Minutes (Oct. 30, 2002) Web Advisory Committee
Present: Dr. Ray Palmer, Kathleen Crane, Bonnie O'Connor, Alan Miller, Jesse Gomez,
Kat Myers, Brian Neuenschwander, Gilbert Sosa, Dr. Bob Badgett, Dr. Frank Stafford,
Anna Maloy, Jim Barrett
Dr. Ray Palmer, the chair, opened the meeting, and received approval of the minutes from July 19.
Dr. Frank Stafford described the web portal and responded to questions about it from the chair.
Jim Barrett presented the webmaster's report. He said:
- Two federal court judges have issued conflicting
rulings about web accessibility. Mr. Barrett cited a ruling to dismiss an ADA suit against Southwest
Airlines, and a second ruling holding that the Atlanta mass-transit district's web site is
inaccessible and has to be fixed.
- Institutional web server usage rose 42 percent in September
over January. He also said the Computing Resources Department intends to replace
Pacer, the older of the two institutional servers.
- The
Regional Academic Health Center (RAHC) in Harlingen had expressed interest
in developing its own web portal to help improve communication between its
students, faculty and staff.
In new business, Mr. Barrett asked the members about their preferences in listing degrees of
Health Sciece Center personnel in the web directory. An option is available to
append abbreviations for degrees and certifications to the listings. Jesse Gomez
described how Human Resources would collect such information from
faculty members using software called BioDoc. The committee discussed the issue, and reached
a consensus to recommend listing terminal, or doctoral, degrees only. Alan Miller mentioned
that his department had encountered problems because doctoral degrees issued by overseas
universities often carry different names than those from U.S. institutions.
Dr. Bob Badgett asked how eCV, a project to compile the CVs of medical and dental
faculty, might fit in with the directory. He asked if an individual's listing could
link to the CV held in eCV. Anna Maloy said the directory and eCV project are separate
applications. Brian Neuenschwander asked when eCV would be completed, and Ms. Malloy
said she thinks it will be within a year. She suggested that the committee invite the eCV project
manager, Bryan Menn, to describe the project. Dr. Badgett also suggested inviting Dr.
Anthony Infante of the School of Medicine, who is involved in the eCV project. Mr. Barrett
said he would do so.
In old business, Dr. Palmer offered his opinion about hosting .org web sites, the subject
of discussion a the previous meeting. He said
it seems appropriate if hosting helps gain web presence for organizations
that promote the mission of the Health Science Center. Dr. Badgett agreed, but said
he would like the requesting organizations to describe their content, and provide a copy
of the non-profit status with the Internal Revenue Service.
Mr. Barrett said current policy allows for hosting of .org sites when they come with
the approval of a chair, dean or vice president. He cited a recent request from a medical
organization called "Liberty World," which came with the approval of a vice president,
Jerry York, also the CIO. The site would be prepared by Multimedia and Web
Services. Gilbert Sosa said such sites pay full cost when Multimedia and
Web Services codes and creates their sites. He said university entities
pay a reduced cost.
Dr. Badgett and Bonnie O'Connor said the webmaster should draft an amendment to the
Handbook of Operating Procedures regarding web hosting, and present it to the committee
in November. The
proposal would require .org sites to have chair approval, furnish IRS non-profit tax status, and
permit the webmaster to seek committee approval, as needed, before web hosting is allowed.
Dr. Palmer adjourned the committee until its next scheduled meeting on Wednesday,
Nov. 27, 9:30-10:30 a.m., in the Computing Resources conference room.
-- Minutes prepared by Jim Barrett
-- Approved Nov. 27, 2002
