News and Tips for Higher Ed Pros

Martine Lafleur, one of this year’s guest bloggers, covered the session presented by Doug Ruschman from Xavier University: “Making the Case for Resources for Web Services. This is Martine’s first post.

Doug Ruschman from Xavier University made a solid case for resources for web services in his presentation this afternoon. Drawing from his own experience: the web services team at Xavier went, in just two years, from a “two guys shop” to a team of 9 people.

And, he is still hiring…

Today, the web services team at Xavier is a major asset supporting the university initiatives. How did he do that?

• 1. By creating partnerships with enrollment and areas supporting the university’s mission.
• 2. By changing the nature of the web committee: from a committee of over 25 people including VPs and directors, to a committee including the web team and six others people around campus involved in the website.
• 3. By establishing a culture of evidence: with precise web metrics and accountability, dashboards are handy tools of persuasion…
• 4. By communicating the successes of the web services in a newsletter and by doing presentations to administration and committees.

So Xavier web services are now where every web team should be in 2007: a
team big enough to do the work and present in almost all discussions about
the university’s future.

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