Some of the hardest working people in the Internet world are the Web administrators. They sit in the front lines and often act as a liaison between customers and their employer's administration. As you will see from this interview with Evan Kittleman, the Webmaster at Taylor University, being a Web Administrator takes a lot of skill, patience, and the ability to wear multiple hats simultaneously.
What is your job title, and how long have you been doing this job?
[Evan]: I am the Webmaster at Taylor University. I started my third year on July 1, 2000.
What are your main duties?
[Evan]: I am responsible for the overall look and feel of the university's external Web site. I also develop content for "general" areas of the site, and I oversee all of the other areas. My duties are much like those of a magazine editor. I am also responsible for the graphic content of the site. I develop templates and graphics for the site and for others to use. I create dynamic application]s for the Web site including student and staff directories, message boards, database apps, and so on.
I am responsible for administration of the Web server software and hardware. I get support for the base hardware and software from our Information Services department. Any thing not in the OS or "standard software" is my responsibility. This also includes user settings and permissions, security, and so on.
Careers in Internet Technologies and Web Design
I am the front line for the university regarding communications with those who send questions or comments via the webmaster@tayloru.edu account, our message boards, and so on. I am a part of the university's crisis team-should a crisis occur, we need to get information to the public immediately. I provide training and support for content development on our server. Personally, I am also responsible for keeping current in the field.
What systems are you currently working with?
[Evan]: Our external Web server runs Windows NT Server 4.0 with IIS 4.0. We plan on rolling to Windows 2000 with IIS 5.0 soon. I develop in FrontPage 2000. We also plan on having a separate staging server in the next month.This is because we are looking for an e-commerce solution for the university.
What qualifications or certifications do you hold?
[Evan]: None, really. [Laughs] I did graduate from Taylor with a B.S. in Political Science and a minor in Computer Science.The Political Science degree and communications skills that come with it are actually quite useful for dealing with the politics of an educational institution.
How long have you been working in IT, and how did you get started?
[Evan]: I began working in our Information Services department as a student at Taylor, around 1995.1 was a systems installer involved in setting up and troubleshooting workstations. I did that for about three years.
What hours do you normally work? If you work evenings and weekends do you get paid for it?
[Evan]: I usually work from 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. or 6:30 P.M. I get paid for 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. I work some on the weekends-an hour here, an hour there. I'm on 24-hour call since the site is in "mission-critical". I don't get paid overtime; however, I can take some comp time.
What do you find most interesting about your job?
[Evan]: Usually the job is a constant challenge. I have lots of different projects and things to do. I also like the fact that it isn't just a technical job. It is also very much marketing and public relations. I enjoy being able to take a break from coding in order to deal with PR situations, and vice versa.
What is the least interesting aspect of your job?
[Evan]: Waiting on people for content in order to finish a project.
Do you consider your job to be stressful?
[Evan]:Yes. Between juggling multiple projects, dealing with internal politics, and relating to the public, the job can be very stressful at times. Also, this job forces me to be a bridge between IT staff and PR staff. It can be easy at times, but more often it is quite difficult.
Do you work with other people or alone?
[Evan]: The majority of my job I do by myself. Of course, I do work closely at times with other members of the University Relations department (my department) and with members of Information Services.
If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?
[Evan]: Definitely add staff. I can only do so much myself.
Can you see yourself staying in this area of the IT industry, or would you like to try something different?
[Evan]: I like Web development and would like to stay here, although it would probably end up being in a managerial role. The field is changing so fast, and there are so many people who could probably do the technical aspect of the job a lot better than I can.
I've considered going back to systems installation or network administration. But the Web is the future, and I want to stay in it somehow.
What do you consider to be the most challenging part of your job?
[Evan]: Being the only full-time, "professional" external Web developer. And being the bridge between PR and IS. Those two roles are the most challenging part of the job.
What advice would you give to someone who is starting out in IT?
[Evan]: Be open-minded about the job.Too many times I feel that we in IT focus on our own jobs and responsibilities and do not consider how we fit into the bigger picture of the organization/institution. This leads to division between departments and people. We need to be able to relate to other departments better.
Get used to long hours.
