Website Policy

The following requirements apply to all webpages that provide official information about Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, to the public. Personal pages and pages that are intended primarily for restricted, internal audiences are excluded from these requirements. However, all pages must also conform to the Acceptable Use Policy for Computing Technology Resources.

Rutgers Identity

The web is one of the key ways that Rutgers presents itself to the public. In many cases, our webpages form a reader’s first impression about Rutgers. To present a consistent, professional image, it is crucial that all Rutgers webpages clearly establish their relationship with the university.

  • The full name of the university—Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey—must appear somewhere on every webpage. For suggestions on using the full name of the university, see the Guidelines for Using the Rutgers Visual Identity System.
  • The Rutgers logotype must appear in the top left corner of every webpage. For more information on the Rutgers universitywide logotype and signatures, see the Visual Identity System page.
  • No university trademarks may be altered or manipulated in any way or merged with or placed directly against any other logo.

Required Links & Standards

Chancellor-level Units or Universitywide Homepage Link

One of the two following requirements must be met.

Chancellor-led unit or division-specific homepage link: The main page of each site must have an easily identifiable link to a Rutgers homepage that is appropriate to your unit:

or

Universitywide homepage link: The homepages of websites for universitywide units should include a Rutgers logo that is linked back to http://rutgers.edu.

Search Link

Each site’s main webpage must include a link to Search Rutgers at search.rutgers.edu.

Contact Information or Link 

Top-level pages must include complete contact information for the unit (address, phone, fax, and email) or a clearly visible link to that information.

Email Link

Each page must have an email address or a link to the person or group responsible for maintaining the page.

Linking to Non-Rutgers Websites and Pages

Links to external vendors on Rutgers websites and pages are permitted, but should be to the entity's homepage or other nonpromotional page. See the Guidelines for Sponsor, Partner, and Third-Party Promotion [PDF]. Text that includes live links should not imply an endorsement of any kind. When a website or pages have been developed by a non-Rutgers entity, a text credit may be used (for example: This site was created by ABC Company). For more information, see the endorsements and sponsorships section of this website.

Copyright

All sites must abide by copyright law and respect the intellectual property of others. For details, see the Copyright Information page on the Rutgers University Libraries website. Webpages should display the following: © 20XX, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. All rights reserved. (The HTML character code for the copyright symbol © is: ©).

Accessibility

The Office of Information Technology website offers tools and guidelines to make a website more accessible.

Web Application Log-in Screens

  • Any application dealing with standard university passwords (those associated with the NetID, or with accounts on Office of Information Technology administrative or general-access campus systems) must protect transmission of the passwords using secure sockets layer (SSL) or an equivalent technology.
  • Applications that capture and transmit “nonpublic” information—such as name, address, social security number (SSN), credit card number, and birth date—should also use SSL.
  • Do not use the social security number for authentication. The NetID/Email policy mandates transition away from use of the SSN for authentication. No new applications may be written using the SSN for authentication, and existing applications must be transitioned. While the document states that the NetID must be used, this does not apply to internal departmental applications, where the department has its own usernames. However, even departmental applications may not use the SSN for authentication.