Ensuring the best student experience Resource Managers Awayday – July 2012

1. Ensuring the best student experienceResource Managers Awayday – July 2012 Professor Nick Lieven Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education & Students)

2. Content • Objectives • The student experience • Projection • The international perspective • Technology • The plan – 1, 3, 5 years

3. Three Objectives • attract the best students (regardless of background); • equip graduates to progress to the top of their chosen career; and • inculcate life long pride in and loyalty to the institution

4. Underpinning Principles • Scholarship and sustainability • Students are partners not customers

5. The student experience (1) • Students encouraged to become active, independent learners • Provide effective support to encourage leadership potential in our students • Provide an education of the highest quality, research-inspired and focused on students’ needs and expectations. • Ensure students have a fulfilling, demanding and intellectually stimulating experience that prepares them for employment and worldwide opportunities.

6. The student experience (2) • Ensure that learning takes place within a high-quality environment that enables both students and staff to achieve their full academic potential. • Ensure the provision of learning and skills opportunities that enhance students’ future employability • Offer a rewarding extra-curricular experience that provides for students’ health, well-being and personal development. • All staff are imbued with the student facing ethos: treat students as I would wish to be treated myself.

7. Projection • Its subject coverage is underpinned by scholarship, high academic reputation and strong intellectual resources among teaching staff • Its preparation for success through inspirational teaching by research active high achieving staff • Its distinctive caring community • Its high reputation because of innovative collaborations with industries, businesses, the professions and Governments, nationally and internationally • Its association with success among alumni and pride in the institution

8. The student academic lifecycle • Admissions • Undergraduate • Postgraduate Taught • Postgraduate Research • Alumni • Careers “The virtuous circle”

9. What is a Good Experience? • The ‘Most Improved Student Experience’ award focused on investments made by a university into the student infrastructure: core facilities that would be used by all, ranging from health, sport, social, careers, library, and multi-purpose lecture halls. • The ‘Outstanding Support for Students’ award provided the most interesting case studies of how student experience has been enhanced.

10. ‘Most Improved Student Experience’ 1 • Queen Mary, University of London: 2009 Winner • Improvements to the institutions shops, bars and sports facilities, including a £6m health centre based at the Mile End campus. • The College’s lecturers and connections with industry were also commended. www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/items/20039.html Mile End campus

11. ‘Most Improved Student Experience’ 2 • The Royal Veterinary College: 2011 Winner • The Royal Veterinary College moved up 37 positions in the rankings and improved its overall score by 8.1 points. • The facilities on offer were another area highlighted for praise by participants in the survey. • There were marked improvements in scores for lecturers, with students rating highly both the quality of teaching and the level of interest in them shown by staff. • www.rvc.ac.uk/News/PressReleases/pr1111_THEAwards.cfm

12. ‘Outstanding Support for Students’ 1 • University of Leicester: 2009 Award • The ‘Access to Employability’ programme provides an opportunity for graduates to improve their employment prospects after university. The programme offers: • Dedicated workshops to improve graduate employment prospects • Opportunity to engage in working life on employers' premises • Dedicated one-to-one consultations • Access to e-learning resources on employability. www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ssds/accessability/development/access-to employability-1/access-to-employability

13. ‘Outstanding Support for Students’ 2 • Birmingham City University: 2010 Winner • The Student Academic Partners (SAP) scheme was launched across the university to engage students in a wide variety of joint academic activities with faculty. • By focusing on educational development project the scheme unites the University’s Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) and the Students Union through an enhanced ‘Learning Community’. • The partnership believes that this will offer students and staff benefits from a wider academic engagement that were not contemplated when their studies began. www.bcusu.com/saps/home/

14. ‘Outstanding Support for Students’ 3 Loughborough University: Winner of the 2011 THE Award • The ‘Sigma’ programme provides assistance in a broad range of disciplines with mathematical and statistical skills. • The programme is run by peers who act as mentors, offering one-to-one support enhancing an active academic learning environment, integrating students more thoroughly into the university. • “Sigma is a fantastic example of institutions recognising genuine concerns in standards and acting in a positive way to address them.” (Judge Liam Burns, president of the National Union of Students) www.lboro.ac.uk/service/publicity/news-releases/2011/150_THEAward-sigma.html

15. “Critically, the PLuS Awards help candidates demonstrate at application stage, how they have the skills that are vital in the positions we offer” • - Rosalind Gilbert, PwC

16. External Influences

17. External Influence – overseas competition • European and International competition for student places. • The UK's former advantage was in offering English-taught programmes… • Now we are competing with the European Union, Iceland, Norway and with the US, Canada and Australia

18. UK influences on competition.... Government White Paper: Key Information Set (KIS) • “We will radically improve and expand the information available to prospective students, making available much more information about individual courses...” • - Chapter 2 Well Informed Students Driving Teaching Excellence.

20. Example of KIS display..

21. Technology

22. Technology

23. Technology

24. Education Technology Strategy • Mobile will be primary mode of delivery of all student services • Web mobile rather than specific apps • Web design guidelines to be mobile web guidelines for all new development • Implemented via mobile portal • Student prioritisation of workstreams • Student personalisation important, so want to buy their own kit, we are not proposing buying them each an ipad

25. Plan – year 1 • Admissions – raise standards • Widening participation – equal access • National Student Survey • Staff Teaching Awards

26. Demographics • 18 Year olds 2006/7 – 2028/9

27. League tables • e.g. Independent : • Research Assessment 13th • Entry standards 9th • Academic Services Spend 8th • Good honours 8th • Graduate prospects 11th • Completion 6th • Student/staff ratio 11th • Student satisfaction 48th

28. School “x” - NSS results

29. NSS Factors

30. NSS Observations • Home • Year Tutors/Personal tutoring/Academic leadership • Doors! • Learning spaces - academic AND support staff • Managing expectations – Independent learning • Joint honours - consistency, different deadlines and marking criteria, no coordination of coursework, missed off mailing lists. • Feedback - specific mishaps are remembered. How am I going to improve? • Communication - students often left in the dark (unwittingly) who then assume the worst. • Bristol (the city) is a great asset.

31. Plan – year 3 • Careers - links with industry/commerce • Develop the virtuous circle. • International discipline specific foundation year, 1 + 2 collaborations, PG – the Bristol Global Scholar? • Doctoral Training Centres for All

32. Careers • Partnerships with: • Regional Employers (BBC, finance, Aerospace…) • Local SMEs (Arts/Creative sector) • Public sector (NHS, SCS…) • Lifelong association

33. Plan – year 5 • Technology strategy implemented • Distinctive in Scholarship leadership • The golden rule

34. The End…………Questions/Comments?