In collaboration with the Office of Electronic Media, ITS offers webcasting services for campus events and classroom lectures. Events such as graduation, athletics events, festivals, and various workshops/symposiums have been broadcast across the Internet using streaming technology that makes the content available across mobile and computing platforms.

Campus departments wishing to arrange a webcast should contact Cody Pope at 217.206.6803 or cpope6@uis.edu.

At the time a webcast is live, it may be accessed from UIS Live webpage.

Video on demand

Most webcasts are archived as video on demand [VOD]. The following is a list of our VOD catalog:

Video-on-Demand Guidelines and Policies

Scope

The purpose of this document is to establish appropriate procedures and guidelines for delivering quality and meaningful Webcasts/Video-on-Demand to a worldwide audience via resources supported by the University of Illinois at Springfield [UIS] and Information Technology Services [ITS]. The guidelines and policies outlined in this document are valid for all Webcasts/Video-on-Demand that are produced as communication for/from UIS–by its colleges, divisions, departments, academic courses, organizations, and other units.

Rationale

Webcasting/Video-on-Demand allows the UIS community to become better engaged in events that promote the UIS culture. Elements within these events enable UIS to deploy an apt technological means to increase student motivation to learn. Various sources that provide for information technology resource funding and support would expect that these resources are put to use towards the university’s mission that “provides an intellectually rich, collaborative, and intimate learning environment for students, faculty, and staff, while serving local, regional, state, national, and international communities.”

There are three types of webcasting/video-on-demand that are supported by the ITS department – live, live with archive, and archive.

  • A “live” webcast consists of broadcasting the event at the time of the event.
  • A “live with archive” webcast consists of broadcasting the event at the time of the event while capturing an archive that will be saved in a format that can be later streamed across the Internet and placed on a server for access at a later time.
  • An “archive” webcast consists of converting video media into a format that can be later streamed across the Internet and placing it on a server for access at a later time.

Policy Statement

Unless otherwise specified in this policy or other university policies, use of webcasting/video-on-demand resources at UIS is restricted to the purpose of the university’s mission and strategic plan.

The UIS webcasting/video-on-demand resources cannot be used in a manner that violates the law, for political campaigning, personal private gain, or activities that are not approved by the university. In addition, all activities listed in the UIS IT Policy [Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources] apply for all UIS webcasting/video-on-demand.

Definitions

Webcasting: Technology that allows delivery of multimedia content to a user’s computer over the Internet by utilizing streaming technology.

Video-on-Demand: Term used to refer to webcasting but requires a user to request streaming content by providing a URL that points to a file located on a content server.

Webcast: A multimedia audio and video presentation that is made available to users over the Internet via streaming technology.

Server: UIS ITS server hosts the recorded webcasts and its archives. The server is primarily for digital media files–audio and video–and not to be mistaken for a course management system to store files in other formats.

Privacy

ITS will have access to all course-related and public access webcasts and their archives. This is purely for maintenance and support purposes.

The Webcasting Policy Team does not monitor webcast content. However, upon monitoring, it reserves the right to remove file(s) that violate any university policies and procedures, and U.S. law upon consultation with the UIS Legal Counsel.
Storage

Storage

All streamed and duplicated videos are stored on an ITS server. The Video Streaming Policy team will also create backups of these videos on disc in coordination with Brookens Library, to create a streaming video library for UIS use. All server or disc backups that are not used within 2 year period will be destroyed in accordance with library and copyright policy.

Procedure for Streaming Video Requests

A full-time employee from an official UIS department or unit will need to contact the director of the Office of Electronic Media, Gerald (Jerry) Burkhart at 217.206.6799, and specify that they would like to have an event webcasted. Jerry will, then, inform the Webcasting Team with the specifics of the request.

The following steps are followed when a UIS unit requests a Webcast:

  1. A request is submitted to the Office of Electronic Media as stated above.
  2. Once the request has been submitted, ITS schedules personnel and the appropriate hardware required to webcast the event.
  3. The Office of Electronic Media provides an audio and video signal allowing time for testing.
  4. Webcast is encoded and edited by ITS.
  5. ITS personnel uploads archived files for event if applicable to a predetermined server.
  6. ITS personnel creates the appropriate media file to launch the archive via a web browser.
  7. ITS personnel contacts both the Instructional Support and Training team and the Webcast requesting unit with the web address required to view the archived webcast.

UIS Copyright Policies

While requesting your webcast, please ensure that all necessary rights and permissions have been obtained for the material you plan to include in your webcast. For example, if you incorporate text from a course textbook, blog, journal, magazine, newspaper, you will need permission from the author to include the material in your webcast. However, if you are using work that is in public domain, you need not obtain permission of the original author or copyright owner.

If a webcast involves recording students, guest lecturers, community members, and so forth, the academic program or administrative unit will need to have their interviewee(s) sign a consent release form [Model Release Form]. This signed consent form from the speaker(s) is required before ITS can record, edit, and upload a webcast.

If you plan to include preexisting sound recording in you webcast, please ensure that you have the necessary permission to use the recording.

For all practical purpose, UIS copyright policies will be used in determining fair use of your webcast content.

“It is the policy of the University of Illinois at Springfield that faculty, staff and students shall comply with federal copyright law. The following guidelines concerning the copying of copyrighted material for classroom use and scholarly research are provided to assist faculty, staff, and students in their efforts to comply with federal law.” UIS Policy and Guidelines for Classroom Copying of Copyrighted Materials, Course and E-Reserve and Copyright Information, and University of Illinois Web Privacy Notice.

For detailed information on intellectual property of all course-related webcasts, please review Article III: Intellectual Property.

  • All webcasts are the property of UIS.
  • Intellectual Property: Any unauthorized use or distribution of webcasting materials is prohibited by UIS.

Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources at UIS

“The primary purpose of information technology resources at the University of Illinois in Springfield is to enhance and support the educational mission of the University. Access to the University’s technology resources is a privilege granted to University students, faculty, staff, and approved guests. These resources include hardware, software, computer accounts, local area networks as well as connections to other computer networks via the Internet. Everyone using these resources is responsible for using them in an appropriate, ethical and lawful manner.” Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources.

Liability

Webcasts are not an entitlement. The university is not liable for failure to record or post a webcast on the server.

Disclaimer

The university reserves the right to decline or reject to webcast an event if the material is of questionable taste or if the webcast does not further the mission of the university, based on any one of the criteria outlined in this document.

VOD Archives

Older archived videos may not play as the current player still requires Flash. ITS will be working to update this issue however there is no current timeline for this to happen. If you would like access to one of these videos please submit a ticket to the ITS Help Desk with the subject line of "Access to Archived VOD: [include name of video as it appears on this page]"