Web Hosting Policy

    Title: St. Olaf College Web Hosting Policy
    Effective Date: November 2014
    Issuing Authority:  Information Technology
    Program Coordinators:  Director of IT and Libraries
    Last Updated: October 2014

    Purpose of Policy

    This policy governs the ownership of college data residing on college websites and the requirements for websites hosted by the college for affiliated organizations, and faculty, staff and student personal websites.  St. Olaf College has adopted this policy to safeguard the college’s investments, to comply with various regulatory agencies and to protect the college’s image.

    Scope

    This policy applies to websites owned by or hosted by St. Olaf College.

    Policy

    All official St. Olaf College websites must have a “stolaf.edu” URL. This signals to anyone visiting the pages that the site provides official information about the College. Further, it ensures that St. Olaf College owns the content and has the ability to modify or delete the site if necessary.

    College websites are hosted internally, with exceptions made on a case-­by­-case basis for valid business reasons. Use of the College’s content management system is the most efficient way to ensure continuity should the person maintaining a website leave the College.  Those who require an exception should contact the St. Olaf Web Team (webmaster@stolaf.edu) prior to making external hosting arrangements.

    Official St. Olaf websites must kept up to date and conform to current web styles as determined by the St. Olaf Web Team.  Those that do not will be removed.

    College-Affiliated Websites

    St. Olaf may host College-­affiliated websites for:

    • St. Olaf faculty, staff, and students personal websites
    • St. Olaf grant­-funded projects
    • St. Olaf faculty research and scholarship
    • St. Olaf student academic projects and portfolios
    • St. Olaf recognized student organizations

    St. Olaf may host websites for academic professional organizations upon request and approval of the St. Olaf Web Team and with the approval of the ACPB and the Dean’s Office.  IT provides only minimal support for these websites.

    Website Restrictions

    Regardless of the type of website, the following restrictions apply unless the St. Olaf Web Team approves an exception:

    • must be hosted on an IT WordPress server
    • must not be commercial in nature
    • must not process payment transactions of any kind
    • must have a designated St. Olaf owner
    • custom domains for St. Olaf-hosted sites must be owned and managed by St. Olaf IT
    • must comply with the St. Olaf Appropriate Use of Campus Technologies policy

    Website Life Span

    When a website owner is no longer affiliated with the College or the website is out of date, the site will be removed at the discretion of the St. Olaf Web Team. Student portfolio sites that are part of a course or major/concentration requirement can be granted a two-year hosting extension upon request and approval of the St. Olaf Web Team. Reasonable efforts to smoothly transition a website to a new home before removing it will be made, as appropriate.