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Wanted: Campus web |
 Robert Peña Web Developer thesouthtexan@yahoo.com |
Recently I noticed two positions posted on the javjobs.tamuk.ed. One was for an Instructional Designer / Program Coordinator and the other for a Assistant Director, Technology. Why waste money for these kinds of positions? A web development department could much more readily fill the duties of these positions, duties that would seem a daunting task for any one individual and create more work for an already over burdened faculty.
TAMUK is poised to become the leader of a new generation of graphic designers, communications majors, programmers and web developers. Are we ready to take the reins and lead the way to a new renaissance in cyberspace at the college level? The answer at the moment is, “NO!”
For a student web designer it is often difficult to find out what the current policies are at TAMUK on a variety of issues. To mention a few, the designer needs to be familiar with university hiring practices for web designers, base pay rates for students of varying skill levels, software that is compatible with campus needs, capabilities of TAMUK's servers as far as scripting for forms, memory availability for departmental sites and Section 508 compliance.
Even though there have been improvements in some departments, mainly due to the use of templates, many of the new websites being produced at TAMUK still severely lack style, design sensibility, content presentation, and application development.
The development of poor quality sites is mainly due to a lack of knowledge on the part of the administration responsible for hiring so called 'Webmasters'. A better term to use other than web master would be web developer/designer. Web master has become a term to loosely thrown around creating swelled heads among many young web developer/designers. Administration needs to be able to test the ability and skill level of web developers to make a good site. This includes testing when hiring outside individuals or firms who often have about as much knowledge of web development as some students on campus.
Universities who hire outside help create an experience and knowledge vacuum for students who could have developed their skills further here on campus.
The main problems between student web developers and departments are a lack of communication, relying on a single individuals knowledge to develop a site, the inability of employers to knowledgeably communicate their needs for the site, the capability of the software on hand for development, also the limitations of campus servers.
More of my problem with this dilemma will be posted on the second part of this column in next week’s issue.