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Student Affairs Digital Strategy and Policy

Revised: July 18, 2023

1.0 Purpose

This policy establishes best practices and guidelines for Virginia Tech Student Affairs' websites and mass communication tools.

2.1 Ensemble Websites

2.1.1 Goal

  • Streamline and simplify Student Affairs websites to facilitate accessibility, navigation, and improve the end-user experience.

2.1.2 Audiences

  • Primary audience: prospective and current students.
  • Secondary audience: parents and families.
  • Tertiary audience: higher education peers.

2.1.3 Guidelines

  • All Student Affairs web content must be vetted by Student Affairs communicators for:
  • Videos:
    • Must be appropriately captioned.
      • Captioning is required and non-negotiable due to compliance and accessibility expectations.
      • Accessibility compliance is maintained and monitored by ADA & Accessibility Services through the Office for Equity and Accessibility.  
    • Videos should be housed on YouTube or Kaltura, not uploaded into the content management system.
  • Images:
  • PDFs:
    • Must be accessible prior to posting.
    • As a best practice, if the contents of your document can be presented as a web page, this is preferred and more accessible.
    • Avoid hosting editable files (ex. docx files) for download. They are a liability.
  • Tabular data (tables):
    • Avoid using tables unless the content can only be presented as a table.
    • Images of tables are prohibited.
    • If necessary, include this kind of data as accessible pdfs using the download component.
  • Calendar embeds:
    • Only embed Google calendars, preferably in agenda view, as it is the most accessible.
    • Outlook and Sharepoint calendars are unresponsive and should not be embedded. That said, we can link to Outlook and SharePoint calendars that have their permissions set to public.
  • No under construction, coming soon, or blank pages or content.
    • If the content doesn’t exist yet, it should not be online.
  • Inclusion of student or staff testimonials, and related content, are prohibited.
    • As a best practice, we do not publish testimonials on Student Affairs websites as this content does not resonate with any of our primary audiences.
    • As an alternative, we suggest testimonial content be included as videos where individuals reflect on their experiences.
  • Use of custom cascading style sheets (CSS) is prohibited.
    • CSS is maintained by Student Affairs Communications to ensure a consistent visual language and accessibility.
  • Departmental name changes often result in the total recreation of web pages – not merely renaming them.
    • Student Affairs Communications should be engaged prior to naming decisions to ensure university compliance and assistance.
    • Ultimately, departmental name changes must be approved by Licensing & Trademarks.
  • Consult with Student affairs Communications prior to implementing navigation changes or unpublishing pages.
    • Your departmental website is part of a network of Student Affairs websites.
    • Any changes you make to navigation will have negative effects on websites other than your own.
  • It is crucial that your web information be updated regularly.
    • Evergreen content should be refreshed each semester at minimum.
    • Your vt.edu departmental or programmatic website should be for public facing information only.

The online web request form should be utilized to make basic content update requests. Student Affairs Communications is available for consultation and assistance.

2.2 Mass communication tools (email, digital signage)

2.2.1 Mass Email Communications

Platforms

Currently, Virginia Tech has limited options for mass email communications. They are:

Use of free commercial mass emailing tools (Mailchimp, Constant Contact, etc.) are not approved by Virginia Tech and will result in Student Affairs Communications working with your department to facilitate transitioning communications to a different platform or format.

Student Emails

In order to avoid diluting Student Affairs’ messaging, we only email students in the following instances:

  • Dining communications through the Dining Services Google Group.
    • The members of this Google Group are students who have opted in to receive Dining Services communications.
  • Emergency communications sent by Student Affairs Communications using Adobe Campaign.
  • International student communications through the Cranwell International Center Google Group.
    • The members of this Google group are manually curated and maintained by Cranwell International Center staff.
  • Perspective Gallery communications sent by Student Engagement and Campus Life using Microsoft Outlook.
    • The members of this listserv are students and gallery patrons who have opted in to receive Perspective Gallery communications.
  • Recreational Sports communications through the Recreational Sports Google Group.
    • The members of this Google Group are students who have opted in to receive Recreational Sports communications.
  • StarRez communications through Housing Services.

As an alternative to mass mailings, we encourage communicators to use digital signage (section 2.2.2) to reach all students or to ask to have their initiative included in the VT News Student Edition email or as a campus notice.

Staff Emails

SharePoint/Microsoft Teams should be used for staff communications internal to Student Affairs rather than email.

2.2.2 Digital Signage

Digital Sign Network Details

  • Digital Sign Network portal: https://signs.students.vt.edu.
    • The portal can only be accessed through an on-campus IP address or via vpn.
  • 125 displays are located throughout the Blacksburg Campus.
  • Images display for 10 seconds at a time.

Digital Sign Network Advertisement Specifications

  • Access to the digital sign network is limited to Virginia Tech colleges, departments, and University Chartered Student Organizations (UCSO).
  • Because digital signs display for only 10 seconds in rotation, messaging should be concise.
  • Commercial advertising is prohibited.

Regarding Dining Center Tablecards: The Dining Services Tablecard program is now defunct. To submit advertisements for Dining Center digital signage, please email hokiedining@vt.edu.

Digital Signage Requirements

  • The digital network currently accepts .jpg or flattened .png images.
  • The sign will be automatically rejected if it is not 1920px by 1080px at 72 dpi.
  • Fonts and text used must be legible and accessible.
  • Font used should be equal to or larger than ⅕ the height of the sign.
  • For accessibility purposes use simple (san-serif) fonts (Ex: Arial, Calibri, etc.).
  • Use high contrast colors for readability.
  • Images must contain the name of the sponsoring organization.
  • Student Affairs departments must use department or division lockup.

Images that do not meet these guidelines will be rejected.

2.2.3 VT News and Campus Notices

VT News

  • Please refer to the VT News Guide for general information, publishing processes, and best practices.

Campus Notices

  • Notices will be posted online for a limited amount of time, usually no longer than 45 days.
  • Notices are posted on a rolling basis — please allow at least 2 to 3 business days for your submission to be processed and scheduled by the VT News Editorial Team in Communications and Marketing.
  • The VT News Editorial Team tries to accommodate all requests but they can be limited by ongoing deadlines and space restrictions in the email.
  • Approved notices are listed online and many are featured in the Daily Email and the Student Email.
  • Notices should be no more than 250-300 words; again, they are to be like a memo — not like a written story.
  • Campus notices can be submitted for divisional and departmental events and notices.
  • Always select the “Division of Student Affairs Tag” on your Campus Notices; you can select up to 7 tags.
  • Accompanying images can be submitted, however they must be smaller than 10 MB.
  • The form does not accept PDF documents and it is our recommendation that you do not use PDFs unless they meet accessibility guidelines.

Those who serve on the Student Affairs Leadership Team (SA-LT) or their corresponding Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing may submit Campus Notices, without prior Student Affairs Communications review, through the Communications and Marketing Campus Notice form.

3.1 Ensemble Websites

3.1.1 Website Permissions

In order to both meet University Communications and Marketing expectations and facilitate consistency throughout Student Affairs websites, we are intentionally limiting the number of people who have web access.

Permission Levels

  • Administrator
    • Can make changes to website configurations.
    • Student Affairs Communications and Student Affairs Information Technology only.
  • Publisher
    • Can add and publish content but cannot change site configuration.
    • Can add and edit content and upload assets.
    • Publishers can also publish content to the live site.
    • Publishers are limited to one per department. Concessions may be made if you have a team of communicators.
  • Author
    • Can create pages and edit existing content, but not publish live.
    • This includes uploading images and other assets to your site’s asset library.
    • Authors cannot publish content without approval from publishers or administrators within Ensemble.
    • Ideally, author level would be for communications interns or student workers supervised by a communicator.

Student Affairs Communications will provide training for authors and publishers.

3.1.2 Ensemble Documentation and Training

3.1.3 Security

  • As a security measure, Ensemble permissions audits are performed on a semesterly basis by Student Affairs Communications.
  • Any permissions to edit, whether as publisher or author, do not automatically go to department leadership.
    • Ideally, this role should go to the department communicator.
    • If you do not have a communicator, the role will default to Student Affairs Communications.
  • Access to Ensemble is removed as part of employee offboarding.
    • It is the responsibility of individual departments to communicate those staff changes to Student Affairs Communications.
  • Student Affairs Communications reserve the right to revoke Ensemble access for any rogue or reckless usage. 

Accessibility defined by WC3:

Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. More specifically, people can:

  • perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web.
  • contribute to the Web.

Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including:

  • auditory.
  • cognitive.
  • neurological.
  • physical.
  • speech.
  • visual.

Ensemble refers to the content management system (CMS) used by Virginia Tech to manage public facing websites.

Ensemble websites refers to online pages maintained by or under the direction of Student Affairs or its departments and other organizational units.

Mass communication tools refers to:

  • Mass mailing platforms.
  • The Digital Sign Network.
  • VT News and Campus Notices.

5.1 University Resources

Virginia Tech websites are governed by University Policy 12000 - Policy on the Usage of the University Name, the university’s current brand and style guidelines, as well as the following policies:

  • 5215: Sales, Solicitation and Advertising on Campus.
  • 7000: Acceptable Use and Administration of Computer and Communication Systems.
  • 8010: Classification of Student Organizations.
  • 8011: Establishing and Maintaining a University Student Life Program (USLP).
  • 8012: Establishing and Maintaining a University Chartered Student Organization (UCSO).
  • 8013: Establishing and Maintaining a Registered Student Organization (RSO).
  • 8014: Establishing and Maintaining an Extended Campus Student Organization.

5.2 Accessibility Resources