As college curriculums take on a global emphasis, the internet has responded to the demands of international communication in an unprecedented manner. This phenomenon has created new opportunities and challenges to institutional webmasters, and spurred interest in a number of change theories specifically tailored to changes in webpage design. This article explores the current status of prominent change theories, and their applicability to planned webpage changes at a globally-focused comprehensive university, based on interviews with the Chief Information Officer, students, and top administrators. Although previous research supports the notion that a single theory dominates decisions motivating the change process, the findings from this qualitative study suggest the possibility that other theories have substantial relevance when a variety of sources are included in the data collection.
The globalization of college curriculums is an idea that is rapidly taking root among many American institutions. In the context of globalization, this discussion is relevant and timely as universities internationalize, establishing foreign campuses and forging agreements with foreign universities. One mechanism of facilitating coordination among many campuses throughout the world is a sophisticated, integrated, and information-rich webpage. The university webpage, if crafted in the best interests of all stakeholders (and with their input), can serve as an anchor for a diverse set of interests, goals, pursuits, and agendas in the university community. If well-integrated and comprehensive, the university webpage can serve as a one-stop-shop for students, faculty, administrators, and parents regardless of geographic location.
The driving force that has contributed to organizational change in the past two decades is Information Technology (IT). IT change in institutions and organizational structures is typically spurred by the belief that technology is capable of accomplishing more, faster, and with higher efficiency (Seneviratne, 1999). For example, in the 1990’s governmental budgeting offices were experiencing demands for increasingly sophisticated financial analysis and funds management techniques. Those demands were met through the use of a wide variety of information systems technologies. The utilization of these technologies created a revolution in data processing and service delivery (Stevens, Cahill, and Laplante, 1991).
Since that time, administrators have realized the enormous impact of technology on organizational change (Bradshaw-Lynn, 1999). Because technology is in a state of continual advancement, it follows that the decision to make a change to a particular technological system has become a research topic in and of itself (Aoyama, 2002; Azzone, Bianchi, & Noci, 2000; Fetterly, Manasse, Najork, & Wiener, 2004).
The actual transition from the old or former state of existence to the new and current state is usually not instantaneous, but is instead a process. That process culminates in a change that is either ongoing and incremental, or abrupt; in other words, one that can be classified as either “continuous” or “discontinuous” (Weick & Quinn, 1999). The process is typically triggered by a decision that is consciously initiated by an individual or group; the basis on which that decision is made constitutes a “change theory.”
This paper examines change theory at a micro-level; specifically, within the confines of a comprehensive university. Interviews were conducted with “stakeholders” at the institution from the various administrative levels, including student government, to determine the applicability of change theories in that singular environment. The opportunity for this project arose when the author was made aware that an impending change to the university homepage was under consideration. This presented the chance to explore the theoretical basis for the change directly from a CIO’s perspective, and also from top members of the administration; students were represented in the data collection as well.
The thesis for this study holds that the findings from the current research on webpage change, which predominately tend to support one theoretical explanation, are based on an incomplete overall knowledge-base, and that when data is gathered from a wider range of interested parties, a more complete picture of the theoretical constructs at work in the decision to make changes to a webpage will emerge.
Change theories, as applied to organizational structure, are most often applied in the field of business, particularly management, but the origins of change theory can probably be traced to evolutionary biology. Other disciplines that have employed these change theories include child development and the social sciences; most likely there will be many others to follow. As more and more fields of study found uses for the exploration of change processes, the change concepts themselves were expanded and multiplied.
Van de Ven and Poole (1995) originally identified 20 different process theories spread between the social, biological, and physical sciences, and eventually crystallized those 20 into four distinct groups. Those four categorizations have been researched and applied among those sciences thoroughly in the past two decades, to include a substantial body of research concerning information technology.
The first of the four categorizations they identified is the change resulting from a goal-oriented endeavor. It is a change, or improvement, in the techniques used to accomplish the organization’s mission. Secondly, is the change resulting from the transition of authority from one manager to another; this is a change made for political reasons. Third, a natural progression, or life cycle change, is made to update an organization’s image (just as someone might “age out” of dated customs or fashions). The fourth explanation for affecting a change is owing to a perceived competition among entities in the profession, where the change is made to improve the overall “fit” within the field.
This four-theory categorization can be summarized in the four versions of the following statement -- “The change is being made because: (a) the institutional goals are better fulfilled (mission driven), (b) there is transition of authority underway from one manager to another (authority-driven), (c) the institution requires an image revamping owing to outdated information or style (image-driven), and (d) peer comparisons require changes for competitive purposes (competition-driven).”
The taxonomy of change theory was adapted by researchers studying change in an IT environment. Pamela Specht (1999) reviewed numerous assessment techniques and concluded that the predominant supporting argument for a change in an institution’s IT system is based on the necessity to assist the institution in accomplishing its mission. Reinforcement for that view came from a study authored by Ryan, Field, and Olfman (2006), who operationalized Van de Ven and Poole’s (1995) categorizations into a study that examined webpage change. That study concluded that changes to webpage design were most commonly made for the “mission-driven” reason: better serving the institution’s purpose or mission.
Additionally, Ryan, Field, and Olfman (2003) studied change in State Government websites; they concluded that although there was variability resulting from experimentation in the early years of homepage usage, consistency of design now dominates state government homepages; with most showing agreement among design and structure. These researchers found that the variation in webpage construction could be explained by categorizing them into three dimensions.
The first dimension, “design,” had become virtually standardized among government sites over the past decade, wherein most states seem to follow a particular pattern. This uniformity has occurred as a result of research done with human subjects and their preferences for webpage types (Shepherd, Watters, & Kennedy, 2004). The differing foci between these two fields of study have brought on a need for further research into the decision process for change in webpage construction.
The variability between government homepages was found on the third dimension, density, where poor ratings were given to those with overloaded capacity. The fact that U. S. government homepages have standardized their layout over time provides a degree of support for website change based on Van de Ven and Poole’s (1995) fourth category of change, that of a change put into effect to improve the overall “fit” within the field (competition-driven).
Additionally, the manager’s “perception” of the role that an IT system plays in his or her organization is a source of variability as well. Kraemer, Danziger, Dunkle, and King (1993) interviewed 260 public managers to discover the usefulness of IT systems in government positions. In their analysis these authors concluded that, from a managerial point of view, it is probably less valuable for top managers to have “hands-on” computer system mastery, when they can delegate those complex tasks to subordinate technology experts. In keeping with that finding, they determined that it is probably easier for a manager to request an ad-hoc analysis from staff members instead of performing the analysis personally. This second-hand analysis gives credibility to the reliance on competent subordinates’ abilities to make decisions about change in an IT system.
When the decision process begins, IT managers in public sector organizations are often confronted with a number of challenges not typically experienced by managers of private businesses (Caudle, Wilpen, & Newcomer, 1991). First of all, they might find that fewer benefits were harvested by the change then originally expected, along with a number of unintended consequences (Janssen, Gortmaker, & Wagenaar, 2006). Those challenges include, but are not limited to, competing interests between divisions of the institution. Owing to the political nature of a bureaucracy, often the dynamics of cross-department competition for resources (and acknowledgement) limit the choices for the new design. Also, the reliability of new webpage is a consideration, especially if it involves new technology. Additionally, overlapping functionality must be considered. If new systems are not jointly developed, often there is duplication of accessibility when one system might suffice (Janssen, Gortmaker, & Wagenaar, 2006).
Janssen et al. (2006) provided an overview of the process public managers undertake to improve their agencies’ websites in order to make them more “user friendly” and convenient to the general public (typically referred to as customer-oriented service delivery). They identified the process of alleviating the many frustrations persons face when trying to accomplish a task, or gain access to a particular service, that is provided by a government agency. They concluded that the process can be made less difficult if the initial point of contact, frequently a webpage, is designed properly. This suggests that a change to the webpage would be made for the purpose of better serving the clientele, which is related to accomplishing the organization’s mission (mission-driven).
They also found that typically, when a citizen or “customer” requires the services of an agency, the transaction involves more than one department. Since those departmental functions seem fragmented and disjointed (owing to their autonomous nature), it brings about confusion, which develops when agencies contain different hierarchies. Therefore, if there is no hands-on working relationship and cooperation between the employees of these related but separately managed offices, the process can become difficult at best, and impossible at its worst. The authors concluded that effective communication is the key to ameliorating confusion and frustration. This confusion can be held in check through the use of “service-level agreements” in place of hierarchical structures (Janssen, Gortmaker, & Wagenaar, 2006). Again, these results draw support for the notion that the impetus for change is mission-centered.
Ryan et al. (2006) called for further research to consider the common ground between dimension classification and genre analysis. Also, more importantly, these researchers called for qualitative analysis of the decision processes for changes in webpage construction. Such a qualitative analysis could be facilitated through the collection of data from a variety of sources within an organization.
It is clear from the literature that there is substantial support for notion that webpage change is frequently motivated by “mission-driven” incentives. However, this view comes from research that is most often conducted using interviews from chief information officers as a primary, if not the only, data source. This obviously limits the number of theoretical applications at play in the change-decision process. It is possible that the other three theories may provide additional, if not better, explanations for the impetus for webpage change. Authors that have called for additional research into this area seem to suggest that qualitative interviews from a variety of sources within an organization might better clarify the end results that are expected to occur from a change in webpage design.
Although some authors suggest that webpage change seems to be most often driven by the institution’s need to serve its mission, these findings are based on the limited perspectives of data gathered from CIO’s and webmasters. It is clear that there may be a gap in the research that leaves unexplained if the mission-driven theory fits into the “administrative” branch of the decision process, not to mention how the end-users (in this case, the students) view the change. One possible shortcoming of the existing research is the singularity of stakeholders from which the data were collected: Chief Information Officers and Webmasters. A balanced approach would most certainly include a more diverse array of stakeholder groups, which could possibly better illuminate the theoretical underpinnings surrounding the change.
The thesis for this study holds that data collected from a wider range of stakeholders and interested parties may provide support for the notion that more than one change theory is applicable to the webpage change process. Specifically, a greater representation among stakeholders who stand to be impacted in the change process should validate other reasons for the change, and therefore lend credibility to the other change theories. Using data collected from, not only CIO’s, but from administrators and also students, this study explores the possibility that support exists for one or more of the other three change theories. This approach is intended to gain a higher appreciation of the varied interests calling for change, and possibly guide other institutions through the webpage change process.
Methodology
Data were gathered from a variety of stakeholders at the globally-focused comprehensive university using unstructured interviews. Interviewees from the university’s administration included the President of the University, the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs (who was a former CIO at the university), and the Current Chief Information Officer; representing the students was the President of the Student Government Association. During the course of the interviews, each participant was asked to provide the rationale for requesting a change in the webpage. They were also asked to rank the four theories in order of importance to assess the “weight” each might be given during the change deliberation process.
Data Collection
There have been a total of three different versions (iterations) of the university webpage to date, with a fourth iteration now under consideration. The first interview was with the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA), who was CIO at the time the change was made from the original webpage to the second iteration. In 1994-95 when the original webpage was devised, Netscape had just come online as a browser. The interviewee (currently the Associate VPAA), acting in the CIO capacity at the time, organized an advisory committee to provide input on how the second iteration of the webpage was to be put together.
The inspiration for the change from the original webpage to the second iteration did not come as a suggestion (or directive) from administrators; it was instead affected as a natural solution to a variety of problems that had surfaced. From the CIO’s perspective, it was clear that the original webpage said nothing about the institution to prospective visitors. With what he considered to be an excellent technological staff, that person was able to oversee the webpage change that transformed from the original (essentially black and white “static” webpage, which provided information only) to a colorful “interactive” webpage that showed the visiting public demographic features of the university (which focused on gender and ethnic variability in a “photo-overlay” design).
A different approach was taken when the webpage was updated to the current format (third iteration). The current webpage loads a different picture of the university buildings and students every time a visitor opens the webpage, a technology that was unavailable during the change from the original to the second iteration. Prior to the change to the third iteration, there was a thorough examination of web pages from other institutions. Among the issues that came to light during that change was density; because there are so many functions at a university, the webpage is going to appear “busy” despite efforts to minimize the hyperlinks. For that reason, a webpage change must make it as easy as possible for people from the outside to get through to their desired information source. To reduce the busyness, a flowchart was devised that would accommodate requests for putting links on the webpage.
The Associate VPAA provided the following rankings: The highest weight was given to fulfilling the “institutional goals” (mission-driven), the second highest weight went to the “outdated information” theory (image-driven), and the third rank was given to the “peer-comparison” theory (competition-driven). The notion that the change was made as a directive from the top (authority-driven) did not hold any credibility in the VPAA’s thinking (T. McLeod, personal communication, February 27, 2007).
The second interview was with the President of the University, who agreed that there are basis that provide theoretical support for the change under consideration (from the third iteration to the fourth). One is the marketing aspect, in the sense that most people learn about the institution through the web (competition-driven). There is a desire to present an institution effectively, and encourage visitors to explore one university in comparison to others; therefore, recruitment is primarily the driving force.
He said, however, that it is also a part of image-management or identity-management. Therefore, in order to accommodate changes in the way people seek information, there is a need to anticipate what type of knowledge people would like to obtain about the institution, and what kind of knowledge-pathways they will take to learn about it. The goal is to construct a knowledge-development network that facilitates the webpage visitor’s inquires about the institution.
Regarding the change to the fourth iteration of the webpage, the President said that admissions initiated the first request, where recruitment materials are obviously crucial; and also that the Public Relations personnel are particularly interested in strengthening the website. Additionally, a motivation arises to satisfy student’s complaints; they are frustrated by several issues regarding the current webpage. Also, members from the Alumni Association do not believe that the current iteration represents the institution very well; particularly the more technologically sophisticated alumni who are used to “surfing” among websites, comparing this university’s website to others. It was clear that the theoretical basis for making the change comes from a variety of interest groups.
The President ranked the applicability of the theories in the following order: The image-driven incentive is most relevant, with the competition-driven motive being a subset of that. The notion that the change is mission-driven is actually a lower priority, and it is definitely not an authority-driven incentive. Therefore, the highest weight was given to the image-driven theory, with the second and third weightings to competition-driven and mission-driven respectively. The authority-driven theory was given no weight (D. Potter, personal communication, February 27, 2007).
The next interview was conducted with the current CIO, who believes that the most important vehicle for change is technology itself. In his view, the motivation arises for the change because the new webpage will employ a new-generation web-editing technology: the “dynamic-model” format. The current iteration of the university webpage is, from a technician’s perspective, essentially “static.” This means that in order to edit the current webpage, the web administrator must utilize a web-editing tool (such as Frontpage or Dreamweaver), and then make changes to some “static” file on the web server. Anytime that information changes, the webpage must be accessed, changed, and saved again; there it remains unchanged until there is a need to re-edit it.
The CIO explained that the disadvantage to this approach is its “static” nature, which is not self-updating. Under the current technology, when a change was made to the webpage, someone had to move all of the connecting pages, and “re-link” each of those pages. He said that with today’s (relatively simple) technology no one has to do that kind of work anymore because of what is called dynamic-content management, which has given rise to the “Content Management System” (CMS).
Consistent with the findings of other studies, not surprisingly, the CIO ranked the mission-driven theory as being the primary explanation for the change, saying that the biggest desire is to facilitate communication. The secondary ranking could be explained in terms of a competition-driven incentive, or “getting on the band wagon.” According to the CIO, the image-driven and authority-driven theories did not enter into the decision process (B. Payne, personal communication, February 27, 2007).
The final interview was conducted with the President of the Student Government Association (SGA), who was selected as the interviewee to represent the student-body perspective. The interviewee said that he had heard from the SGA, and a number of students, that the current (third) iteration was difficult to navigate, and difficult to obtain desired information from; especially regarding information students need everyday. He said that the student complaints centered on difficulty in finding locations of the different facilities on campus, and a description of what those facilities do.
The SGA President provided the following rankings for the theories: He believed that the change was attributable to (or at least should be at the will of) the administration (authority-driven). Second on his priority list is to redefine the mission (mission-driven). The third ranking is the upgraded image (image-driven), and lastly the competition-driven incentive (B. Richardson, personal communication, February 27, 2007).
Discussion
It was clear from the interviews that there was varying importance placed on each of the theoretical explanations for changing this institution’s webpage. Not surprisingly, the two interviewees that were CIO’s favored the mission-driven theory for change, consistent with the findings of other research that revealed webpage change is spurred for mission-driven reasons (although that perspective comes from a limited, and basically homogeneous, population of subjects).
The interview with the Associate VPAA produced unique insight into the historical evolution of the university’s webpage. It was evident that, whereas the first iteration was basically designed for persons within this single university community, the second iteration was designed to convey an image to the outside world. The Associate VPAA (who was then CIO) had no technological expertise when appointed to the CIO position, and functioned in a purely managerial role. As previously mentioned, support for having the CIO function is this capacity was provided in the analysis by Kraemer, Danziger, Dunkle, and King (1993), who concluded that the a valid source of input during the change process can be found among the ranks of the IT staff.
The change from the original webpage to the second iteration was inspired by two important conditions: 1) What image does this university want the outside world to see, and 2) how can the webpage better serve the university community? Regarding the second condition, the technical staff discovered that the “click tolerance” of the average webpage visitor was about four clicks into the site (beyond that, persons become frustrated and look elsewhere). The first iteration contained information that was nine clicks in, which, in comparison to other universities in the state system, approached dysfunction.
After making the webpage comparisons, the IT staff decided that the second iteration of the webpage would be designed with a 16-item sidebar. It was made a design requirement that everything else had to be no more than 4 clicks in; if it was more than 4 clicks in, it deserved a subheading somewhere else. Ironically, sixteen headings on the sidebar did not satisfy the demands of all departments within the university. (In its current version, there are 33 links on the homepage, plus a drop-down menu with 40 more, making about 73 possible links on this, the third-iteration webpage).
Clearly, he believed that the time had come to institute a change, because of the available new technology, which suggests that a certain degree of technological determinism was impacting the decision to change (Ellul, 1964). While the inspiration for change from the original to the second iteration was obviously “image driven,” the change to the third iteration clearly represented a “competition-driven” reason, so clearly there is a mix of theoretical constructs in play during this change decision. In addition to the mission-driven theory, the image-driven theory and the competition-driven theory all seem to have played a role, according to the Associate VPAA interview data (T. McLeod, personal communication, February 27, 2007).
The comments of the University’s President were centered on academics, and he referenced the webpage change in terms of the technological revolution in education. Obviously, given the current speed of technological advancement and the impact it will have on the classroom of the future, it will have to be different than it was 20 years ago, considering the contributions that new and younger faculty members bring to this challenge. The President noted that, while older faculty reach the age where they are essentially out of touch with contemporary culture, the younger faculty will typically have “new” technology-centered culture available to them as a teaching tool.
The President believes that technology has spawned changes in the learning process, both facilitated by technology and driven by technology. He suggested that the classroom of the future will be a mixture of the “virtual-classroom” and the traditional classroom. He posited that, for proficiency reasons, there are some learning experiences a student desires to acquire as fast as she or he can get it; these do not necessarily require human-interaction. Other learning experiences require the richness of dialog, and all the interactive dynamics of a live conversation that might otherwise enrich the learning experience. For the classroom of the future, the president believed that educators will need to think about how to categorize learning experiences in these terms: What kind of learning is best facilitated by on-screen visuals (in either solitary or “interactive” formats), and what kind of learning is best facilitated by having face-to-face contact with teachers and students in the same room?
The President believes that the future will have a tremendous mix of those learning experiences, and much of that mix is already in place. He said that at present, higher education is in a hybrid mode, and that the exact direction is not yet perfectly clear. Because there are currently both for-profit and not-for-profit institutions that have huge markets that rely exclusively on non-face-to-face learning, it opens up a range of options that administrators have to be more aware of as pedagogues. This means that considerations will have to be made regarding the implications for learning and teaching strategies. All of these issues, he believes, are relevant to the webpage change.
It was clear during the conversation that requests for changing the webpage came from a broad range of constituents. From the President’s perspective, the redesign must consider “user-friendliness” by finding out what is missing, or what people think is too difficult, and explore different pathways to get to that information. As expectations and demands have escalated, and, as people have gotten used to seeing more web pages, they find many webpages that they think are superior, and question why their own webpage does not resemble it (or at least include those particular features). He said that the end result turns out to be much more of a consumerist attitude about it, which is clearly why he believes that the image-driven theory is a superior explanation for this webpage change (D. Potter, personal communication, February 27, 2007).
The Interview with the current CIO revealed the primary theoretical construct motivating change was technology itself. The key factor was the availability of the Content Management System (CMS); owing to the fact that in the current configuration, when a menu on a web page changes, all related pages must be changed. Using the CMS configuration, instead of having a menu with links that must be typed in manually, those links are stored in a database. When another link is added to the university homepage, it automatically gets added to all the menus at the site. If a whole new section is added to the site, it is not necessary to open a separate program (like Frontpage), but rather, it can be accessed at any location, just like logging in to e-mail.
The CIO’s plan is to phase the changes in gradually; the initial phase will make use of an “intranet” CMS page, which would become the homepage for everybody on campus. Once the departments see how easy it is to make changes, they presumably will want the CMS system enacted throughout. This is an example of the technology driving the change, which again provides credibility for Ellul’s (1964) “technological determinism.” He also commented that, if another “static” website revision were to be implemented as the university’s fourth iteration, it will only create a future problem in that it will not accommodate what this institution is becoming: a “large enterprise” (B. Payne, personal communication, February 27, 2007).
The last interview, with the Student Government Association (SGA) President, showed that student concerns for changing were pragmatic in nature. He conveyed the notion that, if more information were provided on the webpage, the students would be more comfortable using it as a resource; instead of having to physically “run” around the campus. He said that typically one advisor will not have all the facts or information the student needs, so the student must physically move from place to place in order to find the right information.
These issues have been discussed at the meetings of the Student Government Association (SGA), and will progress from that body directly to the CIO. The SGA was asked for feedback and suggestions as to what would help better the webpage when the change will be made from the current format to the fourth iteration. In the students’ view, there seems to be a lot of “fluff” on the homepage; and few items on it actually pertain to what current students might need. The SGA President was essentially saying that the students believe that the current webpage is targeted for perspective students, but not to current students (B. Richardson, personal communication, February 27, 2007).
The belief among students that the theoretical basis for webpage change is, or at least in their eyes should be, authority-driven, is clearly a call for leadership to “fix” perceived problems in an immediate way. Given that the individuals impacted at that level hold this view, it may enlighten further research to include data collection from various levels of student leadership organizations, in order to better inform the decision-making bodies concerning the needs and desires of that population. The student’s second and third choice, mission-driven and image-driven respectively, shows that some level of thought is being accomplished by these future leaders regarding the essential roll of technology in the educational environment. Interestingly, the CIO’s proposal of the “intranet” homepage will help ameliorate many of the student’s frustrations concerning information that they desire, while filtering many items of use only to perspective students.
This article intended to contribute to the body of knowledge concerning change in webpage design, and potentially further illuminate the possibilities for decision-makers to incorporate theoretical constructs into the webpage change process, particularly in a globally-centered curriculum. The unstructured interviews intended to probe the theoretical underpinnings surrounding the change, and introduce the possibility that the findings from other studies, which were based on very a limited data-source, will be subject to reinterpretation when other stakeholders are included in the investigation.
Four change theories were examined as they apply specifically to the technological sphere: The change resulting from a goal-oriented endeavor (mission-driven), the change resulting from a political shakeup (authority-driven), the life-cycle change perspective (image-driven), and competitiveness within the field (competition-driven). The findings from previous studies suggested that the majority of webpage changes are primarily initiated for the purpose of serving the institution’s mission and goals. The results from this study suggest that support exists, at least among top administrators, for the notion that both image-driven and competition-driven factors deserve strong consideration for explaining change. The use of a single “dominant” theory for explaining change, that of “better serving the institutional mission,” clearly needs further investigation because this data reveals that combination of theories are relevant.
It should be noted that the results from this study are based on interviews from a single institution. Therefore, these conclusions have somewhat limited generalizability to other populations. However, these findings may be of value to decision-makers seeking a theoretical basis for instituting a webpage design change. It is suggested that additional research be conducted on these theoretical constructs, using a substantially larger sample size that includes top administration officials in addition to representatives from the student population, for the purpose of investigating these issues further.
In the final analysis it is clear that, although the authority-driven theory does not weigh heavily into a webpage change decision, there is substantial support for employing the other two theories as legitimate considerations for change. This information provides a basis for globally-focused leaders to incorporate views from a multiplicity of stakeholders into the webpage change process, and demonstrates the applicability of considering additional theoretical constructs when instituting a webpage change.
Finally, for those institutions who have already internationalized, and for those wishing to do so in the future, the establishment of an integrated university webpage is integral to the overall success of that university’s international effort. As higher education in general globalizes, and as universities internationalize, the failure to consider the aforementioned factors and arguments with regard to webpage development will result in some universities playing catch-up to those who have constructed an integrated webpage that serves as the primary information portal for the new emphasis on a global university community, in virtually every geographic locale.
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John Stuart Batchelder is a Professor of Criminal Justice at North Georgia College & State University. His research interests include adult education, technology in education, inmate education, legislative action, social policy, and statistical analysis. Education-related journal publications include articles in Adult Education Quarterly, Journal of Adult Education, Journal of Correctional Education, Prison Journal, Corrections manager’s Report, and Corrections Compendium.
Ross C. Alexander, Ph.D. serves as assistant professor of political science at North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega, GA where he teaches graduate and undergraduate classes in public administration, American government, and political theory. He has published several articles on both gambling policy and citizen involvement in local government.
Copyright remains exclusively with the author.