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Interview: Mark Greenfield, University at Buffalo’s Director of Web Services

Karine Joly

Director of Web Services for UB (State University of New York), Mark Greenfield has had the chance to witness the birth and the development of the Web in higher education. He reports to the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and manage a Web team with its own blog. Mark is responsible for approximately 50 sites (about 10,000 web pages) directly related to student recruitment and retention, academic policy and procedures, and student academic services. These sites are maintained through a home grown CMS built using PHP and Oracle, WordPress as well as Contribute.

1) What’s your background? What did you do before becoming a higher ed web pro?

I’ve been working at UB for 20 years. In the late ‘80’s and early 90’s, I was a member of a team that designed our technology classrooms. I was also involved with helping our faculty make the transition from using traditional audio-visual technology to computer and information technology.

I was an avid gopher user, sharing information with colleagues across the country on the development of our technology classrooms. I remember clearly the first day I discovered Mosaic in 1993, and I was immediately hooked on the power and potential of the web. In 1995, I read an article in The Economist magazine titled “The Death of Distance”. The article explained how distance was no longer a factor in the cost of communicating electronically and the impact this would have on not only business, but on society. I knew it was time to alter my career path. In 1996, I was hired in the position of Web Development Manager for UB’s department of Computing and Information Technology, the university’s central computing organization. In 2001, I assumed my current role in the Provost’s office.

2) What’s your biggest achievement as a higher ed web pro?

Our “Integration of Online Academic Tools” initiative. This is a multi-phase, multi year project that integrates numerous academic tools including the online class schedule and undergraduate catalog, and provides syndicated content to numerous related sites. This project has been a huge success, resulting in improved service to students, significant cost savings, improved efficiencies, and better management of content. It is now easier for students to understand what courses they can and should be taking, and when those courses are available. The syndication of content has greatly improved the accuracy of key academic information and made it much easier to maintain. This project has also resulted in significant cost savings for the university. Because class schedules are no longer printed, there is an annual savings of over $50,000 on print and distribution costs. Production of the web version of the catalog is now automated. The entire catalog is created in a couple of weeks. Previously it took several months to create the site manually. In addition, there are over 20,000 links that are automatically created as part of the publishing process that would have been cost prohibitive if done manually.

3) What’s the most difficult part of your job?

Getting people to understand the value of User-Centered Design (UCD) and Web Standards. My methodology follows UCD principles but there is often a question of why continuous, iterative user research is a good use of my time. I am also an advocate of web standards, but it can be difficult to explain the importance of valid code and proper semantic markup when anyone with a copy of FrontPage and 30 minutes of training can create a web site. (This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but hopefully you get my point.) Another challenge is the assumption that “usable” and/or “assessable” means boring and ugly. When done correctly, aesthetically pleasing, feature rich sites can be usable and accessible.

4) In your opinion, what’s the biggest challenge we face as web pros in our industry?

I attended HighEdWeb this year and Steve Krug highlighted many of our biggest challenges including:

5) Any good advice to share with your fellow higher ed web pros?

Understand the culture of higher education. Universities are devolved organizations, with individual schools and departments operating with a great deal of autonomy. Don’t waste energy fighting this culture, but learn how to work within it. And don’t get consumed with campus politics. One of my favorite quotes is from Henry Kissinger – “University politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small”.

I also recommend everyone read “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. I agree with his predictions and expect to see dramatic changes in how we live and how we work. He specifically mentions web programmers as a profession that potentially could be “flattened” and how we need to be really adaptable.

In closing, I think this is a great time for higher education web professionals. In general, I sense the same excitement I did back in 1993 when I first got started working on the web. The web is going through some fundamental, exciting changes loosely grouped under the umbrella of Web 2.0. I also feel that university administrators now understand the strategic importance of the web. It offers opportunities for enhanced services, improved efficiencies, and ultimately a solid return on investment. And with the arrival of the Millennial Generation and their inherent love of technology, the web will only continue to grow in importance.

6) What about a couple of good links?