Web governance for those who know it is defined as “a framework for establishing accountability, roles, and decision-making authority for an organization’s digital presence”. Simple, straightforward and something we all strive for.

My question is:

In higher ed, considering all the other forms of governance EX shared governance, faculty governance, community governance, collegial governance and the sometimes negative connotations associated with it, is web governance the right term to be using?

To break it down what are we really talking about in relation to be governance? It is made up of four components of web strategy, web governance, web execution, and web measurement.

To me governance is the sum of its parts. Web strategy is a term that is common and has positive connotations but must be wrapped with all the other parts to create a cohesive package.

Web governance in higher ed has been a term that has been tackled a number of times in web focused communities and a number of conferences presentations over the last three or so year. But I would challenge that in most cases the conversation has not gotten beyond the web community.

Could the terminology be partially to blame?

So my questions is:

How do we start a cohesive dialog about the changes and challenges we face in a way that will be embraced by all?