Internet Use and Publishing Guidelines

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) promotes and supports the use of the Internet and Internet applications to inform the global community about the services and operation of UTMB and to provide support to university personnel in the administration of programs. UTMB places conditions and guidelines on the use of the Internet, Internet resources and Internet applications on computer systems and facilities that are the property of UTMB.

The purpose of these guidelines is to provide specific information to campus users of these Internet resources.

Several principles underlie UTMB’s guidelines regarding access to and publication on the Internet. The university upholds an individual's constitutional right to freedom of speech and the faculty’s right to academic freedom. The authors of these guidelines appreciate the spirit in which the web was created and exists. UTMB also recognizes that material created by its component departments, schools, clinical units, labs and other official sources represent the university to audiences within the institution and far beyond. In the creation of these guidelines, a conscious effort has been made to foster good stewardship of institutional assets and compliance with regulatory guidelines, while promoting consistency, quality and a cohesive, unifying image for the institution.

GUIDELINES FOR USERS

As good stewards, all users of UTMB’s information resources (including web access and email services), must act professionally and with regard for others. Please refer to http://cirt.utmb.edu/

GUIDELINES FOR INTERNET PUBLISHERS

Publishing on UTMB’s Internet Servers

UTMB maintains Internet servers that may be used by university entities, departments, employees, students and registered organizations for publishing information and creating applications related to their roles at UTMB. Content on these pages must be in support of UTMB’s mission of health care, education, research and community service, and may be intended for internal use or be made available for public use.

Internet pages may not be used for commercial, non-UTMB purposes. They cannot be for the personal or private gain of an individual or group of individuals promoting a private or commercial cause.

Official UTMB Internet pages should not contain personal material not directly relevant to the appropriate business of UTMB.

Faculty and Staff Development Pages

In limited instances, UTMB will host non-UTMB sites that align with the university’s mission areas. This service is offered in support of faculty and staff development, and as a community service targeted at not-for-profit groups promoting or involved in the delivery or support of health. Other conditions apply: the owner and publisher of the requested site must be a student or employee associated with the group, and the site must be officially endorsed or sponsored in writing by a UTMB department.

The UTMB Home Page

www.utmb.edu is the official Internet site ("home page") for the university. The home page’s primary objective is to provide an attractive, distinctive, clear and easily navigable point-of-entry to the wealth of information on UTMB’s Internet servers, and to set a tone and style for other university pages.

An alternate internal home page for employees and students, iUTMB, is also offered and maintained by the university. Information on this resource, including a mechanism to request links, in available on the page. intranet.utmb.edu or www.utmb.edu/iutmb.asp

The UTMB main home page and iUTMB are managed by the Web Advisory Board, in collaboration with the Office of University Advancement, Information Services and Academic Resources.

Responsibilities of publishers

Publishers of pages on UTMB’s Internet servers are responsible for:

Although significant efforts are made to ensure the reliability of the information presented, the university cannot guarantee the complete accuracy and dependability of all the information stored on or retrieved from its Internet servers.

Web pages that give access to or collect any personal, confidential or sensitive data must contain protection from unauthorized access, incorporating security measures into their design. All pages are required to post a link to the university’s privacy policy.

Pages hosted on UTMB web servers and posted by UTMB web publishers should be “generally accessible” as defined by the State of Texas. Web pages, especially those intended for public review, should load quickly, feature “alt tags,” text-based representations and other features to make the content available to the visually impaired.

UTMB Internet publishers linked to the university’s home pages represent the institution and are responsible for the pages they publish, as well as the links they offer to other resources. Page publishers should not be directing their visitors to non-operative sites, to out-of-date sites, or to sites containing irrelevant or inappropriate content. Content providers and page publishers are expected to abide by the highest standards of quality and responsibility.

Initiating a Web Site at UTMB/Requesting a Link

Requests to publish a web site on a UTMB server or post a link from the official home page are accomplished via an on-line form.

Site Names Generally, new sites hosted on UTMB’s two institutional servers are hosted as “www.utmb.edu/name”

A few large sites on our main servers are or can be set up as virtual webs; they function, and are named, like independent sites running within the same web server. In those cases, “www” is dropped from the name. Examples: gsbs.utmb.edu, sahs.utmb.edu

This “virtual web” name model requires a distinct IP address; requests are reviewed and fulfilled on a case-by-case basis, and require a bit of extra time.

All other web servers operated within the UTMB domain should follow the “sitename.utmb.edu” model. Examples: registrar.utmb.edu, library.utmb.edu, nrcc.utmb.edu, cardiology.utmb.edu

This naming convention increases consistency, yet still offers flexibility and allow for an IT solution that accommodates current and future scenarios with minimal impact or difficulty.

Required Elements for Sites Published from or Linked to UTMB Internet Servers

The following elements need to be included on each official page hosted on UTMB servers or linked to UTMB pages. A low-impact template for a page footer that meets these state and university requirements is available.

In addition, pages must incorporate:

Guidelines for Web Site Solicitations

UT System rules and policies govern the use of solicitations, sponsorships and advertising on the web sites of its component institutions. A document, Guidelines for Web Site Solicitation, is available on the Internet for information on this topic.

Compliance and Complaint Resolution Process

Fundamentally, these guidelines rely on personal responsibility and professionalism on the part of web publishers. Admittedly, the very nature of this technology makes enforcement a challenge. For these guidelines to function as intended and to advance the aims of the institution, each publisher must take personal and collective responsibility for what is produced.

Pages are evaluated for compliance at the time they are initially linked, and are subject to random review thereafter. Log file analysis plays a large role in the review process; UTMB pages with high traffic volume are a priority. Review is a task charged jointly to Information Services and the Office of University Advancement.

Missing or improperly executed elements will result in a contact from a representative of the Web Advisory Board. If corrective measures are not taken within an agreed upon time, the institutional link will be severed and web server privileges may be forfeited.

Communication is critical in conflict resolution. It is the board's desire that peer direction and support help drive compliance. When and if warranted, the Web Advisory Board will offer a first line of arbitration in conflict resolution.

The Internet offers publishers a tremendous amount of freedom and power, but these come at a price: a responsibility to exercise good judgment. The penalties for not exercising good judgment and abiding by these guidelines can include the suspension or withdrawal of UTMB Internet server use privileges. Violations of state and federal laws can lead to suspension, dismissal and/or criminal and civil prosecution.

UTMB Web Support

UTMB offers and will continue to offer training and resources supporting the use of the Internet, Internet applications, and web development to university employees and students.

These guidelines are the result of the work and oversight of the UTMB Web Advisory Board. The charge of the board is to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the institution’s World Wide Web presence and to promote and optimize the web’s use as a communication tool.

The board, which is multidisciplinary and cross-representational, was created by and operates under the direction of the UTMB President’s Council.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Send them to public.affairs@utmb.edu