Present: Dr. Bob Badgett, Dr. John Olson, Georgina Perez, Elaine Demps, Dr. Leo Maxwell, Bonnie O'Connor, Dr. Jim Legler, Jim Peak, Dr. Jim Waldron, Dr. Frank Stafford, Anna Maloy, Jim Barrett
Chairman Badgett opened the meeting, and distributed a document that described the charges of the Web Advisory Committee (WAC) as stated in the latest Handbook of Operating Procedures. Among the charges, one gives the committee power to recommend changes in the charges. Discussion centered on the third of the charges. It said, "The committee shall appoint, in conjunction with the HSC Webmaster, a subcommittee of site Webmasters to review suggestions and requests from information providers and make recommendations to the HSC Web Advisory Committee for policy changes." There were suggestions for word changes, such as substituting the word "organization" for "committee," and questions about the role of the subgroup. Badgett moved to defer finalizing the third mission until the WAC has more experience about whether the subgroup is needed. The group agreed. Barrett gave the webmaster's report. He described: upcoming installation of a search robot, ways to stop uploads of malicious codes in forms, and a list he made of the 115 known websites in the uthscsa domain. Barrett showed the group six webpage header samples and seal samples. He also discussed outreach plans to web developers on campus, the creation of a help desk for web developers and efforts to achieve consensus on a webpage header and way to display the university seal clearly. Barrett distributed copies of the recently adopted HSC web usage policy and a how-to guide for web developers. He said the documents are part of a new website that will be called webteam.uthscsa.edu. Legler suggested offering more than one option for the headers, and Waldron said he would like to see three or four sets. Waldron said adoption of the banners is a priority. Badgett made a motion that the committee understands Barrett's immediate plans, that they are consistent with existing policy, and that he should pursue the plans. The committee agreed. There was subsequent discussion about carrying out the header changes to the university's homepage. Maxwell suggested making the student button more prominent and specific so it would be understood that it points to information for prospective students. Olson said many university sites fail to give direct links to their schools and academic departments, and he expressed the desire to keep existing links to each HSC school. O'Connor suggested involving a library cataloger in identifying which links should be at the top of a web hierarchy. Waldron suggested that the webmaster prepare a timeline for projects and policies in the immediate future, and submit it for committee review. He said such a plan would help the committee set the priorities for tasks ahead. The committee indicated agreement. Waldron also said IMS wants to foster better communication and training among web developers. Maxwell suggested reviving something similar to the Web Workers group. O'Connor said any training effort, including a Web Workers-style group, would need funding to succeed. Badgett and others suggested starting a listserve for web developers and one for members of the committee. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting was scheduled for Friday, Dec. 15 at 9:30 a.m. in the Computing Resources conference room. -- Minutes prepared by Jim Barrett-- Approved Dec. 15, 2000