Purpose
The web policy sets forth standards designed to ensure that information published electronically to the Green River College website is appropriate, visually appealing, well written and conforms to the college branding guidelines.

Scope
All staff, faculty and students at Green River College.

Authority 
The Marketing and Communications (MarCom) office is directly responsible for the content and oversight of all Green River College websites. This includes primary sites, faculty pages, marketing pages, student organization pages, and any site either hosted by Green River or that are proprietary to the transmission of information for the college.

Policy and/or Procedure 
The quality of information published through the Green River Community College website plays an important role in maintaining the strong reputation and image of the college. Only pages developed college programs, divisions, offices, recognized student organizations or student academic work will be housed on the Green River network.

In order to create a high quality, visually consistent web presence, it is imperative for all pages to have certain elements that remain the same from page to page. All web pages that are a part of the Green River website will use approved web templates. Official web pages are expected to follow the same professional and graphic standards as outlined in the Green River College Brand Standards Guide.

The Green River website is a Content Management System that stores and displays official college web content in standardized templates. Management and use of the CMS will comply with all official policies of the college; all federal, state, and local laws, statutes, and regulations; confidentiality of records; positive data security and appropriate use of computing facilities. Any official college information made available to external users is subject to review by the college to
ensure consistency with laws and college policies.

Any web pages on the Green River Community College network are a reflection of the college. It is important for all contributors to ensure that their information is well-organized, accurate and up-to-date. Information appearing on any webpage is the responsibility of the originating department, office or organization and must be in compliance with all college standards:

  • Any use of the Green River logo(s) on any website must follow all logo requirements as specified in policy GA-19, Logo & Trademark Use and Compliance Guidelines.
  • All written content must follow contemporary best practices for writing for the web. MarCom reserves the right to edit or reject any materials submitted for, or currently
    published to the web.
  • Every department that has a web presence must have contact information clearly identified (including sub-pages as appropriate). The contact information may be a specific individual, a general number or email, or a link to a page of contacts for the department. The contact information should at the minimum include a name, email address and a telephone number.
  • Websites must be updated and maintained in a timely manner. Any links provided to other sites will be accessible and appropriate. Links to commercial sites for personal gain are prohibited.

Inappropriate Web Content
Materials that are prohibited on any Green River Community College website:

  • Copyrighted information without written consent of copyright owner
  • Anything that violates federal, state, or local laws or regulations
  • Anything that violates college policies
  • Defamatory or disparaging remarks of any group(s), organization(s) or institution(s)
  • Abusive, profane or sexually offensive remarks
  • Information that may injure someone else and/or lead to a lawsuit or criminal charges
  • Use of the college name and logo without official authorization in ways that imply endorsement of commercial organizations, their products or services
  • Advertisements for commercial products or enterprises
  • Anything that may constitute an invasion of privacy of any group or individual
  • Violation of confidentiality of college, employee or student records, or violate the Public Records Act (RCW 42.56)
  • Third party add-on applications not specifically approved by IT and MarCom

The types of material listed above or any direct link to another page containing such material should not be included in any Green River webpage. Green River College reserves the right to remove any page or material that is in violation of this or any other college policy.

Responsibilities of Users

Content Manager
Each web page must have a designated person responsible for page content (the Content Manager). This individual must complete CMS training with MarCom staff prior to being granted access to web page(s). The Content Manager is responsible for reviewing and updating the page on a regular basis using best practices for writing web content. Content Managers should not use different colors, fonts or text sizes outside of the provided template, without specific approval of the MarCom team. All styles must also be followed as indicated in the Brand Standards Guide. Content Managers are encouraged to use good judgment regarding the impact of the content of their pages on the audience that accesses the college's website.

Requests for site permissions
Requests for access permission to develop Canvas-driven faculty websites (formally Angel) should be directed to IT. All web pages housed outside of the CMS must meet all logo, branding and web policy guidelines outlined above. MarCom reserves the right to edit content to meet policy guidelines.

Requests for other websites hosted by Green River Community College should be made to MarCom.

Use of external services
No external web provider tools will be attached, or linked to any Greenriver.edu associated page without the express permission of MarCom. This includes widgets, calculators, avatars, photo viewing sources, Google forms, etc. This excludes social media sites that meet the college's social media and web policy guidelines. MarCom reserves the right to remove any items upon discovery with notification to the Content Manager or department to ensure consistency with brand and web policies.

Use of images
All image assets involving students must have a completed Photo Release Form for the use of video, photography and audio. Forms for both adults and minors are located on GatorNet under the Forms section. Content Managers are responsible for submitting a copy of their photo release to be archived by MarCom when they submit items via the asset approval process. Do not use images found on the web or elsewhere unless you have clear documentation that they are not copyright protected or that Green River has permission for use.

Once uploaded to the web page, the CMS will auto populate your image in the right hand column with a narrow border. Content Managers may not change template placement of images as this is designed to ensure consistency throughout the site. If you need specialized placement, please contact MarCom for assistance.

Specific Authority

Law Implemented

History of Policy or Procedure
Draft: January 10, 2013
Adopted: June 1, 2013
Revised:
Reviewed by: Vickie Sheehan, Executive Director of College Relations
Contact: Vickie Sheehan, Executive Director of College Relations
President's Staff Sponsor: Vickie Sheehan, Executive Director of College Relations