Mobility of Higher Ed Web
This is call for discussion:
- Is there a hierarchy for web people at your school?
- Can people move up?
This is something I have been discussing with various colleagues at my university. Unlike IT which has System Analyst 1, 2, 3 and so forth. Or Computer Specialist 1,2,3… There are no steps to take for web people. At my school there is Web Designer, Web Site Administrator and I happen to be officially titled a Communications Specialist. This is the same title as the writer in my department. Go figure. What I want to know is do you face similar situations at your school? Do you have any way to move up? I think it is time that all schools recognize that the web is here to stay and not just a fad. I know DUH. But at a lot of schools web is the thing that gets overlooked and under funded.
Let me know your thoughts.
on February 21, 2007 on 10:22 am
Interesting question.
I’m a one-person web department.
I think the only other position move I could make would be faculty.
The institution I work at has similar issues, the web site is under funded (making it hard to move forward), under staffed (making it hard to move forward), and over looked. *Grumble*
on February 21, 2007 on 10:28 am
Well, in my country there is a little bit different problem – there are only two web design schools in Poland. Most designers work and learn them selves at home. I am co-owner of webdesign company, and I have to say there are many young talented polish people, which are webdesigners and webdevelopers. I am now wondering, how to find customers in us. Are advantages are great skills, and good rates.
Martin
on February 21, 2007 on 10:49 am
Our HR structure was recently overhauled, but the old system had two levels of web designers and developers. IT positions ranged from 1-5 with the two levels of web positions equaling 2 and 3 on that scale.
You can feed in to management. Each school usually has a manager of web communications, then there is the central director of web communications who is arguably the top web person on campus. That position, I suppose, could feed in to directing one of the enterprise systems, which are usually web based.
If you’re at a small school that doesn’t have people overseeing web strategy, you have to advance to a larger institution. That’s often true at other positions. Or, you need to advocate for that change.
IMO, at least on the web developer track, you would move into one of the higher ranking IT positions. I think you get to a certain point that the majority of your work is no longer “web” per se, but more focused on programming or system administration (CMSs, Portals and the like) where web just happens to be the medium.
I guess I would question the premise. Should there be a hierarchy? Print design has been around for some time now. What do those positions feed in to? I don’t think every position needs a track.
Should there be more than one level? Sure, I guess, but I don’t think it needs as much depth as the IT positions and, at the risk of being flamed, I don’t think there is as much. Even your most important web person doesn’t have as much responsibility as the person overseeing the integrity of the enterprise systems.
on February 21, 2007 on 11:03 am
In an environment where processes are inconsistent from one institution to another, it is difficult to standardize roles/titles. But what a good conversation starter.
Anytime “Specialist” is in your title, the previous word is too broad. Define the role, and you will get your levels of expertise. You’re right that IT has this down…now it’s time for the Web side to catch up.
on February 21, 2007 on 11:31 am
I work at a large public research university, & many web positions — esp. the technical leads — are part of the “Information Technology Consultant” series that also includes IT functions such as hardware, software, network support etc., and has competency levels of 1 – 2 – 3. This is a union-represented staff classification. For more information see http://www1.ous.edu/owpd/plsql/owpd_pos_desc?p_pos_id=111
The web being of necessity a team effort, there are many other categories & classifications of staff involved in our web presence (faculty, administrators, students, etc.). For example, writing and editing copy would typically fall to a content expert &/or communications specialist/editor person, not an staff person in the ITC series.
Our ITC series has a track for “multimedia development” and as a result we have several creative positions in the series (an animation specialist, for example). We also have distinct classifications for graphic designers, photographers, videographers, etc. and involve them in web projects also. There is a *big* difference between the media assets these people produce with their professional education, studio/agency experience, & pro/broadcast quality equipment vs. home-made graphic designs, snapshots from a $200 camera, & camcorder clips.
Hope these are helpful thoughts.
(BTW I am an administrator with faculty rank, with responsibility for several departments that include people in all of the classifications mentioned above.)
on February 21, 2007 on 12:28 pm
At our university, the web council [governing body for university web sites] created three job descriptions specifically for web developers: web developer I, web developer II and web developer III.
Unfortunately, most of the people updating and contributing content to the web do so as part of their “real” job…
on February 22, 2007 on 9:30 am
My university has similar issues with classification. We have a title, Internet Administrator, for people who work on the web, but very few people are actually granted that title. I have a similar title to “communications specialist,” which is supposed to be for people who develop materials of “limited complexity,” but my duties are all over the place–print editing, writing, graphic design, as well as web writing, editing, design and information architecture.
Unfortunately, because there is no title that would fit all those things, I have been denied any sort of advancement, leaving me as an underpaid employee, even by the standards of my current title. Talk about frustrating. Needless to say, I won’t be at the university much longer.
on February 22, 2007 on 10:30 am
Definitely a good question and I think it’s an exciting development to watch. The plight of the web professional is the plight of one caught in between; between the extremes of programming and data integration on one side to professional communication (copy editing, writing, marketing) on the other side. This presents a painful array of choices when you’re close to the middle or find yourself on a track you’re not sure you want to be on. And the good news? For those interested in advancing into management, the BEST place to be is in the middle, especially if the middle means exposure to administration as a liaison between administration and IT. There are folks in administration who find themselves utterly confused when talking to hard-core IT folks, as if they are speaking a foreign language. I’m not harping on IT folks here. The language of IT continues to grow in sophistication and girth and unless you step out of that culture on a regular basis, your ability to translate is limited. The webmaster, positioned in the middle, is likely to be more approachable and successful as a translator and advocate.
QUESTION: Where do you think the web professional will end up in the next 5-10 years? As a division of IT or Communications? Or it’s own division? Or something completely different? Maybe we should be asking “who needs us more?” and then take it from there.
on February 23, 2007 on 3:47 am
It’s hard to have upward mobility with so few resources devoted to the web. Also, it’s too bad because universities tend to be gateway jobs for young web professionals and web folk with a history at the institution could do so much to aid marketing and student engagement.
I wonder if the next 5-10 years will see a almost total move to distributed social networks and if university web workers will spend most of their time parsing feeds and moderating community on external services.
on June 28, 2007 on 8:01 pm
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