PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE. By posting information to this site and all other official University of California, Office of the President (UCOP) web sites, referred to as "these sites," you agree to these terms of use. If you do not agree to these terms of use, you may not post information to this site. These sites are owned by The Regents of the University of California and operated by UCOP (referred to as "UCOP," "we," "us," or "our"). We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions of these terms and conditions of use at any time. Please check these terms and conditions periodically for changes.

CONDITIONS OF USE

The World Wide Web (WWW) is an Internet-based tool that uses standards for document presentation, graphical software and distributed computers to display and link images, text, motion and sound from resources in disparate locations throughout the world. These features, plus its ease of use, make the Web an increasingly popular publishing and distribution medium. UCOP makes available Web servers, communication networks, and workstations to support and promote the mission of UC: teaching, research and public service.

The following guidelines, policies, and laws emphasize the public nature of the Web and the responsibility of publishers and users.

APPLICABLE POLICIES AND LAWS PERTAINING TO PUBLISHERS TO THE UCOP WEB SITE

Individuals and administrative units publishing information on UCOP Web servers or commercial servers funded by University budgets must abide by basic guidelines including all applicable University and campus policies and public laws. Supervisors shall apply necessary and appropriate corrective action whenever an employee fails to meet the required standards of conduct or performance. Though not exhaustive, the following section describes areas of particular relevance to the UCOP Web site.

CRIMINAL AND CIVIL STATUTES: Web users are free to express themselves provided that they do not do anything to injure or harm others. Users may not use the UCOP Web site for acts that violate laws. If in doubt about appropriate use of the web, individuals are encouraged to obtain the advice of General Counsel.

USE OF THE UNIVERSITY NAME, SEAL AND LOGO: No person or organization may use the University name in conjunction with advertising or to list the University as a user of any product or service or as the source of research information on which a commercial program or publication is based. However, approval may be granted for institutional or goodwill advertising clearly regarded as being in the best interests of the University. (See Policy to Permit Use of the University's Name, and Policy to Permit Use of the Unofficial Seal.)

PERSONAL FINANCIAL GAIN: Commercial activity for personal financial gain is not permitted. Only those services and programs that have been approved or are recognized as being within the purview of the UC Board of Regents may be publicized on UCOP WWW sites.

ADVERTISING: Web publishers may acknowledge donations or contributions by creating links to selected organizations/corporations that are major contributors to a campus or to a program sponsored by UCOP. Links from a web site located on a UCOP server to any non-University site shall not imply University endorsement of the site's products or services. References to non-UCOP products, services, or organizations shall not imply University endorsement of such products, services, or organizations.

APPROPRIATE USE OF UNIVERSITY RESOURCES: The University provides access to Internet resources for the conduct of University business. Incidental and occasional personal use is permitted within the University so long as such use does not disrupt or distract the conduct of University business (due to volume or frequency). Incidental and occasional personal use of Internet resources is subject to local regulations.

COPYRIGHT: Web publishers are responsible for compliance with current copyright laws and relevant UC policies. A copyright gives certain exclusive rights to their owner which are particularly important:

1. the right to copy the work; 
2. the right to make modified versions of the work; 
3. the right to distribute the work; 
4. the right to publicly display the work; 
5. the right to publicly perform the work. 

Every time a file is moved within or between computer systems it results in "copying" and "distributing" that file to the other systems. Copyrighted information may not be posted on UCOP web sites without permission of the copyright holder (owner). Individuals transmitting or extracting information from UCOP Home Pages are responsible for investigating copyright issues. Publication in electronic format rather than in print in no way changes the underlying (copyright) issues. See the Office of Technology Transfer advice on how to obtain permission to use copyrighted material (http://www.ucop.edu/ott/faculty/crothers.html) and University of California Policy on Copyright Ownership.

Each UCOP home page must contain a statement that the content is the Property of The Regents of the University of California.

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION: Certain information about individuals is protected by law (see http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/7020463/BFB-RMP-8). UCOP web site owners must follow these laws and any applicable University policy when considering the content of UCOP web pages. Permission must be obtained from an individual when confidential information may be revealed. Photographs of individuals may not be used without their permission.

GUIDELINES FOR LINKS TO AND FROM UCOP MAIN WEBSITE:

Information Technology Services (ITS) in conjunction with External Relations will support and maintain the official UCOP website. Divisions, departments and units may request links to their sites. In doing so they must agree to abide by the following guidelines. The web developers for the UCOP website will remove links to documents that do not conform.

UCOP WEB SITE INFORMATION:

MUST BE TIMELY AND ACCURATE: To remain useful over time and to present an image consistent with UCOP's position as an academic institution, information must be timely and accurate. Content providers are responsible for periodic reviews of the information contained and revising content based upon relevancy, accuracy, and accessibility. Each page shall list the most recent date the information was modified.

MUST IDENTIFY CONTENT PROVIDER: Each page must identify the web developer and content provider. In some cases these may be the same person or an organizational unit. Organizational units and individuals are accountable for the information that they choose to distribute via the Web. Material on the Web must include pointers to individuals and offices that are an enduring part of the administrative hierarchy.

MUST ADHERE TO HTML STANDARDS: Developers should adhere to current HTML standards, for maximum access by multiple web browsers. Developers must format material to accommodate adaptive technologies that enable disabled users to access the information contained on their sites. Developers should also be cognizant of data transfer rates, and should refrain from excessive use of "data heavy" pages.

For related information, please see Information Technology Policies.