Name: Julie Moreton

Job title: Web Advisor

Department: Web Team, IT Services

Number of years at Warwick: 20

There’s no such thing as a typical day, but, in brief, my job involves...

helping Warwick members solve their many web publishing problems as part of the dedicated Web Content Team in IT Services. We offer specialist knowledge and consultancy on graphic design, copywriting, page and site structure, content layout, usability, accessibility, UX design, usually doing some or all of this on behalf of the customer, providing the total web publishing package, as well as training and support. Our two main platforms are SiteBuilder and Tabula but the team are now responsible for approximately 40+ web apps, so general support is now a major part of our work.

I first joined Warwick in March 1997 as the Information Officer for the Computers in Teaching Initiative Law Technology Centre, based in the Law School. This was one of 24 national centres to encourage the use of ICT in the teaching of specific subject areas, back in the day when ICT was a thing that needed promoting! The Centre, under Professor Abdul Paliwala, was the umbrella organisation for the Law Courseware Consortium (LCC) and the Electronic Law Journals Project (ELJ). I was Acting Manager of the Centre for a while as that project came to an end (superseded by the UK Centre for Legal Education) and then continued as Editorial Manager for the ELJ project, until I moved over with what was left of the LCC to IT Services with John Dale.

My most memorable moment at Warwick has been...

One of my most lasting memories was when I first joined ITS around 2001-02 and SiteBuilder was in the early stages of development. It was quite an exciting period as previously staff members had no useful way of publishing information online, without having to rely on someone who may have had a bit of html knowledge.

SiteBuilder is a wonderful tool of empowerment enabling anybody to publish to the web without any previous programming knowledge. I believe it was truly ground-breaking as no other university had anything like it at the time, and think it is still one of the most intuitive and powerful content management systems around today. Yes of course things move on. There are many other platforms for publishing content and of course everyone is a now a web expert these days and more demanding with what they need from their web publishing app but I do still believe that a system designed by Warwick for Warwick users is the way to go. Hopefully I’ll still be here extolling the virtues of SiteBuilder 3, if that arrives!

I immediately got it and was really pleased with being able to get involved with delivering our training for the team and managed the delivery of the courses for approx. 16 years. In 2010, I spotted there was a gap in our training provision and so created a special course ‘Managing your web content’, which helps admins to manage and maintain their complex sites, giving additional help on audit, graphics, SEO etc.

Building fantastic friendships along the way and the easy rapport with colleagues and associates.

I also completed my BSc Honours, and Diploma in IT through the Open University during my early time at Warwick and got 96% for one of my modules - Artificial intelligence for Technology (T396), which may surprise some of my IT colleagues as I’m hardly the most technical person! My Mum also completed her degree at the same time (having just done her Teaching Training as a young woman) so we had a fantastic graduation day at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham together.

In my time at Warwick, the biggest change I’ve seen is...

the sheer scale of the developments and building projects. It never fails to amaze me just how much of rural Warwickshire the University still owns but how it constantly strives to invest and improve the facilities for students and staff on campus by building something both beautiful and functional, such as the Oculus building for example.

My daughter had to make do with the old Nursery on Westwood (convenient for the ITS office) but a bit of a broken shack even then (2004-5), but my son was very lucky and able to enjoy his last year of Nursery in the new Nursery building on Scarman Road. It is a lovely versatile building. They both had an incredible nursery education and I am so grateful to Debbie and her team (I am partly responsible for their website by the way!)

I loved the old swimming pool on Westwood though – still really miss that. It was like my own private swimming pool at times. Perhaps one day we’ll have another on Westwood?

Warwick’s kept me here because...

it is an amazing institution – always growing and changing and pushing new boundaries. For me though it is the eclectic mix of people, some a bit weird and wonderful but all different and with their own interesting mix of skills and personalities, where everyone can thrive, given the right opportunities. I have made some wonderful friends here. And I haven’t found anywhere better to be honest!

At the moment I’m really enjoying working on...

a project for the WMG Masters team on redesigning and restructuring some of their key landing pages within their site and a whole new site for the Widening Participation and Outreach team. Both are throwing up their own particular challenges, but giving me opportunity to creatively think about solutions and design and these are the areas I love to work on.

Warwick’s unique because...

it just has a unique way of dealing with things. I was extremely impressed, for example with how the University dealt with the fallout from the whole Brexit debacle. The very next day after the vote, there was a clear message from Stuart about what this would mean for Warwick students and staff, how we would try to minimise the potentially devastating effects and new strategies put in place for building new relationships with other institutions, locally, nationally and internationally with the emphasis on coming together and inclusiveness. I felt this was far more decisive and coherent than anything the politicians managed to come up with at the time!

The best thing about working at Warwick is...

Definitely the people and the fact that generally the University is so flexible and versatile for creating a good working environment that is very family-friendly.

If I could change one thing at the University it would be...

three things! Less bureaucratic online processes and systems – technology, while making things easier, is also making things way more complicated than it needs to be in some areas.

Make it easier to get to, with loads more ‘other’ routes that do not involve either the A45 or A46!

More sports classes and investment in general on Westwood.

I'm really glad I got involved with...

Our Friday lunchtime Frisbee sessions – such a laugh, good fun, fresh air, exercise – what’s not to like. And also Cardio Tennis at the Tennis Centre – again great fun - and not to forget the wonderful running group with Maria MacCallum, always assured of meeting new people and having interesting conversations while running around the lovely Warwick campus.

I usually travel to campus by...

car. I live in Nuneaton, pretty much on the A444, so usually it makes sense to come via the A444 and the delight that is the Coventry Ring Road. My journey time is a bit of a lottery though and can take anything from 20 mins to over an hour. I get off at Junction 6 which is okay in the mornings (despite all the building work going on around the train station) but the city planners have very kindly inserted lovely flowerbeds where my route back onto the Ring Road should be and so now have to go clockwise all the way back round to Junction 3 (also currently roadworks stricken!)

Generally however, I quite enjoy the travelling time though and it sure beats a 2 hour bus journey home via the scenic delights of Bedworth!

I have made use of...

many of the self-development short courses run by the Counselling and Learning & Development Centre. These have been great and usually quite short and easy to slot into the working day. I especially enjoyed the more intense Mindfulness course offered by the Counselling Service over the summer. I really learnt a lot from it and been trying to apply some of the lessons from that into daily life to live a less stressed existence. Thoroughly recommend.

My favourite place on campus is...

All of it!

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