CampusPress Hosting Policy

JMU Libraries offers WordPress hosting to JMU faculty and staff through its vendor, CampusPress. All sites should support the mission of JMU. This policy extends the User-Contributed Content in JMU Libraries Systems policy. Libraries Technology will initiate a review of this policy annually (beginning in May, 2021) to support inevitably evolving pedagogies and technologies.

Scope

JMU Libraries CampusPress installation is a web publishing platform for materials that support teaching, learning, and scholarship.  The following uses of CampusPress are encouraged:

• Classroom and lab collaborations
• Research projects and scholarly initiatives.

The following websites are outside of the scope of CampusPress:

• JMU college, school, department, and academic program websites. Official web presences for JMU departments should be hosted on Cascade, the university’s content management system.
• Student portfolios and other personal websites for students.
• Student organization websites. JMU Student Affairs offers web publishing support for student organizations through their BeInvolved
• Hosting of sensitive or confidential data. See JMU Policy 1205 for more information about the handling of sensitive and confidential data.
• Development work that requires the WordPress theme editor, a custom theme or child theme, FTP access, or other direct code-level file access.
• Websites without a JMU-affiliated site owner.
• Websites requiring long-term curation and preservation (e.g. student theses and dissertations), unless formal arrangements are made with Libraries in advance of site creation.
• Faculty and staff professional web presences (e.g. portfolios, CVs, etc.).

Strong consideration should be given to host the following web sites on the official JMU web site rather than CampusPress, as the mission of the official JMU web site is to communicate and promote JMU to external audiences:

• JMU-affiliated programs
• JMU-sponsored conferences and events (conference proceedings can be managed and published in JMU Scholarly Commons).

However, in support of partnerships or for given site design needs, exceptions may be made. Please contact LIDdesk@jmu.edu for more information or select “Digital Projects” on our Request a Consultation form.

Publicly-accessible CampusPress sites  about JMU-affiliated programs, conferences, and events should conform to the JMU Brand Guide for Websites, and all publicly-accessible CampusPress sites should consider at least minimal JMU branding.

Faculty and staff who wish to maintain a scholarly or professional web presence separate from JMU may wish to consider a third-party platform such as ORCiD, LinkedIn, or Google Scholar so that they have greater control over the content and can port the content over time as their career and needs change. CampusPress/WordPress sites are not easy to move.

Visit our CampusPress Guidelines and Recommendations page for more information.

Requirements, Roles, and Responsibilities of Site Owners

For all CampusPress sites, JMU Libraries provides support with the initial site creation, application of a theme, and references to online training resources. It is the site administrator and content creators’  responsibility to develop and manage the site content and navigation, create any graphics or imagery, apply aesthetic decisions, and manage site permissions.  For CampusPress sites about classroom and lab collaborations, and research projects and scholarly initiatives, JMU Libraries may provide additional support with site design and development and individualized training; contact LIDdesk@jmu.edu for more information or select “Digital Projects” on our Request a Consultation form.

Unless formal arrangements are made with JMU Libraries, we make no warranty regarding how long websites will “live on” past the year of their creation. WordPress provides limited export capabilities and it may not be possible to save websites with fidelity, or to move them to other platforms.

Every CampusPress site must have the following, and the site owner is ultimately responsible to ensure these are fulfilled:

• Designated CampusPress Site Owner: Each site has a single “site owner” who is the person who has the final authorization on decisions about the site and will serve as the Libraries’ primary contact. The site owner must be a JMU faculty or staff member with an active eID. If the site has co-authors, the site owner is responsible for coordinating those authors’ decision-making. If the site owner leaves JMU, they will advise JMU Libraries CampusPress administrators on whether the site can be deleted or will be transferred to another JMU employee. If the site owner fails to do this, their department / unit head will be contacted to determine whether the site should continue, and if so, who the new site owner might be. If a site owner cannot be identified after such efforts, JMU Libraries reserves the right to delete the web site.
• Web Accessibility: Each CampusPress site should adhere to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. See JMU Policy 1211 for accessibility requirements for JMU websites.
• Acceptable Content: Each CampusPress site administrator and content contributor represents that uploaded content does not infringe upon any third-party’s copyright. See User-Contributed Content in JMU Libraries Systems and JMU Policy 1107 for content requirements.
• Regular maintenance: Site owners or their designee(s) need to monitor and update sites for broken links and outdated content.
• Preserving student work as evidence related to disputes over grades: JMU Libraries cannot ensure that websites will exist in the same form as they did when graded, so faculty members should keep printouts or downloaded files of student work that was graded in order to support requirements related to grading disputes.

Compliance with other relevant JMU and Libraries Policies: CampusPress sites must comply with JMU Computing Policies. The presentation of research involving human subjects, including oral histories, interviews, and survey results should comply with JMU’s IRB Policies.

Learn More

Visit our CampusPress Guidelines and Recommendations page for more information.