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The University of Minnesota recognizes the value and potential of publishing on the Internet, and so allows and encourages students, staff, and faculty to publish electronic information. University groups may create electronic Web pages, personal pages, publications pages, or other pages (see Definitions) that carry out official University business in support of the University's mission. Contents of all electronic pages must be consistent with University of Minnesota policies and local, state, and federal laws. This includes links to other pages or computers. In other words, a page may be considered in violation if it contains links to a page that violates the policy.

In order to ensure graphical and content consistency and provide for a cohesive user experience, all University Web pages and pages that are the electronic equivalent of a publication will feature the following:

1. A University of Minnesota wordmark at the top of the page;
2. The equal opportunity statement;
3. The date of last revision and the name of the responsible publisher or information provider, including contact information;
4. Copyright information (e.g., © 2002 Regents of the University of Minnesota) if the pages and/or the content featured on the pages are the property of the University of Minnesota; and
5. A link to the University's privacy statement. In addition, pages must comply with the University's Accessibility of Information Technology policy. In order to facilitate compliance with this policy, University Relations will provide Web templates to publishers to help in implementing a consistent look and feel. The use of these templates is encouraged but not mandated.

Acknowledging sponsorship (see Definitions) of programs, institutes, centers, or research by non-University entities is a common and approved practice on University Web sites. In order to preserve the University's reputation as an institution of independent scholarship and inquiry, however, sponsorship logos should appear as secondary graphical elements on a page and, whenever possible, links should go to homepages and not to a page directly featuring or selling a product.

Selling of online advertising space (see Definitions) to non-University entities is acceptable only under strict guidelines. Any and all online advertising must adhere to guidelines set forth by the Office of Budget and Finance in the "Selling to External Customers" policy, must support the University's mission, and must be approved by the office of the VP for University Relations. In general, and with respect to preserving the University of Minnesota's reputation for academic independence and integrity, the University expressly chooses to limit such advertising on the Web. Banner advertising on University of Minnesota Web pages is strictly forbidden.

Due to the variety and diversity of units, programs, and initiatives at the University of Minnesota, the University has not adopted a strict subdomain naming policy (see Definitions). However, University of Minnesota Web site subdomain names should reasonably reflect the type of content featured on Web pages. In order to ensure that subdomain names are consistent with the mission of the page, departmental directors will be notified when a subdomain is requested. Individual's names may not be used as subdomains; e.g. http://johndoe.umn.edu.

University of Minnesota resources may not be used to create Web pages primarily for personal business or personal gain, except as permitted by other University policies. The University does allow for personal pages that provide information about an individual that is relevant to that individual's role at the University. The official University of Minnesota home page and official campus home pages will not link directly to personal pages. Units may, if they choose, link to faculty, staff, or student personal pages. When requested, units must deactivate links to material that violates this policy. The authors of personal pages must follow the guidelines in this policy. The following statement will appear on all personal pages and all student organization pages: "The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota."

The quality of information published by the University plays an important role in maintaining the strong reputation and image of the University. This policy sets standards that are meant to ensure that information published electronically is visually appealing and well written and follows the same high standards as other forms of published information (print, audiovisual, etc.).

The University complies with applicable local, state, and federal laws.

• Requesting a Link from the TC Campus Home Page
• Creating, Storing, and Linking Pages to the University of Minnesota - Duluth Web Site
• Requesting a Link from the Crookston Campus Home Page
• Requesting a Link from the Morris Campus Home Page
• Requesting a Domain Name for University-Provided Web Space (To be developed)

• UMD Request Form to Store Official Web Pages
• UMD Request Form to Link Official Web Pages

Subject	Contact	Phone	Fax/Email
Primary Contact	Kathy Allen	612-624-5808	allen015@umn.edu
Twin Cities
Duluth
Crookston
Morris

Maintainer / Publisher / Information Provider:

Person responsible for publishing and updating the information contained in World Wide Web pages.

Personal Page:

A Web page for an individual faculty member, staff member, or student.

Publication Page:

The electronic equivalent of a printed publication.

Link:

A one-way hypermedia connection from one site to another on the World Wide Web. Expressed as a "link to" or "link from" a Web site or page of information.

Sponsorship:

An ongoing relationship (extending beyond the use of a logo or assignment of online real estate) with another organization including the contribution of money, goods, or services by that organization to the University of Minnesota or University units.

Online Advertising:

Offering space on a Web page for the purpose of promoting goods and services offered by an organization in exchange for money, goods, or services.

Domain Name:

Used in Web addresses to identify a particular Web location. For example, in the address http://www.umn.edu/urelate, the domain name (technically referred to as the second-level domain name) is umn.edu. Every second-level domain name has a suffix that indicates which top-level domain (TLD) it belongs to. There are only a limited number of TLDs. For example:

• gov - Government agencies
• edu - Educational institutions
• org - Organizations (nonprofit)
• com - commercial business
• net - Network organizations

Subdomain Name:

Part of a larger, second-level domain name. For example, in the address http://csom.umn.edu/ "csom" is a subdomain of the second-level domain "umn.edu."

Dean, Department Head, or Organization Head:

Responsible for the content (including links to other information) of a unit's published electronic pages. Reassign responsibility for Web pages if the page coordinator leaves the University or is relieved of this responsibility. Remove links from University Web pages to pages containing material that violates local, state, or federal laws, or other University of Minnesota policies.

Office of the Vice President for University Relations:

Advise University units about policy, style, and content. Evaluate and revise this policy to keep it up to date. Maintain the University of Minnesota and Twin Cities campus top-level pages. Take questions regarding the policy and forward complaints of policy violations to the appropriate University offices. Provide Web templates to publishers to help in the adherence to this policy.

Web Integration Group (WIG):

Coordinate Web integration activities including the development of new technologies, the review and changes to policy and procedures, providing oversight on institution-wide design and management issues, and facilitating cooperation and collaboration among units on Web-related projects.

Faculty, Staff, and Students:

When publishing information, observe copyright regulations, all local, state, and federal laws, and University of Minnesota policies.

There are no appendices for this policy.

There are no frequently asked questions for this policy.

• University of Minnesota Web Standards and Templates
• Administrative Policy: Collecting Information From Visitors To University Web Sites (Online Privacy)
• Administrative Policy: Accessibility of Information Technology
• Administrative Policy: Selling to External Customers

Amended:

September 2007

- Added link to University of Minnesota Web Standards and Templates to Related Information.

Amended:

September 2002 - Revised policy statement to include requirement for all web pages to link to the University Privacy Statement, that online advertising will follow the Selling to External Customers policy, banner advertising is prohibited, establishes the appropriate way to acknowledge sponsors on web pages, provides guidance on the use of subdomain names and that pages follow the Accessibility of Information Technology policy. Updated Definitions, Responsibilities and Related Information Sections.

Amended:

March 2001 - Forms for Duluth were updated.

Effective:

September 1995

To obtain a copy of a historical policy, e-mail the U Policy Librarian at policy@umn.edu or call 612-624-4372.