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.
