Calvin’s web design team has a new face this year as Luke Robinson comes on board as Calvin’s new Web Manager to assist the Calvin Information Technology department in the development and maintenance of Calvin’s website.

Robinson’s job will be to help the administration, academic departments and student divisions of Calvin build and maintain a better web presence.

“I’ll be in charge of watching over the Calvin web site for visual identity as well as some content work,” Robinson described.

His job was necessitated by the tremendous growth of Calvin’s website over the past several years. Previously, the majority of the work on the website was by several staff members in CIT and the audio-visual department.

“But the site just kept growing and it was necessary to spend more and more time maintaining it,” Robinson explained.

One of the things Robinson has been working on has been helping academic departments establish a website. Calvin’s website has a master template that is used as a base point for all the departments. All the departments need to do is tweak the design and fill in the content.

“I’ve been helping them sort out content and representation. Calvin’s web design philosophy is to have a centralized design and de-centralized content. But the job is too large for one person in the department to handle, so I start the page and then they fill in the content.”

Robinson will also be in charge of the aspects of the Calvin website that get seen by those who visit it.

The current website design and structure has been in place for several years, and Robinson said right now there are no plans to change.

Robinson is a Grand Rapids resident and 1997 Calvin graduate. After graduation, he worked at iBelieve.com, an Internet gathering site for Christians, where he worked as a Content Production Associate, building the community and music sections of the site. A CIT employee approached him at church and encouraged him to look into the job. He submitted a resumé and was offered the job beginning on Sept. 6.

“I like this job because it is quality- and need-driven, not profit-driven like in a startup Internet company,” Robinson said.

“He has filled the role nicely,” said webmaster Jeff Greenfield. “There are a lot of quirks about maintaining a website, ... but he has caught on very quickly. If we give him the information that departments want out there, he’ll figure out how to make it look good.”

Robinson concluded by saying that although he has been very busy so far, he has enjoyed the job and getting to work at Calvin.

“I get to meet new people and students everyday, and it’s a great place to learn and a great place to work.”

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