Student and faculty pages, however, are not planned to be part of the new look. Student and faculty pages are not part of the administration, and both students and faculty have a right to have the power to control their own web content. But while just about anyone browsing the Net can easily discern between student pages and College pages, I don't think the casual surfer can easily make the distinction between faculty pages and administrative pages. The faculty departmental pages communicate a message that the College doesn't have much to say about the strength of academics at Wabash. Obviously we don't want to send this message.
Academic freedom is probably the answer, and it is decent one.
Departmental pages are an extension of faculty work and must remain under faculty control. Certainly the administration shouldn't design these pages without faculty, but let's face it, the pages could be a whole lot better. These pages should all share the common design of the new template designed by Rob Herzog. At least then the pages would be somewhat easier to look at. Faculty departmental pages could be starting points for serious research, archives for past student and faculty research, centers for information on each department, and updated with active content.