Senate Agenda - EXHIBIT V - June 23, 2000

REPORT OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES (SCITS)

FOR APPROVAL

Policies on the World Wide Web at Western

1. UWO Home Page

Recommended: That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors, through the Vice-Chancellor, the following policy on Western's World Wide Web Home Page:

PREAMBLE

1.00 The University of Western Ontario Home Page on the World Wide Web is the University's front gate on the Internet. The Home Page must be a welcoming and effective starting point for the visitor, as well as a valuable pathfinder for the regular user of our information resources. The UWO Home Page will be service oriented. It should be an attractive, welcoming and useful Internet site that provides effective and efficient links to online services and resources for key internal and external University audiences including: faculty, staff, students, prospective students, alumni and other supporters of the University, and the global community. In appearance, the Home Page should reflect the dignity and stature of a major research intensive academic institution and it should conform to all University policies for official campus media.

POLICY

2.00 The categories that will appear on UWO Home Page include:

Admissions and Student Resources
Academic Programs, Faculties and Colleges
Research and Scholarship
Libraries and Information Services
Administration and Services
Alumni and Friends
Campus Information
Western in the Community

Additional level-one services include:

Find People
Search the UWO Web
Search the Internet
About the UWO Web

3.00 The structure of Western's Home Page (level 1) and the immediate links from the Home Page to the first set of links (level 2) is determined by policies initiated by the Senate Subcommittee on the World Wide Web (SUWWW). Neither the first or second level is to be for the express purpose of promoting an individual unit but rather must be used to support the navigation and service of all activities involved with that category at the university.

4.00 The Subcommittee will provide direction and governance on the first and second levels of the home page to the Western community. It will act in an advisory capacity to those units requiring its input for the maintenance and graphic design of the first and second level home pages, specifically to the Department of Communications and Public Affairs and to the Department of Information Technology Services.

5.00 The structure of the first and second level pages and the links from those pages, will be reviewed by the Subcommittee at least annually.

6.00 Any requests for change to the policy regarding the UWO Home Page are to be directed to the Senate Subcommittee on the World Wide Web, c/o the University Secretariat.

Background:

The World Wide Web Planning Guidelines, initially approved by SCITS and Senate in June 1996 (S.96-143), recommended that a policy be developed that identifies and describes the categories or menu items that appear on the UWO home page (http://www.uwo.ca/). These descriptions of categories were intended to help resolve disputes on where items should be classified. It also recommended that the Subcommittee on the World Wide Web be created and that it coordinate and develop the official image of the University on the World Wide Web. Senate subsequently received for information an extensive report on the Policy for the UWO Home Page Structure and Responsibilities in March 1997 (S.97-72). The policy outlined above provides a clearer focus for the UWO Home Page which will assist the Subcommittee in its work. A concurrent proposal is also being directed to Senate to revise the Subcommittee's Terms of Reference for this reason. Contingent on approval by the Board of Governors, the policy will be added to the Manual of Administrative Policies and Procedures.

2. Policy on Official World Wide Web Sites (S.96-143)

Recommended: That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors, through the Vice-Chancellor, the following policy on Official World Wide Web Sites for Western:

PREAMBLE

The University of Western Ontario's space on the World Wide Web is composed of thousands of Web pages on many different Internet servers across campus. All University-based Web pages -- whether they be personal, instructional, or administrative -- should be of the highest quality of presentation and accuracy. Individuals who are responsible the maintenance of Web-based materials on campus must adhere to current codes of behavior and acceptable use policies for University-based computing resources. This policy addresses the specific issue of Web resources that are to be deemed official web pages of The University of Western Ontario.

POLICY

1.00 Official Web sites provide information and services that advance the academic and institutional goals of The University of Western Ontario. Units that can publish Official Web sites include the following:

Academic Units including faculties, departments, schools and programs.
Research Centres and Units (such as Type 3 Research Centres)
Administrative Departments
Ancillary and Retail Services (such as the Book Store)
Student Services such as the Centre for New Students, Student Health Services, the Student Development Centre, etc.
University-Recognized Student, Staff and Faculty Organizations.

These groups or units can place their official web pages on Western's main web server (www.uwo.ca).

2.00 All official sites will be listed alphabetically in an index that will provide Web users with access to information and services at UWO.

3.00 The units and groups identified in 1.00 may also recognize a short term or special purpose site published by an individual or group on campus. Such officially recognized sites will also be included in alphabetic listings of University web sites under a special category. Some examples of hosted sites include a site established:

- to promote and support a special academic event such as a major conference,
- to promote and support a cooperative partnership between the University and another organization,
- to support the work of a disciplinary or interdisciplinary research group,
- to promote and support an institution-wide initiative of the University, which is located at Western but serves the broader academic community.

These sites are "hosted" in the sense that they are located at Western and are recognized by official authority as being important contributors to the institutional goals of teaching, research or service. The University is not obligated to provide these sites with Web space. They may be located on their own server or within the server space which has been allocated the unit or group which is providing official recognition.

4.00 An official site of The University of Western Ontario is an authoritative publication of the University. As such the publishing unit or group is as accountable for the quality and accuracy of the online content as they are for any publication which carries the University's name. As with any official publication, ultimate responsibility and accountability for the site rests with head of the unit or group which is publishing the site, e.g., department chair, dean, director, senior administrator, or president of an association.

PROCEDURE

5.00 Official University Web sites should have a clearly identified individual who has operational responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the online content. This Information Provider will be the first point of contact for complaints and/or improvement suggestions relating to the Web site.

5.01 The Information Provider is responsible for creating/maintaining of the official site and will complete and sign an Official UWO Web Site Agreement [Appendix 1]. This agreement spells out the obligations attached to official web site status. When the information on the Information Provider and Technical Support Person have been completed, the form is sent to the head of the sponsoring unit or recognized group for signature.
5.02 In the case of a special purpose temporary site, e.g., a site established to help promote and support a major conference, a site expiration date should be included on the form so that the site will no longer be officially listed or linked after a certain date.

6.00 The Unit Head has ultimate responsibility for asking for Official or Hosted Status. In the case of Official Status, this is the head of the unit or group which is publishing the site, e.g., department chair, dean, director, senior director, or president of an association. In the case of Hosted Status, the site must be recognized by the head of the sponsoring unit or recognized group.

6.01 The Information Provider will brief the Unit Head regarding the need for the site and its purpose.
6.02 The Unit Head will complete the agreement, give a copy to the Information Provider and forward the original to the UWO Web Manager, c/o Information Technology Services, Natural Sciences Centre.

7.00 The Information Providers must comply with University policies and procedures governing appropriate use of computer resources.

Background:

The World Wide Web Planning Guidelines were initially approved by SCITS and Senate in June 1996 (S.96-143). In the guidelines, Section 4.0 dealt with Official UWO WWW Sites and recommended an initial list of units that are recognized by the University to be involved in research, teaching, the administration or academic student life of the University. The goal was, and still is, to ensure accurate and reliable access to information on official UWO WWW pages, to maximize the number of people that can access the information and to minimize the restrictions on information content providers. It has been suggested that an alphabetical list of campus Web sites, limited to "Official Sites", would be a helpful navigational aid if it were available on the UWO Home Page. As well, it may be helpful if the user could choose to narrow a search to only official pages. The 1996 Guidelines also recommended that the Subcommittee on the World Wide Web be created, one of its responsibilities would be to determine on an on-going basis what WWW sites are official UWO WWW sites.

In February 1998 (S.98-57), SCITS approved and reported to Senate a Policy on Official World Wide Web Sites. This policy essentially iterates the same guidelines as are shown above, but the proposed policy will provide a clearer focus for both the Western community and the Subcommittee. Contingent on approval by the Board of Governors, the policy will be added to the Manual of Administrative Policies and Procedures.

Attached as Appendix 2 is the current list of Official sites.

FOR INFORMATION

1. 1999-2000 Annual Report of the Senate Committee on Information Technology and Services (SCITS)

Attached as Appendix 3 is the SCITS Annual Report for 1999-2000.