After paying tuition as a student, Eastern graduate Ryan Gibson now receives a monthly paycheck from the university.

Gibson was hired Aug. 4 to Eastern’s first official webmaster position. Previously, instead of one position, several individuals managed different areas of Eastern’s web presence.

“This is a big task,” said Michael Hoadley, assistant vice president for academic affairs for technology. “All of us get involved with the areas that we work in and it’s hard to look at the big pictures.”

The “big picture” includes four vice president areas on campus-academic affairs, business affairs, student affairs and external relations. All four of the vice presidents agreed that a webmaster position was necessary, Hoadley said.

Each campus area contributed funds to support the position.

The vice presidents collectively putting money on the table is recognition that the entire university uses the webmaster’s services, said Blair Lord, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

“The four vice presidential areas fund my position so I have a responsibility to assist and train the entire campus, not just certain segments,” Gibson said.

Gibson’s responsibilities include managing Eastern’s Web site, training and assisting the campus community on developing a web presence and ensuring that the Web site meets the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s expectations from a university Web site.

“In the near future, the IBHE is going to mandate that the university report and take appropriate action on ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibility throughout the entire campus website,” Gibson said.

Within six to 12 months, Gibson plans to have Eastern’s Web site accessible to persons with disabilities. For example, blind prospective students could log on to Eastern’s Web site and, instead of viewing the webpage, they could listen to it.

Gibson is also looking to arrange an advisory board to develop across-the-board standards.

“This committee will be made up of representatives from the entire campus community,” he said.

Any changes made will be to make web development easier for the campus community.

“I think it is really important to let faculty, students and staff concentrate on content development rather than worry about the technology behind web development,” Gibson said.

Because everyone on campus uses the Web site, students with their own Web pages, faculty incorporating their own Web pages into their syllabi and the effectiveness of the webmaster position, is dependant on campus support.

“I also think Ryan would agree that he can not do this job alone,” Hoadley said. “It will take collaboration and cooperation from everyone across campus.”