Terry Calhoun, IT Trends Commentator
Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
University of Michigan

J'e’s “State of the Web sites” Address, Part I

Last summer, some folks at the University of Oregon conducted a comparative study of 127 university Web sites to analyze technical and design trends. You might think that the results of such a study would not be appropriate for an “opinion” piece, but you would be wrong – especially if the report is written by J'e St. Sauver.

His opinions come through loud and clear, and when I briefly browsed the report, I thought it would be not only of interest, but with J'e’s commentary, count as an opinion piece, too. Part I, in this issue of IT Trends, covers methodology, Web server software used, natural minimum Web page size, and the trend toward segmenting Web sites into “domains” for various user types, such as prospective students, alums, staff, etc. The first half of J'e’s report covers these areas and it follows. Enjoy!

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J'e St Sauver
University of Oregon Computing Center

Study Sample

The schools selected for study consisted of the set of all AAU universities (http://www.aau.edu/aau/members.html), all Tier 2 or better national doctoral universities from the 2002 US News and World Report university rankings, and a small number of other colleges and universities which were traditional comparators or otherwise locally nominated for inclusion.

Here Comes ‘Bagel’

Some are calling it "the next Sobig” virus, but we haven't seen that many reports of it causing problems on campuses yet. First spotted in Australia, its subsequent spread has been global and appear targeted to under-resourced organizations. (ZD Net)...
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Deakin U: Every Student Must Have Online Credits to Graduate

Without diminishing the importance of face-to -ace, Australia’s Deakin University’s faculty and administrators wanted to ensure every student graduates with experience taking classes on line (The Warrnambool (Australia) Standard)...
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First Online Simulation Game Designed for a College Course?

This Northern Illinois University course probes the evolution of the Roman Catholic Church as an institution from the 16th century to the present. One bonus of participating - you get to pick the Pope (Northern (Ill.) Star)...
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Fighting Spam at the MIT Conference

Those in attendance see that anti-spam efforts are taking a toll on high-volume spammers, by increasing their cost of doing business, if nothing else (PC World)...
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‘Facebooking’ at Yale

A potential privacy and safety nightmare? Or a longstanding, integral tradition? (Yale Daily News)....
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Forget Space – Give Me Access!

Students clamor for high tech amenities, such as broadband and technical support (New York Times) ....
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China Changes Its Mind, Allows Duke U. Web Sites, E-mail

Somehow, Duke Web sites were inaccessible and e-mails from Duke were not deliverable in China. No one knows why. Now, access is restored, and still, no one knows why. Yale is among other institutions that have had similar problems in China (Duke Chronicle).....
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Illegal Porn on AU Computer Spotted by Swiss 'Netizen

Highlighting how difficult it is to monitor downloads on campus computers, it took someone from Switzerland to notify the University of Arizona, recently, about child pornography on a student's computer (Arizona Wildcat) ...
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Texas Christian University Students to Get Norton Antivirus

TCU is licensing the software for all students. Students who compute on campus are required to install and use it or face removal from the network. (Daily Skiff)...
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Catalog of Government Science and Technology Web Resources

This Web site locates thousands of U.S. government science and technology resources on the Web that let you tap into government expertise, services, and facilities. ...
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Assistive Technology Resource Center

Resource center information on the use of adaptive and assistive technologies....
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Plato Learning Lands Florida Distance Learning Deal

Plato Learning, Inc., a provider of K-Adult computer-based and e-learning solutions, was awarded a three-year, $1.5 million contract to provide developmental education courses to all K-20 institutions in the Florida Distance Learning Consortium, with 11 community colleges and two state universities already committed to implementing the course offerings.

University of Missouri Awards Document Workflow Contract

Document imaging specialist Perceptive Vision won a contract from the University of Missouri System, for its ImageNow document imaging, management and workflow solution. The university will install the software in all four campuses -- Columbia, Kansas City, Rolla and St. Louis. The system will store and allow instant retrieval of an estimated 50 million electronic objects (scanned documents, images or any other electronic file) per year to meet the administrative, legal, fiscal, research, and historical needs of the University.
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