Policy Overview
South Dakota Mines supports faculty in sharing their professional work and accomplishments online; however, the university does not provide hosting or technical support for individual faculty’s personal websites.
Faculty are welcome to create their own personal websites to showcase research, publications, teaching, and other professional activities. The university can provide links to these personal websites from departmental pages, but the creation, management, and maintenance of the website are the responsibility of the faculty member.
Responsibilities of Faculty
Faculty who wish to have a personal website should be aware of the following responsibilities:
- Creation: Set up the website on a platform of your choice.
- Content Management: Regularly update content to ensure accuracy and relevance.
- Maintenance: Address technical issues, ensure the site is secure, and maintain compatibility with current web standards.
- Compliance: Ensure content complies with applicable laws, university policies, and professional standards.
The university’s web team can link to personal websites from departmental pages, but cannot provide troubleshooting or content updates for these sites.
Recommended Options for Personal Websites
Faculty may use a variety of platforms to create their personal website. Two recommended options include:
- Google Sites
- Free and easy to use.
- Integrates with Google Drive and other Google Workspace tools.
- Good for simple pages, basic research profiles, and quick updates.
- https://sites.google.com/
- Free and easy to use.
- WordPress.com
- Free and paid options available; more robust and customizable.
- Supports blogs, research portfolios, and multimedia content.
- Large ecosystem of themes and plugins.
- https://wordpress.com/
- Free and paid options available; more robust and customizable.
Other options may include Wix, Squarespace, or self-hosted solutions. Faculty should choose a platform that best meets their needs for design flexibility, functionality, and technical support.
Recommended Content for Personal Websites
1. Research / Current Projects
Highlight active research areas, ongoing projects, and key interests. Include concise descriptions, goals, collaborators, and—if possible—visuals or links to publications, posters, or media coverage.
2. Publications
List peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, conference papers, and other scholarly work. Use consistent citation formatting and include links to full texts or DOIs when available.
3. Group Members
Introduce current research team, students, or collaborators. Include photos, short bios, research interests, and links to their professional profiles.
4. Outreach
Showcase efforts to engage with the broader community—such as K–12 activities, public talks, media features, workshops, or science communication initiatives.
5. Awards and Honors
List significant recognitions, fellowships, grants, or distinctions that reflect your achievements and contributions.
Linking from Department Pages
Once a personal website is established, faculty may submit the URL to their department’s web coordinator to have it linked from the official departmental website.
- The website should primarily feature professional content. Personal content unrelated to research, teaching, or professional activities should be avoided.
- The web team reserves the right to review links for appropriateness before publishing.