Web Policies

Version 2.1, Updated June 18, 2025

SCOPE

This policy applies to all students, faculty, and staff, as well as retirees, emeriti, contractors, guests, alumni, parents, and other parties authorized to interact with Middlebury’s technology services.

POLICY

Content on Middlebury’s portfolio of websites is the result of contributions by institutional, departmental, and individual content providers who are responsible for the content of their postings. Information Technology Services (ITS) provides oversight of Middlebury’s websites by ensuring the accuracy, quality, and the timeliness of content, and in collaboration with the Office of Communication and Marketing, ensuring proper use of Middlebury’s brand identity. 

In addition, the design and organizational structure of websites are monitored so that these online presences reflect institutional standards and communication strategy. To advance the use of the web as a resource for people seeking information both on and off campus, ITS encourages and remains aware of other groups that develop web-based content, and works to support and guide them in these efforts.

Institutional/Departmental web pages are created and maintained by academic and administrative departments and programs, in coordination with ITS. These pages provide official representation of Middlebury and are expected to comply with the guidelines in this document and related policies.

Curricular web pages are created by faculty and students independently, or with assistance provided by ITS. These pages are used in conjunction with courses taught at Middlebury to encourage innovation in teaching and learning.

Personal web pages are created by individual members of the Middlebury community (students, faculty, and staff), and by student organizations. Further guidelines for personal pages are provided below.

Guidelines for All Web Pages

Materials and information created and posted on Middlebury’s portfolio of websites are the intellectual property of institutional, departmental, or individual information providers. These providers must comply with copyright and fair use laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 and all relevant Middlebury policies, including those governing use of computing resources, nondiscrimination, harassment, data classification, use of institutional facilities and services for commercial purposes, and student and employee conduct.

Any use of Middlebury’s websites for illegal or inappropriate activities or harassment is prohibited. Illegal activities shall be defined as a violation of local, state, and/or federal laws. Inappropriate use shall be defined as a violation of the intended use of Middlebury’s computing resources and policies, and/or the purpose and goals of the website. Harassment is defined and addressed in the Middlebury Harassment/Discrimination Policy found in the Middlebury Handbook .

Unauthorized use of Middlebury’s websites for commercial purposes is prohibited. Personal or institutional webpages may not be used for direct advertising for personal profit or gain. Direct links to non-Middlebury commercial entities, unless directly related to teaching and learning, are prohibited unless approval is granted by ITS.

Unauthorized use and/or distribution of others’ intellectual property (including but not limited to text, images, sound, and software) violates Middlebury policies and the Middlebury College Honor Code, and is prohibited. Middlebury intends to comply fully with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.

Exploiting Middlebury’s websites for malicious purposes is prohibited. Discovered exploits should be reported to infosec@middlebury.edu, immediately. Public disclosure of means to exploit Middlebury’s websites is prohibited and is subject to disciplinary action.

Website editors are expected to practice good data stewardship and ensure that all web content is in compliance with the Data Classification Policy. Account credentials are considered Level 2: Private Data under this policy and must not be posted to publicly-accessible web pages. Any questions about this policy should be directed to infosec@middlebury.edu.

As stated in the Middlebury Harassment/Discrimination Policy, Middlebury recognizes that the protection of free and open speech and the open exchange of ideas are essential to any academic or artistic community and crucial for the activity of scholars and artists. Free, honest intellectual inquiry, debate, and constructive dialogue are vital to the academic mission of the institution and must be protected, even when the views expressed are unpopular or controversial.

Middlebury also recognizes that contents of electronic publications or electronic communications can be used specifically to intimidate or coerce and to inhibit genuine discourse, free inquiry, and learning. Such abuses are unacceptable. As an educational institution, Middlebury is committed to maintaining an environment where bigotry and intolerance, including discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, physical ability, or age have no place, and where any form of coercion or harassment that insults the dignity of others and interferes with their freedom to learn or work is unacceptable.

Guidelines for Departmental/Institutional Sub-Sites

• www.middlebury.edu is the institution’s official on-line presence. This web site provides information about the institution and its schools to external audiences and enables access to institutional services and resources for research and scholarship for faculty, staff, and students.
• All appropriate schools, offices, and departments at Middlebury must have a presence in the institution’s www.middlebury.edu web site. These sites will conform to the design and content standards as defined by ITS and Communications.
• Each school, department, or office must designate a single individual who is the liaison to ITS, and who is primarily responsible for the content of that department or office’s site. The liaison,  generally referred to as Content Provider, must be a current member of the faculty or staff. The liaison may designate additional faculty, staff, or students that may be given appropriate security permissions necessary for editorial access to the files of that department or office. ITS will review and process requests for editorial access on a regular and timely basis.
  • The liaison is named on the department site, along with e-mail and phone contact details. Suggestions for changes, additions, and corrections to the content of the site should be sent to the Content Provider.
  • Liaisons are responsible for keeping the contents of sites current and accurate. Departmental sites must be reviewed at least annually, prior to the beginning of the academic year or current program. Liaisons will receive a monthly report of issues with their site on which they should act.
  • Liaisons are responsible for ensuring that the sites are accessible, conforming to at least WCAG AA rules and other ITS accessibility policies to the best of their ability.
  • Liaisons are also responsible for keeping departmental sites that do not live under www.middlebury.edu current and accurate, such as those hosted under sites.middlebury.edu.
• Departmental or institutional content hosted on other institutional web sites and systems (such as blogs and wikis and course web pages) must follow the above Guidelines for All Web Pages.
• Middlebury web sites and systems shall be located by use of a URL. Several guidelines exist to demonstrate proper use.
  • All appropriate schools and departments will be hosted on www.middlebury.edu/some-name, where “some-name” represents a sub path where that school or department can be located.
  • A sub-domain, such as some-name.middlebury.edu will be reserved for system integrations determined by ITS. School, departmental, and office sites are no longer hosted on sub-domains so effort should be made to shift any legacy systems to conform with this guideline. 

Custom domain names (e.g. www.some-name.com) used for special programs, retail operations, or for unique marketing purposes are allowed only if the request for the registration of a custom domain name is made through ITS. ITS is not responsible for domain names registered outside of this process, (including those associated with student clubs or for student projects) and all custom domain names are subject to additional Middlebury policies such as the copyright and harassment/discrimination policies.

Guidelines for Student Organization Sites

• Currently registered student organizations may post and publish their own Web content upon approval by Student Life. Each student organization must annually name a currently enrolled Middlebury College student as Web editor for its Web site. Pages shall be posted on the Web server designated by ITS.
  • Pages are solely the responsibility of their creators as authors and publishers. Middlebury will not regularly monitor or edit these pages.
  • Middlebury assumes no responsibility, legal or otherwise, for the content of student organization pages. Any claims asserted against a student organization or the Web editor of the student organization site for material contained by student organization pages shall be the responsibility of the organization.
  • Student organization sites may not be used for electronic commerce, nor as sites for personal political campaigns.
  • ITS is not responsible for domain names associated with student clubs or for student projects and all custom domain names are subject to additional Middlebury policies such as the copyright and harassment/discrimination policies.
  • The College will review complaints, questions, and concerns regarding allegations of copyright infringement, misuse of intellectual property, harassment, use of Middlebury Web resources for commercial purposes, and other legal issues. If the complaint is valid, Middlebury will contact the student organization’s Web editor and request immediate revision of the Web page and/or removal of inappropriate materials in compliance with Middlebury policies, intellectual property law, and guidelines for responsible use of computing resources. Middlebury may shut down the website if there is inadequate or no response from the student organization. Illegal, irresponsible, or unethical activities may result in loss of privileges or penalties consistent with the judicial procedures and policies of Middlebury.

Guidelines For Personal Pages and Postings

• Middlebury College provides faculty and staff and currently enrolled students the opportunity to post and publish Web content.
  • Personal pages and postings to Middlebury systems are solely the responsibility of their creators as authors and publishers. Middlebury will not regularly monitor or edit personally posted content.
  • Middlebury assumes no responsibility, legal or otherwise, for any content hosted on a Middlebury system. Any claims asserted against an individual author for posted material shall be the responsibility of that individual author. Faculty, staff, and students should provide identifying information (typically, an e-mail address) when creating a personal web site.
  • Faculty, staff, and students who are candidates for public office may not use their personal Web pages as campaign sites. Members of the Middlebury community who are seeking public office should arrange with other Internet service providers to host campaign Web pages.
  • ITS is not responsible for domain names associated with personal pages and all custom domain names are subject to additional Middlebury policies such as the copyright and harrassment/discrimination policies.
  • Middlebury will review complaints, questions, and concerns regarding allegations of copyright infringement, misuse of intellectual property, harassment, use of Middlebury Web resources for commercial purposes, and other legal issues. If the complaint is valid, Middlebury will contact the individual creator of the posting or Web page and request immediate revision of the posted information and/or removal of inappropriate materials in compliance with Middlebury policies, intellectual property law, and guidelines for responsible use of computing resources. Illegal, irresponsible, or unethical activities may result in loss of privileges or penalties consistent with the judicial procedures and policies of Middlebury.

Use of Web Analytics

Middlebury installs and manages web analytics tools across our sites for the purpose of guiding our marketing efforts. These applications collect information about visitors to our site and then produce usage reports so that we may improve the web experience. This policy explains how we use analytics tools while striving to balance the business needs of the institution against our desire to protect the privacy of people who visit our sites.

This policy covers any third-party tool that receives information about people visiting a website with the www.middlebury.edu path and their interactions with the site, except for information consciously provided by a person. For example, the information recorded in our web server log files like the IP address and browser version of a person visiting a page is within the scope of this policy, but the information a person chooses to provide when filling out a form on that page is outside this policy’s scope.

At this time, the tools within the scope of this policy are:

• Web Server Log Files
• Google Analytics
• Google Tag Manager and any third-party tags added through this service
• Plausible
• Microsoft Clarity

Where possible, Middlebury will limit the collection of data to as little as possible. Where we have determined that there is not a current need for data collection, we will remove analytics tools.

Web Server Log Files

Middlebury creates and stores logs of basic web activity on its websites. These logs contain the IP address of the person who accessed our site, the browser version the person used, the page they visited, and whether the page loaded or produced an error. These logs are stored for 60 days, after which they are deleted.

Google Analytics

Middlebury uses Google Analytics in conjunction with advertising campaigns run through Google AdWords. The Analytics gathered can help us understand whether these campaigns are effective or whether they can be refined to better reach the target audiences. Because we want to balance this business need with the desire to retain privacy for people visiting our websites, Middlebury only installs the Google Analytics tracking code on those websites engaged in active advertising campaigns.

Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager allows for the addition of third-party code onto the website (e.g. marketing tags). In order to ensure the security and stability of the Middlebury website, ITS is the only department with access to Google Tag Manager and we will not delegate this access to other individuals at Middlebury or contractors and companies hired by Middlebury to assist in marketing campaigns. ITS will work with requesting departments to vet and install tags/tools through Google Tag Manager on request.

Plausible

Plausible is a lightweight, privacy-forward web analytics tool that does not use cookies or collect any personally identifiable information. It provides Middlebury with high-level insights into how visitors interact with our websites. As part of our broader commitment to user privacy, Middlebury is transitioning away from Google Analytics and adopting Plausible for most institutional web analytics needs. This tool allows us to continue improving the site experience while minimizing data collection and avoiding third-party tracking.

Microsoft Clarity

Microsoft Clarity is an analytics tool that provides heatmap and session-recording data that allows ITS insight into how users are interacting with our web pages. It is periodically turned on when researching a specific User Experience query, and turned off after the research has been completed. Due to the nature of the tool, ITS is the only group with access to Microsoft Clarity. Specific questions should be directed to the team via support ticket, who can conduct a research assignment on your behalf.