Web Governance Policy
This document is reviewed annually.
Purpose
This policy establishes standards and responsibilities for creating, managing, and maintaining content across northpark.edu and all affiliated subdomains to ensure the university’s website is user-centered, accurate, accessible, secure, and aligned with institutional priorities and brand standards. It applies to all university departments and individuals involved in web content and governs all digital materials published within the university’s digital presence.
Audience
The primary audience for North Park University’s website is prospective students and their parents. The home page and most major sections are designed to highlight what distinguishes North Park and encourages enrollment.
Secondary audiences include current students, alumni, prospective donors, faculty, and staff.
Tertiary audiences comprise prospective employees, media outlets, community partners, and the general public.
Each web page must identify its primary audience and prioritize the core message or action most relevant to that group.
Guiding Principles for northpark.edu
North Park University guides all web initiatives by the following principles:
The user experience comes first. Website content must be developed and structured to meet the top priority needs of our visitors. Pages should be organized to support navigation and clear communication, rather than mirroring the university’s internal organizational structure.
Consistency strengthens our brand. All pages should reflect a unified branding, design, and messaging approach. Pages serving similar purposes—such as academic program pages—should maintain a consistent format, including key content such as curriculum details, program highlights, and alumni outcomes, regardless of departmental or college affiliation.
The website is a dynamic platform. The North Park University website is not a static resource. It must evolve in tandem with institutional priorities, user expectations, and external trends. We are committed to ongoing improvement through analytics, user feedback, industry best practices, and thoughtful experimentation.
Accessibility and compliance are essential. All website content must comply with applicable accessibility, privacy, and legal requirements to ensure equitable access for all users. Pages, documents, images, and multimedia must be created and maintained in accordance with ADA standards, institutional policies, and regulatory obligations.
Web ownership
The website, northpark.edu—including all subdomains—is the property of North Park University. While the university retains ownership of all web properties, each department serves as the steward of its assigned content and is responsible for maintaining the subject-area accuracy, relevance, and timeliness of its content. Designated university personnel are granted access to edit specific sections and create or remove content in accordance with this policy and UMC standards.
Web roles and responsibilities
Oversight of the northpark.edu domain and all affiliated subdomains rests with University Marketing and Communications (UMC). UMC ensures a unified, user-centered experience aligned with institutional branding and strategic priorities and holds decision-making authority over the design, functionality, and compliance of all branded web properties and integrated services. UMC collaborates with Information Technology on matters related to security, infrastructure, data privacy, and integrations that affect web platforms.
All new content must be developed within North Park University’s approved content management system (CMS), customer relationship management (CRM) platform, and brand architecture. No third-party software, plug-ins, services, or embedded scripts may be implemented without prior consultation and approval from UMC.
Official university programs, resources, and services must reside within the northpark.edu ecosystem or be linked through approved external vendors. Faculty and students developing content outside this framework must consult UMC regarding trademark and branding considerations and establish a deprecation plan for such external materials. UMC provides support only for pages hosted within the northpark.edu domain.
Web team
Senior director of University Marketing and Communications
Director of marketing
Communications director
Creative director
Digital content manager
Graphic designer
Responsibilities
Provide strategic oversight of the northpark.edu website.
Serve as final decision-makers on matters of web governance and standards. Decisions are made by consensus, with the vice president for enrollment management, marketing, and strategic planning acting as mediator if needed.
Digital content manager
The digital content manager manages the university website, evaluates requests from academic and administrative units, prioritizes initiatives, and reports significant strategic developments to UMC’s web team.
Primary support for northpark.edu
Manage site architecture and navigation, including creation of new pages—an exclusive function of UMC to ensure streamlined site mapping and positive user experience.
Review and implement requests for new features, templates, structural changes, styling updates, and functional enhancements.
Retain edit access across the website to ensure quality and consistency. UMC may revise content for clarity, grammar, spelling, accessibility, best practices, and adherence to branding standards.
Revise or remove any content—whether hosted on university platforms or external sites—if it fails to meet accreditation requirements, acceptable use policies, or the standards outlined in this document and the editorial guidelines.
Additional responsibilities
Direct content in alignment with web visitor needs and best practices.
Maintain content quality and legal compliance, including accessibility, privacy, and security.
Train and support contributors in CMS usage, best practices, and ADA compliance.
Maintain and update CMS software.
Research and share best practices, trends, and web analytics.
Vice presidents, deans, directors
Responsibilities
Designate an individual or position as the content steward responsible for maintaining the department’s web pages.
May determine one primary and one secondary contributor by title per department.
Request access changes (additions or removals) for department contributors.
Ensure the departmental contributors complete and maintain the current UMC web and compliance training.
Contributors
Contributors are responsible for maintaining their assigned web pages regularly. User roles and access permissions are determined and managed by UMC.
Responsibilities
Ensure all content (text, images, videos, PDFs), whether uploaded directly or with assistance, adheres to governance policies and web accessibility standards.
Edit/update existing content and post news and event information in coordination with departmental leadership.
Complete and remain current with UMC-led training.
Conduct site reviews at least twice annually to remove outdated material, recap completed events, update promotional content, and verify that all hyperlinks are active.
Communicate ideas, requests, and issues with UMC throughout the year.
Each department may designate and train a full-time staff member as the primary contributor. Secondary contributors may be added, but must also complete training.
To preserve content integrity and branding, each page should have no more than one primary and one secondary contributor.
Each department must designate an individual or position as the content steward responsible for maintaining the department’s web pages, even if no contributor is formally assigned. When a contributor leaves their role, the department must notify UMC promptly so that page stewardship and access can be reassigned and continuity maintained.
WordPress training for contributors
All contributors must complete WordPress training before receiving access to the North Park University website. It is the responsibility of each user to stay informed about updates to workflows, tools, and standards, and to complete additional training as needed.
UMC provides initial training, ongoing support, and follow-up sessions when new tools, features, or design frameworks are introduced. Trainees are expected to engage fully with the training process, apply what they learn, and regularly reference provided documentation, including the Editorial Style Guide and Branding Style Guide, and other support resources.
Update expectations and web tracking
UMC has provided web trackers to contributors to help them easily access the pages that require revisions or updates. These trackers include the URLs for all pages on the northpark.edu website and allow contributors to set their preferred update schedule. If no schedule is set, UMC will create one on their behalf. UMC will notify contributors at the start of their scheduled review period and will have until the end of the month to submit any revisions or edits. Edits not submitted by the end of the designated review period will be moved to the end of the queue. Contributors may make edits at any time, though priority will be given to those who have scheduled their revision periods.
Emergency/time-sensitive updates
During emergencies or other time-sensitive situations, UMC has the authority to modify, expedite, or temporarily override standard web governance workflows to ensure accurate and timely communication. This may include publishing urgent updates, revising or removing existing content, or prioritizing emergency messaging across the website as needed. When feasible, UMC will coordinate with relevant stakeholders, but immediate action may be taken to protect public safety, maintain institutional accuracy, or meet legal or operational requirements.
Service inactivity
Website inactivity and deactivation
Pages not updated or reviewed for a period of two years will be removed from publication. The website steward will receive at least 90 days’ notice prior to deactivation. Exceptions may be requested.
Project inactivity and deactivation
If no response is received from a client within 30 days of a project’s initiation or progress, the project will be marked as abandoned and closed. Any previously completed work may be removed. If the client wishes to resume the project, it will be reprioritized at the end of the queue.
Visual content and multimedia guidelines
All multimedia, including PDFs and images, will be uploaded to the website by UMC. Employees may submit photos or documents approved by web page stewards, which will be reviewed for style and accessibility compliance. Content that does not meet these standards will not be uploaded.
Photography
High-quality photography strengthens North Park University’s online presence. Use images that reflect real interactions among students and faculty and the campus community’s diversity.
To support fast page load times, image files must be under 5 MB. All images submitted for the website must include a brief description of the content depicted.
UMC has final authority over all images, graphics, and visual content. All visuals must meet brand standards, reflect university values, and maintain a professional appearance.
Faculty and staff portraits
Faculty and staff should use current, university-produced portraits on their web profiles to support brand consistency and professionalism. To schedule a portrait session, submit a Jira ticket. Portraits are typically offered twice a year, in August and January.
Alt text
Alt text is required for all non-decorative images. It improves accessibility and helps search engines understand image content.
Guidelines
Be concise and specific.
Do not include phrases like “image of” or “photo of.”
Leave blank for decorative images.
For icons, describe the intended action (e.g., “Download PDF,” “Follow us on Facebook”).
Video
Videos must align with North Park’s brand standards in tone, style, and message.
Be captioned and fully ADA compliant (including previously produced content)
Be embedded from an approved hosting platform; videos may not be uploaded directly into WordPress
Be aligned with North Park’s style guide and visual standards
Be filmed and formatted horizontally, in 16:9 (recommended resolution: 1920 x 1080). UMC will not publish vertical videos on the website
The department or office responsible for the video is also accountable for captioning and any associated costs. Videos that are not compliant with accessibility or formatting standards will be removed.
Social Media
Departments may link to official university-affiliated social media accounts on their web pages. All social media linked from the website must comply with North Park’s social media guidelines. Non-compliant accounts will be removed or replaced with links to the university's central channels.
PDFs
Standard web pages are the preferred format for publishing content, ensuring accessibility, usability, and ease of maintenance. PDFs should be used only when a web page format is not appropriate and when the content requires:
Complex layout or design elements
Interactive forms
Historical scans
Print-specific formatting
Annotated collaboration
Mathematical notation
Legally mandated formats (e.g., tax forms)
Multi-column or long-format content (more than 10 pages)
All PDFs must be accessible. UMC will remove non-accessible PDFs and has final approval on all file formats used on northpark.edu.
Specific guidelines for web pages
NPU home page slider guidelines
Admissions: Prioritize messaging for admission events or to support application goals, and place it in the first and/or second slides.
Advancement: Highlight donations and gifting goals during events such as Blue & Gold Day or Homecoming, typically placed in the first and/or second slides.
UMC: Feature marketing-focused messaging for North Park, rotating distinctives, Commencement, and rankings or news, typically placed in the third and/or fourth slides. Final placement and timing of home page sliders are determined by UMC based on institutional priorities.
NPU faculty/staff biography guidelines
To update or add a bio to the website, submit a Jira ticket to UMC with the following information.
Title: Maximum of 60 characters
Body: For faculty and staff members in key public-facing roles, a comprehensive biography reinforces the university brand, supporting engagement from prospective students, professional peers, or members of the media. In most cases, bios should be no more than 300 words. Only include the following blocks:
Education
Recent publications
Honors and awards
Professional organizations and associations
Bios are recommended for:
Faculty
Senior leadership
Admission counselors
Advisors
Division/department heads with a prominent public-facing role
Major projects and initiatives
Major web projects—including redesigns, substantial content overhauls, and new page creation—must be planned and executed in collaboration with UMC. UMC will evaluate all requests based on institutional priorities and available resources. To initiate a major project, please complete and submit a Jira ticket.
Note on outsourced work
While some departments may have funding for external web services, all requests for proposals related to website work must be reviewed and approved by UMC before engagement. This ensures consistency with North Park University’s brand, accessibility standards, and technical infrastructure.