Minutes (Jan. 29, 2003) Web Advisory Committee
Present: Dr. Ray Palmer, Alan Miller, Heather Cura (substituting for Dr. Barbara Covington), Kat Myers, Lynda Howell (substituting for Bonnie O'Connor), Brian Neuenschwander, Anna Maloy, Jim Barrett
Dr. Ray Palmer, the chair, opened the meeting, and received approval of the Nov. 27 minutes.
Jim Barrett presented the webmaster's report. He said:
- Institutional web server usage totaled 9.1 million visits in 2002. He said the total probably
reflects 60 percent of all uthscsa.edu traffic because it excludes
other servers. Mr. Barrett suggested that members consider tracking usage on the other servers to help develop
a total figure for uthscsa.edu.
- Compliance with web accessibility standards increased in 2002. The percentage of compliant
web sites rose from 50 percent in January 2002 to 65 percent by December 2002.
- Free classified ads would be offered to faculty, staff and students in the web portal,
pending approval from the university counsel. Mr. Barrett said he hoped the feature would
be available in March.
In new business, Dr. Palmer said the webmaster had been working with library, University Relations, and Multimedia and Web Services
to develop a new homepage for the Health Science Center. Mr. Barrett showed a prototype to the members,
and received comment.
In old business, Dr. Palmer asked the committee to review proposed revisions
to the Handbook of Operating Procedures that deal with hosting non-uthscsa.edu
domain web sites. The revisions would apply to Section 5.4.5, and clarify that
the university would host web sites outside the uthscsa.edu domain under certain circumstances.
In previous discussions, the committee had sought a way to assure that any .org, .com or
other domain hosted by the Health Science Center is not for profit and serves the
university's mission. The committee accepted the changes, and said to include
a statement that any disputes arising from the policy would be resolved by the
Computing Resources Commitee. Dr. Palmer said the proposal would be forwarded
to the Computing Resources Committee with the recommendation that it ask the Executive
Committee to put the changes in the Handbook of Operating Procedures.
In a second item of old business, Dr. Palmer said the web-based telephone
directory now contained some personnel listings that show the degree held
by the individual in the listing. Mr. Barrett
said a wide variety of degrees and certifications are showing up. At a previous meeting, Dr. Palmer said,
the committee recommended that only terminal degrees be listed in the directory.
Anna Maloy said the listings reflect entries in the biodocs system that can be made
by department-level administrators or the Human Resources Department. She suggested asking
Jesse Gomez of Human Resources to explain the processes at the next committee meeting. Mr.
Barrett said he would contact Mr. Gomez.
Heather Cura said the directory listings are designed to let a user know whether to address
someone as "doctor" when they telephone them. She suggested adding titles such
as "Miss," "Mrs.," and "Mr." for the same reason.
Dr. Palmer adjourned the meeting. The next meeting will be Wednesday,
Feb. 26, 9:30-10:30 a.m., in the Computing Resources conference room.
-- Minutes prepared by Jim Barrett
-- Approved Feb. 26, 2003
