Can faculty members have websites?
Yes, here are the currently available options for SSU faculty.
Department Drupal website, Faculty profile page
Who can see the site: public facing
Who can edit the site: updated by department content lead
Good for: This is a good option if the department website is on SSU Drupal, and the desired faculty website is minimal, similar to a CV.
How to get this: Talk with your department Drupal content lead.
Examples: Biology Faculty & Staff (each person listed has a Faculty/Staff profile page)
Google Sites in SSU’s Google Workspace (formerly Google Apps)
Who can see the site: public facing, or can be shared to limited users
Who can edit the site: faculty member, or can be shared to limited editors
Good for: This is a good option if the faculty member wants to "do their own thing," and not necessarily use a Drupal site. This should not be used for a course website or course materials (use Canvas instead). Best for a personal interest site, or to share research. If the site is used for a class project, it will need to comply with accessibility standards.
How to get this: Login to your SSU Google account, then click the Google Apps menu icon (
Drupal Faculty Lab/Research pages
Who can see the site: public facing
Who can edit the site: faculty member, department Drupal content leads
Good for: If the Department wishes, the Web Office can add the Faculty Lab/Research content type to the department Drupal site. Faculty can be given a Faculty role, and create/edit their own pages within the department site. This should only be used for their SSU professional/research work. It should not be used for a course website. Faculty will have to complete the Drupal training in Canvas. Site will need to comply with accessibility standards. Faculty Lab/Research pages are not offered to Emeritus faculty. These are not intended to function like a blog. Note: the department should have multiple faculty who want Faculty Lab/Research pages, and the department's web editors will need to be able to provide some support for the faculty creating these pages. This is not a good option if the faculty member wants their grad students to edit the Faculty Lab pages.
How to get this: Talk first with your department Drupal content lead to find out if there is interest in adding this content type. Then you and your Department content lead should contact the Web Office to request the content type be added to your department's Drupal site.
Example: Biology Faculty Labs
Canvas
Who can see the site: private - instructor, enrolled students, other enrolled members
Who can edit the site: faculty member, other teachers in the course
Good for: This should be used for course websites and materials.
How to get this: All university courses are added to Canvas automatically. Login to check Canvas for your site. If you don't find it, contact CTET.
Off-Campus Hosting
Who can see the site: private or public facing
Who can edit the site: faculty member, and anyone the faculty member gives access to
Good for: Faculty may choose to host their content with an off-campus provider. This option should not be used for official university sites or any use that would be considered required for SSU courses or other SSU business. This type of site is not supported by IT & Web Office. IT does not redirect web.sonoma.edu or Drupal site URLs to off-campus sites.
How to get this: The IT Web Office doesn't recommend or endorse any off-campus hosting providers. There are many website hosting providers available. Some are free, others cost money. Try searching for "website hosting" and other terms important to you. If the site will be used for SSU students, or if you're working with a government agency, or using government funds (including grants), you may be required to meet accessibility standards, so look for a provider that can provide WCAG 2.1 AA compliant templates.
Department Legacy website (web.sonoma.edu), Faculty profile page
Who can see the site: public facing Effective June 2021, all department sites have migrated to Drupal, and are no longer available on the legacy web server.
Who can edit the site: updated by department web editor
Good for: This is a good option if the department website is on web.sonoma.edu, and the desired faculty website is minimal, similar to a CV.
How to get this: Talk with your department web person.
Effective January 12, 2022: Legacy website user directories will be deleted as part of a project to retire the legacy web server. The Web Office will contact all user directory owners in Fall 2021 about options for backups or moving content elsewhere.
User Sites on web.sonoma.edu/user/...
IT no longer provides individual user accounts and directories on web.sonoma.edu, and IT Web Services has been working to identify old/abandoned sites for removal. While no end-of-life date has been set for the server web.sonoma.edu, a deadline for backing up or moving content in web.sonoma.edu/user sites has been scheduled: Noon on January 12, 2022. After that, all /user sites will be deleted. Faculty and staff who already have sites with URLs beginning web.sonoma.edu/user/ should consider the options listed above, and move their content to the site that best meets their needs.
Questions?
Please contact the Web Office if you have questions about any of these options.
Note: As of fall 2018, the IT Web Office no longer creates user directories on our legacy web server, web.sonoma.edu. Eventually, all web.sonoma.edu/user directories will be removed, as part of our long-term web publishing platform changes.