Web Governance

Academic Program Page: A marketing-focused page describing an academic degree program offered by Kennesaw State University and providing students with the next steps and information needed to enroll. 

Accessibility (ADA/WCAG): Under Tile II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, KSU must ensure that all digital services, including websites and mobile apps, are accessible to individuals with disabilities, providing equal access and effective communication. Compliance is generally measured against WCAG 2.1 AA standards.

Analytics: The measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of web data for understanding and optimizing web usage.

Archiving: The process of storing old or outdated web content for future reference.

Brand Guidelines: Rules and standards for maintaining a consistent brand identity across the website.

Campus Site (campus.kennesaw.edu): A public-facing site designed to serve the needs of Kennesaw State University’s students, faculty, and staff.

CMS: An abbreviation for Content Management System, the software that manages the content published to the Kennesaw State internal and external site. At Kennesaw State University, the CMS in use is Modern Campus. 

Governance: The framework of policies, roles, responsibilities, and processes that direct and control the management of the website.

Local Navigation: The section-specific navigation contained below the global navigation/ mega navigation of a page. 

Main Site (www.kennesaw.edu): A public facing site designed to meet the needs of individuals outside of the university, including prospective students, parents and families, alumni and donors, and community members. 

Metadata: Data that provides information about other data, such as descriptions, keywords, and tags.

Site: kennesaw.edu is one website, in this document, the term “site” refers to a portion of the website that is managed by a department or group. 

Section: Used to refer to a portion of pages on the website that share a common local navigation. 

SEO (Search Engine Optimization): The practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to a website through organic search engine results.

Site Owner: Point of contact for a section of the website, who has primary authority and maintenance for a site. 

StratComm: The Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing. 

User Experience (UX): The overall experience of a person using the website, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use.

Web Standards: Guidelines and specifications for web development and design to ensure compatibility and accessibility.

WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of international standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

KSU Website
URL: www.kennesaw.edu 

Platform: Modern Campus (Omni CMS)

Purpose: The site exists to support student and faculty recruitment, promote the reputation of Kennesaw State University both locally and nationally, and engage with stakeholders and community partners. 

Primary Audience: Prospective Students, Parents and Families

Secondary Audiences: Alumni, Donors, Community Partners, Peer Institutions, Media

Platform Owner: Strategic Communications, with support from University Information Technology Services

Website Content
The website should include the following types of content:

• Admissions information
• News
• Content about the University's leadership, mission, and priorities
• Funded research projects
• Research centers and marquee facilities
• Content required for accreditation and legal compliance

Campus Website

URL: campus.kennesaw.edu  

Platform: Modern Campus

Purpose: The site exists to support student success and retention; facilitate faculty teaching, research and creativity; and provide functional resources for visitors and friends of Kennesaw State University. 

Primary Audience: Faculty and Staff, Admitted/Current Students

Secondary Audiences: Job Seekers, New Hires, Alumni, Peer Institutions

Platform Owner: Strategic Communications, with support from University Information Technology Services

Website Content
The website should include the following types of content:

• Academic advising and student success resources
• Administrative offices
• Shared governance, including committees
• Internal awards and events
• Most health, wellness, and safety resources
• Policies
• Research support and administration
• Content that serves all audiences, but is functional/instructional in nature (e.g., campus maps, parking information, Wi-Fi instructions)

Additional Websites and Platforms

Strategic Communications is responsible for:

• Content on top-level pages of both sites, including the academic program pages housed in /degrees-programs.
• Approving training and account access.
• Approving new section requests on the sites.
• Communicate and uphold institutional standards concerning brand guidelines, search engine optimization, web accessibility, and best practices.
• Monitoring site performance and making annual recommendations about pages to archive, merge, or restructure.
• Servicing web support tickets. Refer to StratComm website for more information surrounding tickets and timelines. 
• On a case-by-case basis, Strategic Communications supports units on campus with web copywriting, maintenance, and media production.
• Complying with all standards of KSU and the University System of Georgia.
• Ensuring all web content aligns with all website governance standards and values. 

 

Information Technology Services are responsible for:

• Modern Campus (CMS) site creation, editing group creation and management, and user account creation and management.
• All source code development including templates, snippets, and backend server maintenance.   
• Supporting system integrations and new feature requests.
• All other related tasks associated with the service and support in maintaining the Modern Campus CMS platform.
• Complying with all standards of KSU and the University System of Georgia.

 

CMS Editors are responsible for:

• Aligning, upholding and complying with the standards set forth by StratComm and UITS regarding website governance and policy. 
• Complying with all standards of the University System of Georgia.
• Editors are required to add update notes for any page that is modified. 
• Attending and participating in Modern Campus training and the Web Community of Practice. 
• Creating, updating, and owning web content within their unit.
• Maintaining 508 accessible, brand-compliant, up-to-date web pages with good UX design. 
• Coordinating and representing the perspectives of the SMEs within their units and divisions. 
• Bi- annual web content reviews ensuring all web content aligns with university messaging as well as website governance standards. 
• Understanding and communicating web standards and governance to unit and division leadership, faculty and staff.

Content Owners are responsible for:

• Serving as a subject matter expert and communicating the perspectives of their units and divisions to their Modern Campus lead. 
• Conducting quarterly review of all content to keep content fresh and up to date. 
• Responding promptly to requests to review and update web pages.
• Communicating web update needs, to Modern Campus editors or Strategic Communications.
• Complying with all standards of KSU and the University System of Georgia.
• Ensuring all web content aligns with divisional/college messaging as well as website governance standards and values. 
• Understanding and communicating web standards and governance to unit leadership.
• Faculty are responsible for updating and maintaining their personal webpages. Content on Faculty Web should be relevant, accessible, free of typos, errors, and broken links, and appropriate for the professional web presence of the University. 

 

To ensure university alignment and proper representation in strategic decisions, KSU has established a web community of practice consisting of one advanced CMS users and one marketing digital communicator from each unit or college to provide input on web governance processes. 

The web community of practice will meet quarterly to discuss web topics, share updates from across the university, and identify opportunities to improve collaboration and communication. The web community of practice is convened by Strategic Communications. 

Members of the web governance council are responsible for:

• Attending meetings
• Contributing topics to meeting agendas
• Serving as liaisons between Strategic Communications, UITS, and the unit or college they represent
• Staying current with CMS and web trainings and being an active Modern Campus Editor. 

Requesting CMS access

CMS access is available to Kennesaw State University employees who have been designated as a CMS editor by their unit and have completed the CMS editor training.

Student employees, graduate assistants, or short-term employees are not eligible to become CMS editors without the permission of the Supervisor, Dean, and Director of SEO and website strategy.

Web editors should have the following skill sets:

• Strong writing skills: attention to grammar, punctuation, tone, and style.
• Basic knowledge of working with multimedia: the ability to select and optimize photographs and work with video files.
• Basic understanding of section 508 web accessibility guidelines for content editors.
• Understanding of Kennesaw State University brand guidelines.
• The ability to devote an appropriate amount of time to web content maintenance and ongoing training based on your responsibilities and scope.
• Attend additional training as necessary.
• Attend the Web Community of Practice meetings. 
• Roles and Permissions 
  CMS editors can have the following roles in the CMS:
• Level 2: A role for most editors on the KSU site that allows edits but not new page creation.
• Level 5: A role for most editors on the campus site and advanced editors on the KSU site.
• Level 8: Level 8 and above permissions are restricted to Strategic Communications and UITS unless permission is granted by the Director of SEO and Website Strategy.

Required Training
Before gaining access to the CMS, web editors at all levels must complete a training program that provides a strong foundation for managing web content. CMS editors must additionally complete required training in website accessibility, writing for the web, and working with images and video. 

To initiate the CMS editor training process required for CMS access, submit a ticket through web support. To keep workflows smooth, we try to limit users to primary and secondary Omni user, StratComm will work with each unit to determine users for each unit. 

StratComm may request that the CMS Editor take additional training as needed.

Maintaining Access 
To keep a CMS account in good standing, campus web contributors will need to:

• Log into the system at least once a year
• Follow our web standards and guidelines in maintaining pages
• Review pages before each semester to ensure content remains relevant
• Attend annual refresher training/stay up to date with required video training

Accounts that remain inactive for more than 12 months will be deactivated by StratComm and UITS.

Accurate web content is essential to ensure Kennesaw State University stakeholders, including current and prospective students, parents, staff and faculty, employers and more, have current and up to date information.

Content Standards
Content on kennesaw.edu should meet the following standards:

1. Follow the Kennesaw State University brand guidelines.
2. Be compliant with section 508 web accessibility standards as defined by federal law and the University
3. Be familiar with SEO best practices optimized for search and scan ability
4. Not duplicate information that is officially housed elsewhere, such as in the course catalog, or owned by another organization on a third-party website. 
5. Not be published as “under construction” or “coming soon.”
6. Not to be used to archive content that doesn't serve an editorial function, such as old events, documents, or historical content.
7. All content must be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure accuracy. Outdated content should be revised or removed.
8. Any content that includes personal, sensitive, or confidential information must comply with Kennesaw State University ‘s privacy policy. Content of confidential or sensitive nature should be protected within a dedicated SharePoint. 
9. Ensure all web content aligns with all website governance standards and values. 
10. Additional guidelines may be established by Kennesaw State University as needed.

New Content Creation
Every page on Kennesaw State University’s site should have the following: 

• A clear owner
• A clear audience
• A defined purpose
• A regular content review cycle

All new sites on the university websites must be approved by Strategic Communications prior to publication to ensure they are in alignment with the KSU strategic plan. To request a new site, submit a ticket to Strategic Communications. Please allow 2 weeks for new site creation.

Content Review and Archiving
Additionally, to ensure accuracy, relevance, and alignment with university goals, Kennesaw State University follows a structured content review and archiving process:

Regular Content Review

• Content owners will conduct content reviews prior to the start of a new semester to ensure content is up to date and accurate. 
•  Strategic Communications conducts periodic content reviews during the academic calendar (e.g., before the start of each semester). 
•  Upon receiving a content review from StratComm content owners are required to respond within 10 business days and confirm the accuracy of their pages.
• Updates should be submitted to the appropriate CMS editors or Strategic Communications via the ticketing system. 

Content Archiving and Removal
Strategic Communications reserves the right to archive pages that are not actively maintained. Additionally, the following content will be removed or relocated based on established guidelines:

News and Events Content – Event based content will be removed after one year, and news-based content will be removed after three years, unless they continue to receive significant traffic (10,000+ views per year) or are essential to the University’s historical record.

Research Project Pages – Content dedicated to research projects that are no longer active or no longer receiving funding should be relocated to Faculty Web or Digital Commons. Research sites with significant traffic (10,000+ views per year) may remain live upon review. 

Low Traffic Pages – Strategic Communications conducts an annual review of site analytics to identify pages with exceptionally low traffic and/or engagement. Site owners will be consulted to determine if the content should be revised, consolidated or archived.

Archiving Process and Notification – Before content is archived, site owners will receive advanced notice and an opportunity to update or relocate the content. If no response is received within 30 days, the content will be archived. 

Exception Requests – Content owners may request exceptions for specific content that holds institutional value, continues to receive engagement, or serves as a university resource. Exceptions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by submitting a service ticket.

CMS Content Expiration Dates – When applicable, CMS users should set expiration dates for temporary content (e.g., event pages, announcements) to ensure automatic removal after its relevance period.

Duplicate Content Policy
Duplicate content is not permitted on kennesaw.edu. CMS editors should link to authoritative sources of information – for example, the course catalog, academic calendar, or tuition and fee schedules – rather than recreating them. Pages that contain duplicate content may be archived if they are found on the website. To bring CMS editor’s pages into compliance, Strategic Communications will provide:

• Clear guidelines and documentation
• Training opportunities
• Review and approval process
• Automated compliance reporting
• Service ticket support
• Brand and content governance.

To ensure alignment with university branding, security and technical standards, all subdomains and short URLs must be carefully reviewed and approved by the appropriate departments. This process maintains the integrity of Kennesaw State University’s web infrastructure while ensuring ease of navigation by users. 

Subdomains – The creation of subdomains requires approval from Strategic Communications and/or University Information Technology Services.

Short URLs – Must be approved by Strategic Communications

Requesting a Short URL – To request a short URL, submit a ticket through the university’s ticketing system (service@kennesaw.edu). Short URLs begin with the subdomain go.kennesaw.edu.