As part of a larger evaluation and overhaul of off-campus access to individual contact information, Haverford recently made changes to the ways and places that contact information for individual Haverford students, faculty, and staff are displayed on the College website.
Chief Information Officer Megan Fitch and Vice President for Marketing and Communications Marketing and Communications Melissa Shaffmaster sent out an email to the Haverford college community detailing the latest changes on April 16, stating that they “believe these changes will create more flexibility to restrict contact information where appropriate to the campus community”.
The email detailed four changes to the Haverford College website: moving the website directory accessed through haverford.edu/contacts behind a campus login, moving student profiles and individual contact information behind the website login, offering College employees the option to set their profiles as only accessible behind a campus login, and urging community members to set up encrypted web pages for personal online presence through sites.haverford.edu.
The Haverford website directory houses information for individual faculty, staff, and students as well as links to each community member’s profile. Previously available to the public, it is now behind a campus login, meaning only those with a registered Haverford email can access the directory. All pages with student profiles and contact information are behind the login as well; the few pages with student contact information that remain are slated for evaluation in the next few weeks.
While the email states that College employee profiles “will be by default public”, Haverford is now offering an option for employees to set their information to be accessible only behind a College login. There will also be new options for employees to display partial contact information publicly, though the College did not disclose the options specifically. The email also included step-by-step instructions for employees to customize and change the amount and nature of the information shared on their online profiles as well as an overview of the default public listing for profiles on public pages (i.e. departmental directories): name, photograph, title, and a link to the employee’s user profile. The email also shared that employees can view contact info for other employees via Workday.
The email encouraged community members “wishing to have more of a personal online presence” to look at sites.haverford.edu, which offers instructions for Haverford students, faculty, and staff on how to set up an encrypted personal website on WordPress through Haverford IT. It is unclear whether the email urges all personal online presence of Haverford community members to be through these websites, and the possible effects the changes to Haverford community profiles could have on personal social media accounts.
For those seeking further assistance with understanding and making changes to their online presence, the College urged them to contact the IITS Service desk at itservicedesk@haverford.edu.
