Commercial Activity

Op12.02-12 Commercial Activity

It is not acceptable to use any official or unofficial university website for commercial activities without an approved exemption from the Chief Information Officer, in consultation with the Vice President for Marketing and Communications. Commercial activities include, but are not limited to, commercial solicitation of business.

Explanation

Commercial activities include, but are not limited to, advertising of commercial products or selling non-university products or services through a Missouri State web server. This requirement is to comply with MOREnet policies and to avoid cluttering the Missouri State website with advertisements, while protecting the university's brand, reputation and internal resources.

Commercial activity does not include the following:

  • Placing a company logo on a public information web page sponsored by that company.
  • Providing a list of commercial enterprises in the community.
  • Linking from company logos or Chamber business listing to company homepages on a commercial internet service.
  • Promoting business in general, i.e., economic development or tourism. Promoting a particular industry is permissible provided the activity does not focus on an individual company or companies of the industry to the exclusion of others. For example, a community may promote tourism and resorts, but not promote ABC Resort and DEF Resort to the exclusion of other resorts.

Exemptions

Some university units/organizations may be granted exemptions to this policy. Units must abide by these requirements:

  • The unit/organization must have the exemption approved by information technology council, following the procedures below.
  • The unit/organization must obtain web hosting services external to the Missouri State network.
  • The unit/organization must obtain an external domain name according to the domain name procedures.

Applying for an exemption

To apply for an exemption, contact web strategy and development and explain your need, purpose and desired address.

After receiving an exemption request, the director of web strategy and development will consult with information technology council and either approve or deny the request and notify the requestor. If an exemption request is denied by the director of web strategy and development, the requestor may appeal to information technology council.