-present in any given Web page.
  • Webmaster: An individual whose duties include designing, developing, or maintaining a Web site for a College department or office. The College Webmaster (Editor, College Web Communications) is responsible for the entire College Web site.
  • Web page template: An HTML file having a preset format-including required design elements, links and general information-used to create the same look and feel throughout a Web site.
  • Web page: A document on the World Wide Web, consisting of an HTML file and any related files for scripts and graphics, and often hyperlinked to other documents on the Web. The current guidelines distinguish official, unofficial and personal Web pages.
  • Web site: A set of interconnected Web pages, usually including a home page, generally located on the same server, and prepared and maintained as a collection of information by a person, group, or organization.


3. Policy
The College has created a Web site as an electronic communications resource that is accessible to users, from within and outside the College community. Holy Cross encourages the use of this Web site to promote its mission and programs and to facilitate the exchange of information among the various constituencies of the College and its users. Members of the College community who wish to publish on the Web site are responsible for maintaining its integrity and must conform their use according to the guidelines published herein.

4. Guidelines
It is required that academic and administrative departments, affiliated organizations, and other groups at Holy Cross base Web page creation upon the officially approved template(s) for College Web pages available online at:

http://www.holycross.edu/web/templates.html

The official Web pages should contain content that is maintained in a factual and up-to-date manner by the Webmaster designated by each academic or administrative department.

  • Official College Web pages, in addition to using the officially approved template(s), must include email contact information for the department, its Webmaster, or for webmaster@holycross.edu, and content and functionality that has been reviewed and approved. Academic Web pages will be reviewed for content and functionality by the Educational Technology Group, and approved by the Vice President of Academic Affairs. All other official Web pages will be reviewed by Public Affairs, and approved by the Editor, College Web Communications, or the Director of Public Affairs.
  • Unofficial College Web pages must include the College's address, phone number, email contact information, and a link to the College's home page. The overall design of this type of Web page is left to the individual.
  • Personal Web pages, although exempt from any design restriction, must have content that abides by the current Information Technology Policies
    (www.holycross.edu/its/it_policies/).

In the event that a department should wish to create a truly unique Web site without using the approved template(s), it will take full responsibility for its creation and maintenance. All of the critical elements contained in official College Web pages must be present. If the department cannot do so, then it should use the template(s).

5. Functional Responsibility
The Director of Public Affairs has the responsibility to ensure that all use of the College Web site conforms to this policy.

6/5/02