Web pages policy

[LeeAnn Stone]

For those who may have already contemplated these issues:

        We in the School of Huamnities at the University of California,
Irvine, are in the process of establishing policy and procedure for
providing web pages to our faculty and possibly to graduate students. I've
been perusing Web info pages at various universities to see what others are
doing/have done.
        Below I provide a number of questions that we have yet to answer. I
would greatly appreciate any feedback you can provide on any of these
issues (how you have addressed them on your campus), and in particular
those issues related to placing class materials (especially
student-generated materials) on the Web.



Sincerely,

LeeAnn Stone, Director
Humanities Instructional Resource Center
UC Irvine




On "publication"
What is the definition of a "publication" in the electronic world?
* Is an article (or anything) available on a web page an
"electronically-published" document? And if so, does
"electronically-published" equate to "traditionally published"?
        * If so, what are the implications for dissertation research
presented on the Web (which cannot be previously published to qualify for
dissertation submission); or what about qualification of an article
"published" on the Web for subsequent publication in printed journals, or
conference papers placed on the Web?
        * Who holds the copyright on materials published via web sites?
        * If not everything on the Web is considered "published", how do we
define and identify what is "published" and what isn't?
* How do we indicate that materials placed on the web are not necessarily
public domain?
        * What form would such a notification take? Would it be generated
individually or, at School-, campus-, or system-level?
        * What would enforcements entail (if even enforceable)?

On world-wide accessible web sites for instructional purposes
Pedagogical issues:
* Does/How does opening classroom discussions to the world-wide public
change the dynamics, environment, attitude, approach to discussions  by
students? Is this change beneficial/detrimental? In what ways?
* Will/Do students understand the implications of having their writings
placed on the web (thinking in particular about in-progress writings,
research discussions, etc. of undergraduates or graduate students)?
        * Who's responsibility is it to confirm students' understanding of
the implications and what form will that take  (signed release, etc.)?
        * Who's responsibility is it if materials are placed on the web
without such permission (the graduate student instructor, the coordinating
faculty/faculty member, the School, the campus, the system)?
        * Can an instructor require that students accept placement of their
materials on the Web? And what happens if some students refuse? How would
this be handled? Or , from another perspective, some students may care
about their materials (writings, research ides, etc.) being placed on the
web and others may not- how will this discrepancy be handled?

Time/resources issues:
* What are the implications (especially in the present fiscal environment
and given heightened teaching duties) of making course materials, student
discussions, student writings, etc. available on a world-wide-accessible
level?
        * How much extra time will non-student involvement via the Net take
from faculty and graduate students' already busy schedules?
        * And what benefits do students (and instructors) receive in
trade-off for this time commitment?
        * Is it appropriate for non-tuition-paying folks to have access to
University instructional resources and instructor time?

General logistics
* How is space for web pages allocated among departments?
* How is required space  for various functions estimated?
* How long do pages stay up?
* How/When are they taken down?
        * Who's responsible for taking them down?
* Who is responsible for monitoring (after initial placement on sever) the
appropriateness of materials on the Web (faculty/departments, etc.)?
* What are the sanctions for inappropriate materials?
        * What would constitute "inappropriate" materials and who defines this?