The University of Alabama at Birmingham allows faculty, staff, and students to publish freely and openly on the World Wide Web, within the constraints of existing laws and policies.

General 

This policy covers all World Wide Web pages (hereinafter referred to as "web pages") hosted by UAB servers, and the policy is intended to define web page categories, web publishing governance, and web site requirements and privileges. This policy is intended to augment, not replace, the existing style and usage guidelines for web publishing which cover topics such as graphic standards, copyrights, trademarks, and use of the UAB logo; the UAB Acceptable Use Policy which covers acceptable use of UAB's computer resources; the UAB Network Usage Guidelines which cover the allocation of UAB computer and network resources related to Internet activities; and the UAB Web Editorial Style Guidelines.

As stated in the Acceptable Use Policy and the Network Usage Guidelines, web pages using UAB computers or using UAB Internet connections or addresses must be used only for instruction, research, service, or other legitimate pursuits in furtherance of UAB's mission. The use of UAB computing resources for for-profit purposes or to promote for-profit enterprises or activities outside of UAB's mission is not allowed.

Categories of Web Pages and the Rules for Those Pages

World Wide Web pages at UAB are divided into the following two types: "Official" and "Non-official."

I. "Official" pages are those web pages that include school, department, and/or unit information, that further the mission of UAB, and that are maintained as official information by those entities.

Also included in this category are Professional pages which are created and maintained by faculty or staff members (1) to publish information about their UAB-related professional accomplishments, credentials (for example, degrees, selected publications, honors/awards), courses taught, and research interests and (2) to provide assistance to students or to other faculty or staff. Faculty members might use such pages (1) to provide copies of course materials (for example, syllabi, lecture notes/slides, assignments) or vitae, (2) to describe research or service, or (3) to post other information related to their professional activities. Links to Professional pages may be included in department or unit pages at the discretion of the department head, the director, the UAB sponsor, or UAB management.

Rules and Regulations for Official Pages: The following information is provided to guide and assist units and employees (including faculty) who create or maintain Official pages:

1. The content of any Official page must not constitute a copyright or trademark infringement and must not otherwise violate any local, state, or federal laws or UAB policy. To the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of any page, taken as a whole, shall not appeal to the prurient interest, such as pornography.
2. All Official sites must include, or must provide a link to, the following statement:

Notwithstanding any language to the contrary, nothing contained herein constitutes, nor is intended to constitute, an offer, inducement, promise, or contract of any kind. The data contained herein are for informational purposes only and are not represented to be error free. Any links to non-UAB information are provided as a courtesy. They are not intended to constitute, nor do they constitute, an endorsement of the linked materials by the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

1. The e-mail address or other contact information for the author or responsible entity placing the information on the World Wide Web must be readily apparent for each Official page.
2. Any pages in violation of this or other UAB policies shall be subject to immediate removal from UAB links and computers.
3. Reports of alleged violations should be made to the listed responsible person or entity for the site or to their manager or supervisor.

II. "Non-official" pages are defined as pages on UAB servers that are maintained (1) by faculty, staff, or students who are acting primarily as individuals rather than as spokespersons for departments or units, (2) by UAB-recognized student organizations (for example, academic, social fraternities and sororities, service, and special interest), or (3) by nonstudent organizations which are officially recognized by UAB or of which UAB is an institutional sponsor. Such pages may provide individuals and groups with an outlet for presenting themselves on the Internet. These are pages which are not required to be viewed for UAB business or educational purposes, and viewing these pages is at the discretion of those visiting the site.

Links to Non-official pages may be included in Official pages at the discretion of the department head (or director, or UAB sponsor, or UAB management) responsible for the site hosting the Official pages.

Rules and Regulations for Non-official Pages: The following information is provided to guide and assist faculty, staff, and students who create or maintain Non-official pages:

1. The content of any Non-official page must not constitute a copyright or trademark infringement and must not otherwise violate any local, state, or federal laws or UAB policy. To the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of any page, taken as a whole, shall not appeal to the prurient interest, such as pornography.
2. All Non-official pages must include the following statement in full:

This page is not a publication of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It has not been edited or examined for content by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The author(s) of the page are solely responsible for the content.

1. The e-mail address of the author or other person responsible for placing the information on the World Wide Web must be readily apparent for each Non-official page.
2. Any Non-official pages in violation of this or other UAB policies shall be subject to immediate removal from UAB links and computers, and the persons responsible shall be subject to revocation of web access and/or disciplinary actions according to regular UAB disciplinary processes.
3. Reports of sites that are in alleged violation will be investigated and handled as appropriate.

Responsibility at Termination

UAB encourages and supports web publishing by faculty, staff, and students for the term of employment or as long as there is an academic or professional relationship. Once employment or the relationship with UAB is terminated, responsibility for providing the web service will end. It is the sole responsibility of the individual approaching such termination to save or move the contents of the page(s) to a new location.

Implementation

The Vice President for Information Technology is responsible for implementation of this policy.

See also:

• Data Protection and Security Policy
• Acceptable Use Policy (Published at "UAB Information Security" World Wide Web site)
• Network Usage Guidelines (Published at "UAB DC/NS Help Desk" World Wide Web site)
• UAB Web Editorial Style Guidelines (Published at "Style & Usage Guides for Web Publishing" World Wide Web site)