Purpose
UF Connect provides a secure online collaboration space for departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and is a part of UF’s enterprise SharePoint system, UF Connect.
SharePoint allows faculty and staff to use team workspaces with features such as shared calendars, document management, and tools for automating business processes.
UF Connect sites are available to all departments and centers within CLAS. Each department can administer their sites and create sub sites. If there is already a department site, interested faculty and staff should contact their department IT contact or office managers for new sites. Departments using UF Connect include Biology, Mathematics, and Psychology.
Scope
This policy applies to UF Connect sites for units in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Policy
Requesting a Site
In order begin using UF Connect within CLAS, departments must request a site and designate department site administrators. Departments can request sites from CLAS IT by submitting a service request.
When a department site is created, CLAS IT maintains the list of department site administrators. Department site adminstrators are responsible for creating and providing support for faculty and staff sites.
Student Restricted Data and Personal Identifying Information (PII)
UF Connect sites are not allowed to store any student or course data. That information should be limited to UF’s course management system, e-Learning. For sites that use course or grades, contact e-Learning Support Services.
Information about faculty and staff may be used and securely stored on these sites.
Public Pages and Anonymous Access
UF Connect sites are intended to be used internally, not to replace department web sites. Users should be required to log in to view pages and content, so avoid setting pages and sites to public access (anonymous access).
If the members of sites are not known when the site is created, you could give access to the site by adding certain special UFAD groups or to enable requesting access to the site. Contact CLAS IT for more help with adding users.
Guidelines for Site Permissions
Default permissions for members of sites allow them to upload and edit content. Your site administrator may change these permissions to fit the needs of the department. Explanation of permissions [Microsoft Support]
- Site Owners – this group has full control over permissions and content for the site. They can add or remove members for the site and create new libraries and lists.
- Site Members – this group has contribute access. It allows users to upload, modify, and approve content.
- Site Visitors – this group has read-only access. It allows users to only view or download content, depending on site settings.
Guidelines for Creating New Sites
When granting access to new sites, site administrators should follow these best practices whenever possible:
- Add your admin group to each site you create – If you are not using inherited permissions in new sites, your department admin active directory group should be added to the site. You can add this group to the site owners group. This gives department admins access and control over permissions.
- Control access to each site – Limit the number of users who have full control to sites. Most users will only need to use the contribute permissions. Avoid allowing users to automatically add themselves to sites without approval.
- Use Groups to manage permissions– Use SharePoint groups or existing active directory groups to add members to sites. SharePoint groups can be added to multiple sites. When creating new groups, make sure that it starts with your department name. (For example, Psych Site1 Members). Granting access to sites [Microsoft Support]
Last revised: September 9, 2021.