Proposition 1:

The wide diversity of job titles and descriptions for people with responsibility for university websites is a barrier to their professional development and career opportunities.

Do you agree with this proposition?  No

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

The institutional structure and fast evolving world we work in means that job titles and descriptions will always fluctuate.

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) We need to be better at self-promotion.

2) We need to break down other barriers to professional development.

3) We need a better definition of the Web Team role.

Proposition 2:

The best university web developers are ‘all-rounders’ with just as much ability to write plain English as to write code.

Do you agree with this proposition?  No

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

The best university Web Team would have just as much ability to write plain English as to write code.

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) Job descriptions and recruitment need to reflect this mix of skills.

2) Web Teams need sufficient resources to meet this breadth of requirements.

3)

Proposition 3:

A ‘web strategy’ that balances centralised control with devolved authority for content provision is key to the development of a successful university website.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Yes (with very minor change)

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

A ‘web strategy’ that balances centralised control and support with devolved authority for content provision is key to the development of a successful university website.

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) Effective and ongoing communication between the centre and devolved areas is required.

2) The Web Strategy needs to be adopted by all parts of the university – not just the Web Team or devolved areas.

3) Support to achieve the Web Strategy is crucial but questions will arise over who will fund the support – should it be centralised funding?

Proposition 4:

Senior management at universities now consider the institution’s website to be more important than 5 years ago. However, there is an imbalance between the level of funding and expectations for web management and provision.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Partially

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

Senior management at universities now consider the institution’s primary website (www.xxxx.ac.uk) to be more important than 5 years ago for exposure, and attracting funding and students. However, there is still lower awareness or consideration of other institutional uses of the Web.

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) Ineffective use of funding (e.g. Cambridge maintaining 600+ websites).

2) We need greater understanding of the use of the Web for internal communication.

3) It might be useful to undertake some kind of ‘value for money’ audit on the institutional Web resource.

4) Better governance of the website is essential.

Proposition 5:

It is too risky to rely on external companies to carry out all aspects of university-wide website development and hosting.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Yes

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) Note that internal approaches also carry risk so internal risk analysis required.

2) Need appropriate internal resourcing.

3) Should evaluate added value that can plug internal gaps using external companies.

Proposition 6:

External consultants are very useful for informing web strategy and web team activity as they are perceived as neutral.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Yes (with revision)

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

External consultants are very useful for informing web strategy and web 

team activity as they are listened to by senior management (provided they are the ‘right’/’good’ consultants and they are sufficiently aware of background/context of the work).

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) Need to carefully scope consultant’s work to allow for management/measurement.

2) Using consultants can help to raise profile/importance of Web strategy and Web Team activity.

3) The community could usefully share their experiences/quality of consultants (ratemyconsultant.com).

Proposition 7: NOT DISCUSSED

The factors that are deemed to be the most important to institutions when choosing a CMS are usability, reliability and scalability. Of least importance is the web team’s familiarity with a particular solution or how popular it may be within a specific department.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Yes  /  No

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1)

2)

3)

Proposition 8:

(To be read in a Carlsberg voice) Using a CMS is probably the best way of managing website content in the world.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Yes (with revision)

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

Using a CMS is probably the most efficient way of managing an institution’s website content in the world.

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) Using a CMS can constrain creativity.

2) Using a CMS lowers the barrier for contribution.

3) Using a CMS leads to ‘compression towards the middle’ (i.e. the really innovative have their job made more difficult by the CMS, whilst those that previously couldn't do it now can - the result tends to be less diverse rather than more diverse - bland but safe).

Proposition 9:

In general there is far too much content on most UK university websites.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Yes (with slight revision)

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

In general there is far too much irrelevant/useless content on most UK university websites.

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) It is difficult to direct users to useful content if there is too much rubbish.

2) Need to increase awareness of the importance of pruning  archiving / de-commissioning.

3) Clutter can lead to loss of income.

Proposition 10:

The monitoring of user behaviour to inform future design is not given as much priority as it deserves by web teams in UK universities.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Yes

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) Undertake more user requirements gathering – urge providers to consider use before design.

2) Need toolkits / checklists / good practice guides about how to monitor user behaviour.

3) Need to prove the benefits of user involvement using user paths/journeys and scenarios.  Need to feed this back to clients / commissioners.

Proposition 11:

The most important audiences for UK university websites are (in order): prospective students from overseas, prospective students from the UK, alumni, current student body, postgraduates and staff.

Do you agree with this proposition?  No

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

Each piece of content on a university website has an audience and should be appropriately targetted.

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) Need greater personalisation.

2) Revenue generation.

3) Content and delivery should be independent.

4) Need more analytics and testing.

5) Need more feedback.

Proposition 12:

In the next five years the most important trends that Web teams will have to adapt to are:

• increasing demand for ‘rich media’,
• increasing demand for technologies associated with “Web 2.0”,
• increasing demand for user-led, personalised websites.

Do you agree with this proposition?  No

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

In the coming years universities will have to react and respond to emerging trends (whatever they may be).

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) We will need to recruit additional resources/staff; there is a cost attached to maintaining the status quo / standing still.

2) We need to monitor emerging trends.

3) There is an opportunity cost attached to innovation.

Proposition 13:

Institutions should have strategies and resources to deal with technical changes such as a need to deliver Web 2.0 type services.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Yes

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) Need to nurture evangelists within the Web Team in order to encourage learning and creativity.

2) Need management support.

3) Need space to experiment (supervised).

Proposition 14:

When considered university-wide, the current management of the website(s) is not joined up enough.  In an ideal world, scrapping the current site(s) and starting again would be the best way forward.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Agree with first sentence – disagree with second

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

When considered university-wide, the current management of the website(s) is not joined up enough.

As a result, many marketing managers seem to want to scrap the current site(s) and start again.

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1) Need new information architecture.

2) Need greater understanding of objectives / purpose of the website across the institution.

3)

Proposition 15: NOT DISCUSSED

Web content management in HE is now as much about management and mediation as it is about technical knowledge and experience.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Yes  /  No

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1)

2)

3)

Proposition 16: NOT DISCUSSED

Despite the ongoing challenges involved, there is a general sense of optimism about the future of web content management in HE.

Do you agree with this proposition?  Yes  /  No

If you do not agree with it, please cross it out and provide a revised version of the proposition that you do agree with:

Write down three consequences (issues, actions or conclusions) that follow from the agreed proposition:

1)

2)

3)