It all started off so simple... your website that is!
Your university website also likely began like your web team: simple, small, but mighty. Now, it consists of dozens of content contributors, each adding their own contributions to the website. The web team struggles to keep up with all of the changes to ensure accuracy.
Over time, your institution grew, and like your university itself, your goals and your website grew as well.
You may have begun to include new pages and features such as banner alerts, calendars, program finders, course finders, in-depth tuition and student metrics, staff directories, SSO portals, department-themed web pages, and even student-led initiatives and extracurricular activities. After all, tracking your team's home-game schedule is a must-have for fostering school spirit.
With so many new details on your website to manage, your lean web team quickly feels overwhelmed. So, what is your team’s solution to this problem? You may have guessed it: they delegate!
Adding more content contributors and editors seems to help alleviate some of the content management burden on your web team. Different departments have taken charge of their respective web pages. However, there is some good and bad news here.
The great news: Your web team is no longer feeling as overwhelmed by managing the creation of every aspect of your website. Others have stepped up to contribute!
The not-so-great news: The web team is spending more time reviewing submissions, training dozens of contributors, and struggling to manage informational consistency and corrections across several pages.
The knee-jerk reaction for most teams is to scale back the number of content editors and creators with access to the website, but the large number of contributors and editors can be a good thing if managed properly.
Your web team needs the ability to continue focusing on its more complex website tasks without getting stuck in task execution mode.
Also, having many content contributors really helps capture the diversity of subject experts. After all, the head of the Department of Philosophy may have a better grasp on the department’s web page than your small web team.
So, where does your team go from here, and what is the inevitable effect if things remain the same?
Now that everyone has a voice on your university’s website, a few more problems may arise. Tuition pages reflect outdated information, causing distrust among parents and prospective students; conflicting application deadlines create confusion; and inaccessible content prevents website visitors from finding information. This is the real-world result of too many contributors and an overwhelmed web team.
Your university’s website is subject to everything from:
Brand Inconsistencies = Brand Distrust
Inaccurate or Outdated Content = Confusion for Parents and Students
Erroneously Published Information = Confusion for Parents, Students, and Staff
Inaccessible Content that Does Not Adhere to Current ADA Guidelines = Informational Blockages
Basic Spelling and Grammar Mistakes = Brand Distrust and Student Confusion
Some of these growth opportunities may even have cascading effects on other aspects of your university’s marketing and online information authority metrics, such as AEO and GEO, if left unchecked.
This is not a part of the scenario where we recommend a magic bullet. However, this is the part of the scenario where we recommend a winning structural approach.
Your university, hypothetically, is currently operating without a governance model. A governance model is your university’s approach to content policy, content management, publishing rights, content ownership, workflows, approval processes, and more! The decision-makers at your campus should meet to determine whether a centralized, decentralized, or hybrid governance model is best for your university.
A few things your team needs to implement immediately:
The general benefits of choosing and implementing a governance model include:
Internal -
Clearer content ownership
Stronger guidance on content publishing expectations
Continued flexibility across departments and teams
A freed-up web team that may continue to innovate
Quick publishing
External -
The solution to a chaotic web environment is not necessarily reducing the number of content editors and contributors, or even a magic software tool; it is having structured conversations about policy, assigning responsibility, and checking content and permissions regularly. However, there is one type of software tool that can truly help a university maintain its governance standards: a Content Management System (CMS).
A Content Management System (CMS) is a system software that is specifically designed to integrate with, help manage, and simplify an organization’s web environment. It is not just a way to publish content to the web.
Here are a few ways a CMS can help a growing higher ed institution:
Brand and content consistency
Creates an easy-to-use publishing environment
Assign or revoke publishing permissions
May tailor permissions to a person’s role
Built-in accessibility tools
Built-in SEO tools
Scalability
Increased security
Integration of 3rd-party tools
Workflow management to avoid bottlenecks or unauthorized publishing
Specific application of CMS benefits may look like:
Although a CMS can never fully replace a university’s willingness to create and adhere to a proper governance model, it is an integral part of managing and automating many aspects of website governance that would otherwise be manual, time-consuming, and mundane.
Want to learn more about how Cascade CMS can help you and your institution help manage your website? Don’t hesitate to contact us using the form below.
Let's talk! Don't hesitate to contact us if you want tailored guidance on your content strategy or a demonstration of how Cascade CMS balances flexibility with brand protection.
To learn more about how Cascade CMS and Clive Web Personalization can help your institution reach more students than ever before, reach out to our team.
Last Updated: Oct 8, 2026 9:00 AM
