Google Sites at drew.edu for Individual Faculty and Staff, Student Groups and Courses

Definition of Services

Individual Faculty and Staff, Student Groups, and Drew Courses can have a web site space using Google Sites. These will be located at http://sites.drew.edu.

Individuals looking to create a website - especially one they will continue editing past their time at Drew - are encouraged to look into Drew Domains rather than a Google site.


University Technology is responsible for creating sites at http://sites.drew.edu, be they personal, class, or club sites.

  • Approval for club sites must be obtained from Student Engagement, who will provide the name and URL (to complete the sites.google.com/a/drew.edu/ address) for the website.

Customer Responsibilities

Before any site is created, all users must read and agree to comply with the University Web Policy. Additionally, users must read and agree to comply with the following policies and procedures.

Requesting a site

For Student Groups, approval must be obtained from Student Engagement. The Student Activities office will determine the name/URL and request site creation by creating a University Technology Support Request, calling The University Technology Service Center at (973) 408-4357, or updating the ticket created by the student. Student Engagement will also change editing privileges to existing sites as needed.

Individual sites for Faculty and Staff should be requested by creating a University Technology Support Request or by calling The University Technology Service Center at (973) 408-4357, or x4357 on campus. We may recommend a Drew Domain instead.

Course sites should be requested by creating a University Technology Support Request or by calling The University Technology Service Center at (973) 408-4357, or x4357 on campus.

Any other requests will be reviewed by University Technology staff, who will determine if a page at sites.drew.edu is appropriate to meet the needs of the customer.

Maintaining a Site

Users are responsible for their site content and maintenance. They may request training as follows:

Training and assistance with the creation and maintenance of Google sites will be provided by the Instructional Technology Center. Users can request these services by creating a University Technology Support Request or by calling The University Technology Service Center at (973) 408-4357, or x4357 on campus.

Note: As stated above, Student Group sites will be managed by Student Activities. Training can be requested by creating a University Technology Support Request or calling The University Technology Service Center at (973) 408-4357, or x4357 on campus.

Because students can edit a site but are not owners, they will not be able to change the theme themselves. They must reach out to University Technology or Student Activities requesting a change in theme. The available themes are pictured below (click on the image to enlarge it):


Should there be a technical problem with the site, users are encouraged to contact University Technology promptly for resolution.

University Technology Responsibilities

University Technology will create the individual/personal sites for faculty or staff, a course site, or a student group site as requested in the ticket. An individual/personal site will incorporate your username in the URL (https://sites.google.com/a/drew.edu/flast); a course site will contain the course department and number in the URL (https://sites.google.com/a/drew.edu/span101-maspinal/home); and a student group site URL will be determined by Student Activities.

Training for using Google Sites will be offered as requested, by creating a University Technology Support Request or calling The University Technology Service Center at (973) 408-4357, or x4357 on campus.

If the user reports a technical problem with the site, University Technology will attempt to resolve it in a timely manner.

Estimated / Minimum Response Time

If the ticket is complete, including the agreement to comply with the University Web Policy, the site will be created within two business days of submitting the request. Users will be contacted when the site has been created.

Technical problems with a site will be addressed within two business days of the report being received. Where possible, University Technology will resolve the problem. If the problem is determined to be with Google, University Technology will communicate this to the customer within one business day of discovery.

Site defaults

Sharing and Permissions

Faculty and Staff Personal Sites

  • Site visibility will be set to "Public on the web"

  • Access will be changed to "Can view"

  • Individual user will be made owner and editor of site.

Student Group Sites

  • Site visibility will be set to "Public on the web"

  • Access will be changed to "Can view"

  • Student Engagement (stuactiv@drew.edu) will be made owner of all club sites.

Course Sites

  • Site visibility will be set to "Private"

  • Access will be changed to "Specific People"

  • Individual user (=Instructor) will be made owner and editor of site.