Introduction
Official and Unofficial Web Sites
URLs and Domain Names
Web Site Content
Privacy Policy
Related Policies
Distance Education
Notice of Web Site Copyright

It is the policy of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the College of Agriculture at Auburn University (AAES/ACES/COAG) to ensure that official information published on their Web sites correctly represents the organizations and their missions; is accurate, well-written, timely and visually appealing; and is of the same high standards as other official communications.

It is the responsibility of every Web developer at AAES/ACES/COAG to be aware of and to comply with the relevant policies and regulations governing Web development and use of technology.

Responsibility for Policy Implementation

The leaders of the communications departments and ACES/AG IT are jointly responsible for implementing and administering this policy. They shall resolve issues of interpretation and enforcement of this policy jointly with an appropriate administrative official, a Dean in the case of an academic unit in the College of Agriculture or a Director in the case of AAES or ACES.

Scope of Policy Coverage

This policy applies to all developers of Web resources and facilities in the AAES/ACES/COAG and their related foundations and organizations. All such developers consent to all of the provisions of this policy and agree to comply with all of its terms and conditions and with all applicable local, state and federal laws and regulations. Any developer whose actions violate this policy or any related IT policy or regulation may be subject to limitations or loss of Web development privileges as well as other disciplinary actions. AAES/ACES/COAG reserve the right to remove from their servers Web sites that do not comply with University guidelines or the World Wide Web Standards and Policies for Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Alabama Cooperative Extension System and College of Agriculture at Auburn University.

The AAES/ACES/COAG Web servers host both official Web sites and unofficial Web sites.

Official AAES/ACES/COAG Web sites

An AAES/ACES/COAG Web site is considered official when it is published by and representative of the organizations and/or their subsidiary departments or units. Official Web sites are considered AAES/ACES/COAG-sponsored communications. Therefore, it is important that official Web sites appropriately represent these organizations’ missions and commitment to excellence.

Unofficial Web sites

AAES/ACES/COAG provide Web server space for individual faculty and staff, student and professional organizations and affiliated external organizations. These sites are considered unofficial sites at AAES/ACES/COAG. While server space is provided for unofficial sites developed within current policies of acceptable use and information content, neither Web development nor site support services are provided by the AAES/ACES/COAG communications or IT departments. The contents of unofficial Web sites must comply with the General Rules on Information Content stated in this policy.

Web space for individual faculty and staff is provided automatically as part of ACES/AG network accounts. Student organizations must be officially recognized or chartered by the Auburn University Student Government Association’s Student Senate, or in the one-year probationary period prior to the granting of a charter. Student, professional and external organizations must be sponsored by an AAES/ACES/COAG faculty or staff member. Complete the Web Development/Hosting Request Form to request Web space on the server.

In general, AAES/ACES/COAG policies and regulations that apply to the content of publications and communications apply to contents of official Web sites published on AAES/ACES/COAG Web servers.

General Rules on Information Content

All official and unofficial Web sites hosted on AAES/ACES/COAG servers must:

• comply with all laws governing copyrights, intellectual property, libel and privacy,

• not violate any policy, rule or regulation of the AAES/ACES/COAG or Auburn University, and

• not be used for non-AAES/ACES/COAG commercial activities.

Additionally, official sites must comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards or provide text-only alternate versions. Unofficial sites are strongly encouraged to comply with ADA standards whenever possible.

Development and Maintenance

The Agricultural Communications and Extension Communications departments are responsible for developing the main AAES/ACES/COAG home pages and administrative Web sites.

Departments, units, programs and field offices are responsible for developing and maintaining their own official sites according to the AAES/ACES/COAG Web Standards Guide. AAES/ACES/COAG templates are specifically provided for this purpose. Web sites developed by academic departments, units, programs or field offices that do not use provided templates must be approved by the appropriate communications department.

It is the responsibility of the designated representatives in departments, units, programs and field offices to ensure that all information in their electronic (Web) publications is accurate, current and adheres to AAES/ACES/COAG policies.

The leaders of the Agricultural Communications and Extension Communications departments and the ACES/AG IT department are charged with appointing the Web Standards Group, which has ongoing responsibility for establishing and approving standards and guidelines for Web development and recommending new policy items to the Directors of the AAES and ACES and the Dean of the COAG.

Advertising, Merchandising and Commercial Activity

Except for approved AAES/ACES/COAG-related activities, sale of goods and services is prohibited on any AAES/ACES/COAG site. Non-AAES/ACES/COAG advertising, merchandising and commercial activity is prohibited in the .edu domains. Links to outside sites that promote any goods or services must be launched in another window so that users have obviously left AAES/ACES/COAG sites.

As per the Auburn University E-Commerce Management Policy, Web pages residing on AAES/ACES/COAG servers are prohibited from accepting credit card numbers or other related personal information such as name on card or card expiration date. All on-line transactions involving credit cards must use the Auburn University Web payment transaction server.

Data Security

All Web pages that pass confidential or secure data such as passwords or personnel information MUST use a secure connection.

Requirements for all Web Sites

1. Unofficial Web sites must conform to all Auburn University and ACES/AG IT policies. Among these are policies regarding Web Development, Appropriate Use of IT Resources, E-Commerce Management, Copyright Regulations and General Network Usage. For a statement of these policies, visit the ACES/AG IT Web development site (see policies).

2. Space on the ACES/AG Web servers is limited. Storage of large video and audio files should be coordinated with the ACES/AG IT department to ensure optimal server performance and file delivery. Large files that hinder the performance or backup procedure of the Web servers may be removed without notice.

Requirements for Unofficial Web Sites

1. Developers of unofficial sites are not permitted to use the official AAES/ACES/COAG templates or close iterations of the AAES/ACES/COAG Web sites’ "look and feel." Unofficial sites are not permitted to use any of the AAES/ACES/COAG logos or wordmarks without explicit, written permission from their communications department. Unofficial sites must be clearly distinguishable from official sites in design and presentation.

2. Any unofficial site hosted on AAES/ACES/COAG servers must clearly indicate that it is unofficial. The approved disclaimer for an unofficial site's home page is as follows:

"This site is hosted on AAES/ACES/COAG servers, but is not an official AAES/ACES/COAG Web site. The material on this site is not officially approved, licensed, sponsored or endorsed by these organizations. These organizations assume no express or implied responsibility for any component of this site, including content, presentation, usability, accessibility, accuracy or timeliness, nor of any links directed from this site. For information about this Web site, please contact [a representative of the group or organization]."

3. All files within an organization’s Web site directory on the AAES/ACES/COAG servers must be directly and currently a part of the organization's Web site. Personal files are prohibited in an organization’s directory. True personal content should be placed in directories under individual userids on the Auburn University-Office of Information Technology or the AAES/ACES/COAG servers. Temporary work-related content such as class-related materials should be stored in WebCT or in the department’s directory dedicated to classes on the AAES/ACES/COAG servers. All content under individual userids will not be indexed by AAES/ACES/COAG search engines and will be deleted when the individual leaves the organization.

AAES/ACES/COAG respect individual privacy and collect no personally identifiable information unless an individual affirmatively chooses to make such information available. The organizations do not, and will not, actively share personal information about Web site visitors. Personal information provided by visitors, such as e-mail addresses or information submitted via online forms, is used by AAES/ACES/COAG to assist individual visitors as necessary. This assistance may involve redirecting an inquiry or comment to another AAES/ACES/COAG individual or unit better suited to provide resolution.

AAES/ACES/COAG analyze their Web servers log files to collect summary information about visitors to their Web sites. This information is analyzed to generate summary statistics for purposes such as guiding design considerations, determining successful site segments and determining problem areas. However, because AAES/ACES/COAG are part of a public institution, some information collected from AAES/ACES/COAG Web sites may be subject to the Alabama Open Records Act, or in some instances AAES/ACES/COAG may be compelled by law to release information gathered from AAES/ACES/COAG Web servers.

The AAES/ACES/COAG are part of a research institution. At any time there are numerous online surveys being conducted on any of the AAES/ACES/COAG Web sites. Confidential information gathered in these online surveys is used only for the research purpose indicated in the survey. Unless otherwise noted on the specified survey, an individual’s answers are confidential and individual responses will not be shared with other parties unless required by law. Aggregate data from surveys may be shared with external third parties.

AAES/ACES/COAG also comply with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which prohibits the release of educational records without student permission. For more details on FERPA, currently enrolled students should consult the Auburn University Student Handbook (The Tiger Cub) or the University's Office of Academic Records and University Registrar.

Questions about this privacy statement or the practices of any AAES/ACES/COAG Web site should be directed to the communications departments.

For other policies, visit the ACES/AG IT Web development site (see policies).

Policies related to distance education can be found at on the ACES/AG IT Web development site (see policies).

The official AAES/ACES/COAG Web sites and all materials comprising the ag.auburn.edu and aces.edu internet domains are protected by U.S. Copyright law and copyrighted under the Digital Millinium Copyright Act of 1998, unless otherwise noted.

Any unauthorized use of any content from these sites, including but not limited to site design, graphics, images and written content, constitutes copyright infringement. All rights are reserved by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the College of Agriculture at Auburn University.

Additionally, the names Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the College of Agriculture at Auburn Universityand all trademarks, wordmarks, logos and symbols are the property of AAES/ACES/COAG and may not be used without prior, express, written permission from their communications departments.