Websites
Creating a Grand Valley Website
Departmental Sites
Faculty and staff are eligible to train and become administrators within the Grand Valley State University content management system (CMS). Developed by the Web Team in University Marketing, the CMS is a free, self-service, site-building tool available for departmental use. Please note: it is policy that all websites created for Grand Valley State University academic and administrative units must be hosted on Grand Valley servers (gvsu.edu) and use the Grand Valley CMS.
Student Organization Sites
The Office of Student Life provides support for student organizations and LakerLink, the primary directory of student organization sites.
Course-Related Material / Projects
Faculty may share their course-related materials via Blackboard, Grand Valley's learning management system. The Knowledge Base provides information and support for instructors on this topic.
Research and Faculty Sites
Information Technology provides web server space to faculty for personal sites, sites dedicated to research, or ongoing projects. For more information contact [email protected].
Website Policies
Online Accessibility
All Grand Valley academic and administrative units that create and maintain Grand Valley websites and associated web-based services will make them accessible to individuals with disabilities. All personnel involved in the procurement, preparation, and maintenance of university websites and web‐based services should follow this policy.
Dedicated campus resources are available for supporting web accessibility. For details on scope and implementation, please refer to:
Personal Promotion
Any use of the internet resources of GVSU for revenue-generating advertising, promotion of businesses not related to GVSU, or personal sales is not allowed.
Design Considerations
Do:
- Leverage the Grand Valley identity guidelines and use them appropriately. This covers everything from our name and logos, color, typography, photography, to our style guide.
- Be recognizably “Grand Valley”. While we don’t want every site to look the same, all our websites should retain a clear visual connection to Grand Valley. Our brand guidelines make the Grand Valley web experience consistent while providing the flexibility needed to communicate unique messages.
- Accessibility is a requirement. Not only is this a legal imperative, but it’s also the right thing to do. Please refer to Web Accessibility at GVSU for details.
- Make websites intuitive and easy to use. We want to make it as easy and intuitive as possible for people to interact with us online. Be clear. Simplify.
- Keep content current, complete, and accurate. Ideally, a page should be re-visited and updated at least once every six months. Be sure to remove past events, former staff listings, outdated/broken links, and update any unit/program name changes that may have occurred.
Don't:
- Don’t treat accessibility as an add-on. Many accessibility concerns affect every step of the design process. Waiting until implementation starts will be too late.
- Don’t forget to check for enough contrast on color and type. Pay extra attention to this for text overlaid on images. Web Accessibility at GVSU has additional information on their Color Contrast page.
Helpful Resources
Customized Web Applications and Support
The Web Team in University Marketing provides the Grand Valley community with a full range of web strategy, custom development, CMS support, and assistance with online forms, registration, and e-commerce.
Widen Photo Database
Widen is Grand Valley's online photo database. Photos in this database are specifically chosen and approved for use by all GVSU departments. You will need a GVSU Faculty/Staff login to access.
Important Policies
We have a number of policies that govern how individuals and organizations can communicate on behalf of Grand Valley. Read and abide by them.