This is the model for content quality assurance in TYPO3. The model helps ensure that the key principles of AU's digitalization strategy are adhered to in relation to the university's website.
One of the important digitalization principles in AU's digitalization strategy is that all major processes and IT systems must have designated responsible parties who are tasked with ensuring optimal organization and system support for the specified business processes across the organization and systems.
The model was approved by LEA in 2017. The original proposal can be found at the bottom of the page.
| Local content | Shared content | Frameworks | |
| Overall/Strategic responsibility | The dean | UFU, UFFE, LEA, UNILED | UNILED |
| Tactical responsibility | Up to each individual dean | Committees at the VD/department head level | Komforum |
| Daily operational responsibility | Up to each individual dean | Editorial boards with broad representation | AU IT / Web coordination committee |
Overall/Strategic Responsibility: At this level, the overarching strategic direction is set, major decisions are made, and funding for large projects is secured. Committees at this level review proposals produced at the tactical level and act as the escalation body if consensus cannot be reached at the tactical level.
Tactical Responsibility: At this level, ongoing progress with the website is ensured. Goals may be set, and broad organizational support for major initiatives is secured where necessary. Committees at this level ensure that the overarching strategic direction is implemented. They also respond to requests/proposals/recommendations from those with daily responsibility and ensure that the necessary ongoing decisions are made to carry out the work.
Daily Responsibility: Actors at this level develop action plans, set principles and guidelines for content, prioritize daily tasks, and measure whether implemented initiatives have the desired effect.
The model places responsibility for website content as close as possible to the administrative or academic environments that oversee the activities the content pertains to. Responsibility for shared frameworks such as web design, information architecture, and technology is, on the other hand, placed close to the university's web organization (web specialists in AU IT and administrative centers).
The local content on internal and external websites for faculties, institutes, centers, projects, conferences, etc., constitutes the majority of the total content on the university’s website. It is up to each dean to organize the work involved in content production on these pages. This means the dean must ensure sufficient resources are available and that there is a local organization to support and assist the many web editors working on the websites. Faculties are expected to handle 1st level support for editors themselves.
Overall responsibility for shared content on the website is anchored as high as possible in the organization. It becomes the task of university management and central committees to ensure that website content both supports the university’s overarching goals and strategy and is user-friendly and easily accessible to users and stakeholders. Anchoring at this level is deemed necessary as websites, particularly shared pages, often become a "battleground" for conflicting content demands within the organization. This can lead to solutions that are not user-centered and reflect an 'inside-out' logic.
The overarching system ownership of the university’s CMS lies with the Head of Portfolio and Development at AU IT. The user experience unit in AU IT acts as the management organization, providing advice and guidance, and developing new functionality for the website.
Daily responsibility for the website’s design, overall information architecture, and prioritization of management resources is placed in the so-called web coordination committee, where web specialists from administrative centers meet with web specialists from the User Experience unit.
In case of disagreements on prioritizations in the web coordination committee, the priorities are discussed in Komforum.
Larger content tasks that involve web specialists or web developers at AU IT to a significant extent are managed as projects and prioritized as part of the overall portfolio management. The Head of Portfolio and Development, along with the portfolio committee and in dialogue with task proposers, assesses whether a particular development request needs to be projectized.
Responsibility for content is distributed to several different forums that typically do not coordinate cases internally. There is therefore a risk that the overall perspective on the website is not managed. Komforum is responsible for the overall perspective of the website. This is managed by keeping Komforum informed of major content projects and inviting members of Komforum to discussions about the website in the mentioned forums.
Below is the model elaborated for the groups responsible for the production, maintenance, and quality assurance of shared content.
Since the organization of website management varies greatly among faculties, the model is not detailed for local content. It is up to each dean to assess whether the proposed tiered responsibility structure is meaningful for their faculty
Quality Assurance of Shared Content | ||||
What | Overall responsibility | Strategic/Tactical responsibility | Daily Responsibility | Includes |
Recruitment information | UFU | LGU (the group of functional managers in the education area within the central administration and faculties) | The study guide editorial team |
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Information | UFFE | Komforum | Communications and press in the university management office |
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Information about ph.d.-area | Ph.d.-School leadership circle | Administrative leaders of the PhD schools (+ Head of the Talent Unit) | Editorial board for PhD information
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Information on collaboration with the business sector, etc | Business committee | Coordination Group for Business Collaboration (with support from Komforum) | Editorial Team for Collaboration Information (to be established) |
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AU Profile information | UNILED / Rector | Komforum | Communication and press in the university management office |
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Staff service | LEA | Komforum | Editors for staff service |
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Students.au.dk | UFU | LGU | Editors for students.au.dk |
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All the mentioned committees and editorial boards (except the editorial board for business collaboration) are already established.
Example of applying the model in a practical area: Business Collaboration
Overall/Strategic responsibility | Tactical responsibility | Daily operational responsibility |
Business committee | Business collaboration coordination group | Editorial/Working group |
What responsibility lies here At this level, the overall strategic direction is set, major decisions are made, and funding for larger projects is secured. Committees at this level will need to review proposals produced at the tactical level and will act as the body to which issues are escalated if consensus cannot be reached at the tactical level. | What responsibility lies here At this level, strategic desires and objectives are translated into concrete action plans and projects. It is also ensured that there is continuous progress in implementing these plans. This is done, for example, by setting goals for work at the operational level. Committees at this level must also respond to requests, proposals, or recommendations from those with operational responsibility and ensure that necessary ongoing decisions are made to enable them to carry out their work. | What responsibility lies here Actors at this level work on developing, implementing, and operating the solutions decided upon by the coordination group. At this level, principles and guidelines for content are established, daily tasks are prioritized, requirements for technical development are formulated, and measurement metrics are set up to document whether the implemented solutions meet the desired objectives.. |
Example of concrete practice The business committee decides that business collaboration should be a focus area for the university. It is also decided that this focus should be reflected on the website, making it easy for the university's external target audiences to find relevant information. It is agreed that information about business collaboration should primarily be located on the faculties' websites, but that navigation across the university should be straightforward for users seeking information. The committee asks the coordination group to prepare a proposal regarding the initiative. | Example of concrete practice The coordination group subsequently drafts a proposal for a process (or project) to ensure that the website supports the strategic goal of making it easy to find information about business collaboration. The coordination group formulates a detailed objective and sets specific targets for the initiative. If additional resources are needed, these are requested from the business committee. Once approved by the business committee, the coordination group arranges for the establishment of a working group or editorial team to carry out the efforts, and the coordination group ensures ongoing monitoring of the work of the working group/editorial team. | Example of concrete practice An editorial team is established with members who work daily with websites and can represent the needs and desires communicated by the coordination group. This could include one person from each faculty, one from the web department, and one editor from AU FE. The working group, possibly with a project manager, conducts an analysis and organizes a process for implementing the changes. Both the analysis and the process are approved by the coordination group. At this level, user involvement and User Experience expertise are used to ensure that a satisfactory user experience is offered to the key stakeholders. After implementation, the working group acts as a standing editorial team for maintaining the pages. |
Communication expertise consultation | ||
The head of communication and press and/or the Web Manager at AU IT is invited to attend selected meetings when significant web-related issues are on the agenda | Representatives from Komforum are invited to participate in the process of formulating objectives and project proposals. The final decision proposal is discussed within the entire Komforum | Representatives from the communication departments and US participate in the working group/project group, and the web department at AU IT is involved in the preparation of analyses, user engagement, design, functionality, etc. |