Earlier this year we began a programme of work reviewing and improving a number of the University’s most important processes – for example, the way we recruit students, or the way we manage timetabling.
This work is intended to reduce bureaucracy and free-up staff time, allowing us to focus on providing a high-quality student experience and giving us the capacity to adapt to changing demands as the University grows.
We previewed this work in the May edition of the e-Voice, and since then the programme has expanded and a number of changes have been implemented.
1) Programme validation – the number of steps to approve a new programme was reduced from 43 to 26, and the new process, which places more emphasis on market research and alignment to the University Strategy, was launched in September.
2) Timetabling – the Scientia (timetabling software) upgrade is progressing with new online timetables and room booking interfaces planned to go live by the end of January 2014. Work is underway to define the requirements for timetabling data collection and to review the timing of both this and the period when students select their modules.
3) Admissions – the end-to-end process was mapped and streamlined prior to migrating to a paperless operation. The result is greater efficiency and an improved understanding of the roles and responsibilities played by each team.
4) Student recruitment – the new Connect system is providing an improved and more consistent experience for undergraduate applicants. Staff can now monitor the effectiveness of communications, and faculties can manage events in a more structured way. In the future, the team will be looking at developing a portal that tailors content to an applicant’s interests.
Earlier this year, staff were invited to suggest other processes that are unnecessarily bureaucratic and that should be reviewed. These suggestions, together with those from a series of brown-bag lunches, will be considered by the programme’s steering group, which is chaired by Registrar Tessa Harrison, and will inform the programme of work over the next year. At the first lunch session, discussions centred around the development of a new portal to make it easier for staff to access the information and support they need from different professional services. This is currently being considered.
Staff who would like to know more about the work, or about the methodology being used to improve the processes, can now access a SharePoint site for the programme. Additional documents and information will be added to this site over the coming months.