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UH-Downtown Web Development Procedures
Up to UHD Contact/Technical Information

Purpose

UH-Downtown's website, www.UHD.edu, is a powerful tool that will play an increasingly important role in UHD's operations. It is a resource for information and service for current and prospective students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the community. UHD.edu is a dynamic, evolving presence on the Internet that will change to meet the needs of the university community. The following procedures are intended to serve as a framework for that evolutionary process, as UHD departments, colleges, divisions and student organizations (referred to as units throughout this document) develop and update their own web pages.

UHD Web Team

A UHD web team has been established, chiefly comprising staff from Communications and Marketing (C&M) and Information Technology (IT), and representatives from across the institution. The web team functioned in accordance with the policy and procedures of PS 08.A.06, Publications on the Worldwide Web. With input from UHD units, the web team developed the structure for UHD.edu to better serve the needs of the university and its constituents. Navigation, services and functionality were primary considerations in developing the site. The graphic look of the "institutional layers" (roughly the top three levels of the site map) is designed to reflect UHD's image and mission. The web team will provide content and technical support to university units in the development and design of university pages. IT will offer training to facilitate the process. In addition, standardized graphics and style sheets have been developed to use as guidelines for units in developing their own sites. These guidelines will provide a consistent image for all UHD websites and therefore, will provide architectural integrity so that UHD is properly represented to its various constituents.

Goals for UHD.edu

Consistency:

One of the goals of the web team is to assist units across the institution in creating a consistent look and functionality that will be evident throughout the site. In order to accomplish this, there will need to be considerable coordination of its design at all levels.

• Templates will be provided for page construction.
• All units are asked to make use of graphic and technical standards on all pages, with consultation and support available from C&M and IT.

Decentralization:

As UHD.edu evolves into an increasingly complex site, responsibility and ownership of the various sections of the site must be shared across the university.

• Owners of pages below the institutional layers will be responsible for maintenance, including monitoring of content and uploading updates.
• IT will provide support in posting and maintenance as needed.

Clear approval process:

• Per university policy - C&M is responsible for approving content and graphic design of all institutional pages.
• Administrative and academic pages are to be approved through existing supervisory and administrative levels.
• Sites for student organizations will be approved by the organization advisor(s).
• Per university policy - university property (i.e., the university's website) may not be used for personal gain. Any questions should be addressed to a supervisor.
  
  
  Review:
• Meetings will be sponsored each semester (or more often as needed) by IT and C&M with deans, chairs and other unit representatives to discuss technical support, content and structure, to get input on how the site should be modified, and to seek feedback on standards.

Content management:

• C&M will create a system for the ongoing review of the site, to identify content-related items such as outdated information and grammatical and spelling errors.
  

Servers for UHD Websites

All components of the UHD.edu website will reside on servers that are managed by IT. Due to security concerns, all exceptions must be coordinated through IT management.

Web Accounts

Web accounts are available to any current student, staff or faculty member. These users may have their own web space on a UHD web server.

A UNIX account must be obtained to gain access to these accounts. To obtain a UNIX account, you must fill out a form at the Department of Information Technology at 700-S.

Units within UHD also maintain their own web space. These types of accounts usually allow several individuals access to the same web space to work on the website. To set up this type of account, please contact User Support, at 713-221-8031.


Getting Help with Website Development and Support

University personnel will do all development and support for unit websites. Units that cannot provide their own development and support should contact IT. It is expected that units will take responsibility for maintaining and updating information once their sites have been implemented. Contact IT for assistance, at 713-221-8031, or by e-mail at help@uhd.edu.

Faculty and staff members may attend training sessions offered by the Technology Teaching and Learning Center (TTLC). Personal training sessions are also available with the TTLC staff upon request. For immediate assistance please contact User Support or a TTLC staff member, at 713-221-8200.

Students may attend training sessions offered by the Academic Computing Lab, at 713-221-8540.