campus change agent - building a campus web community where there is none
DESCRIPTION
Do you have lots of web people on your campus? Feel like there are no cohesive bonds? Even in our siloed higher ed culture, it just takes a small dedicated group to rally the troops. We will explore how to build community on a campus through various different approaches including creating a university web group to provide leadership, idea exchange and learning opportunities for web professionals and others around campus. Work to create collaborative web policies that will enable people to do things following best practices. Create a culture of open data so people will embrace the use of central tools. Blog about the state of web on campus and keep an open and continued dialogue. Provide campus thought leadership and advise executives on major decisions. Create collaborative spaces where people from different teams can work to solve common problems on campus. Build campus wide tools that leverage and produce open source software and have open planning sessions with community members. Have coffee talks with community members to provide advice, be an advocate or simply lend a friendly ear. Do work pro-bono to help people with their goals that will also advance campus goals. Look outside of campus to leverage local tech and entrepreneurship. And last but not least look to the national communities UwebD, BlogHighEd, HigherEDLive, eduStyle etc. and our friendly peer institutions to provide solutions and best practices for campus. We must recognize that no one person is able to accomplish a better web on campus or community, therefore we must be open to a plan that encourages networking, cooperative relationships with others outside the campus, and implementation of practices that may reach our goal of a simple “better web on campus.”TRANSCRIPT
Campus Change AgentBuilding a Campus Web Community Where There Isn’t One
Matt HerzbergerFlorida International University (FIU)
About me Currently – Director of Web Communications (aka the
man, aka police, started web group from central team) A&M story about Marcomm
Previously – Web Coordinator for various colleges with and without central web leadership (aka hater of the man, helped found grassroots web group due to no central unit)
Way back – Departmental web designer with no central web leadership (aka bigger hater of the man, member of campus web group)
Prehistoric – Designer for a higher ed web agency (aka evil vendor person, saw the dysfunction from outside)
My Job “Better web on campus“Or even better…“Be crazy and relentless about making
the web better.” - @dylan
Impossible challenge
Golden Rule / KarmaOpen source ethos
Where to start Responsive web design
Here today (say hi to the person next to you)
Nationwide - EDUniverse, eduStyle, BlogHighEd, uwebd, EDU checkup, HigherEdLive HigherEdExperts, etc
Regionally/Locally – HighEdWeb regional, Skype meetups
Your Campus – Campus Uweb, Coffee, Lunch
Other Universities – Campus web team blogs list http://go.fiu.edu/f04
Don’t Only Think Higher Ed - look outside to local tech and startup communities – Refresh cities, Barcamps, CoWorking, Social Media Clubs, Ad Fed, IABC, Wordpress groups, Drupal meetups, etc.
From scratchReach out get the lay of the land.
Meet web people on campus.Listen to the established community.Coordinate on how to work together.
ChallengesDecentralized. No central leadership. No cohesion. Geography.
No time. Shyness/Introversion. Boss not allowing time.Saboteurs. Buying into great good.
Solo ApproachHigher Ed Solo
Use your vendors as team members.Get the right people in the room and make them responsible for
their parts.It can be very rewarding - you get the full praise.
Team ApproachCode repositories and sharing. Demo days.
Weekly team meetings.Cross-training and shared responsibility.
Try to form positive team culture.
SharingCosts
ResourcesCode
Knowledge
PoliciesCollaborative CreationInclusive and Enabling
Collective Reasoning AKA GovernanceHippos – advising leadershipCombined goals and vision
Managing up and downManufacture cultural change
JobsStudent-to-Staff
Advancement around campusRecommendations
Bridging GapsIT working with MarketingFaculty working with Staff
Open Tools / Open DataAPI, web services, open source, no data silos
Professional DevMake it engaging and worthwhile
One of the few times these people will be in the same room at the same timeTeaching moments
Unified OutcomesCentral calendar
Central templatesUnified branding
Work in ProgressThis had no end game
Sorry the animated gif didn’t work
Make meaningful relationships
in the end…You get out what you put in, so start putting in work
