The University of West Florida makes the case for the role of CWO - Bridging the gap between IT and marketing, web governance from the top, fostering institution-wide collaborative environment, being disruptive without disrupting, creating an environment of innovation, being the advocate for the user.

1. Making a Case for CWO in Higher Ed
(a thought experiment)
Jay Massey
Director, Web Services
University of West Florida

2. Who am I?
@JayMassey
Web Services
Univ. of West Florida
Founder, CVO
Coco Design
Web Team Motivator, Internet Marketing Strategist

3. Who are you?

4. Consider this…
Universities and colleges are using a complex array of
software, services and technologies to grow market share
and achieve their strategic priorities. It is so important to
have someone at the top who understands how to make
sense of it all, who can communicate it effectively to others
and then can provide the strategic leadership required to
make it happen.

5. Disclaimer
The ideas expressed herein are mine alone. They in no way represent the
opinions of the University of West Florida, its administration, faculty, staff, students,
parents, or mascot. Misspellings may be a result of me not paying attention in elementary
school and should not reflect negatively upon the overarching concepts as proposed in this thought experiment.
Any dissemination, distribution or copying of this presentation is not authorized (either explicitly or implicitly) and furthermore constitutes
an irritating social faux pas because it is mine, mine, all mine. No animals were harmed in the making of this presentation, although the dog next door
who barks all night outside my bedroom window is living on borrowed time, I’m just sayin’
The following is intended as a thought experiment among professional web and
internet marketing peers within the higher education community.

6. Preaching to the Choir
You simply cannot run a modern university or college if you are
not using the web effectively.
Every aspect of interacting with the institution: traditional and
digital marketing, development, recruitment, classes, etc. is
ultimately pushed to for directed from the web.
Our users expect demand a rich, engaging
web experience.

7. Higher Ed is Divisive by its Very Structure
Academic
Division
Student
Division
Advancement
Division
Enrollment
Division
Business
Division

8. Monarch
Nobles
Knights
Merchants
Farmers
Surfs
President
Vice Pres. / Provost
Assoc. VPs / Deans
Executive Dirs.
Directors
Staff
Comparative Feudal Hierarchy

9. Politically Charged Environment
Sayre's Law states that…
In a dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely
proportional to the value of the issues at stake.
That is why academic politics are so bitter.
Sayre's law is named after Wallace Stanley Sayre political scientist and professor at Columbia University.

10. Management
Caught in the
Middle
A CWO brings the knowledge
and strategic value of a strong
web-enabled institution and with
the business-enriching
possibilities of the internet to the
executive leadership.
~ via ‘No Chief Web Officer Required’
by Lisa Welchman 2005

11. What is a CWO?
A Chief Web Officer (CWO) is the highest-ranking corporate
executive in charge of an organization’s web presence,
including all internet and intranet sites. As an executive officer
position, the CWO reports directly to the CEO of the
organization. ~ via Wikipedia and tweaked a bit
The earliest CWO in a
Fortune 500 company
was noticed around the
turn of the millennium.

12. What is a CWO in Higher Ed?
Due to the nature of our business models, target
“markets” and diverse recruitment personas, a CWO
in higher education should have the depth and
breadth of understanding of all things web, internet
marketing, and web governance; including but not
limited to:

13. What a CWO Needs to Know
(listed alphabetically)
Accessibility
Applications (web & mobile)
Analytics (server-side and Google)
Archiving / Backup
Authentication management
Budgeting
Business process analysis
Content development
Content Management Systems (CMS)
Customer service / support
E-commerce
Hosting
Information & data architecture
Legal issues (copyright, trademark, privacy, etc.)
Online marketing & communications
Online strategy
Procurement
Quality Assurance
Search
Security
Social media & online engagement
Systems & software administration
Training
User experience (analysis / design)
UI development / web graphic design
Web Governance

14. Contrasting with CIO and CTO
The position of CWO has emerged distinctly from the positions
of Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer
(CTO) because of the need to focus on and coordinate an
organization’s entire web environment and web presence.
• A CIO typically focuses on IT planning, procurement, and architecture
• A CTO typically oversees development of new technologies

15. A Seat at the Table
50% of CIOs are cabinet members helping shape
the strategic initiatives of their institution
Web in some form is integral to every
strategic priority at every university
…why aren’t we at the table?
ECAR Report, Today’s Higher Education IT Workforce

16. The ROI Argument
Web professionals have one of the few jobs that can
be easily tracked for ROI (not counting recruitment).
Basic Web Team:
• Director of Web Services
• Front-end Designer / Developer
• Back-end / Programmer
• Content Person / Trainer
• Analytics / SEM Data Cruncher

17. Do we really need a CWO?
If not a CWO, then who?
• User advocate
• Speed of change
How can you truly have web governance
without a web governor?
Wishful thinking?

18. CWO Expectations Review
Accessibility
Applications (web & mobile)
Analytics (server-side and Google)
Archiving / Backup
Authentication management
Budgeting
Business process analysis
Content development
Content Management Systems (CMS)
Customer service / support
E-commerce
Hosting
Information & data architecture
Legal issues (copyright, trademark, privacy, etc.)
Online marketing & communications
Online strategy
Procurement
Quality Assurance
Search
Security
Social media & online engagement
Systems & software administration
Training
User experience (analysis/design)
UI development / web graphic design
Web Governance

19. Who are you? (revisited)

20. Is it too much to ask?

21. Thank you
Making a Case for CWO in Higher Ed
(a thought experiment)
@JayMassey
Director, Web Services
University of West Florida