As part of the OneSource programme the Student Lifecycle Project was put in place earlier this year with the aim of delivering a high quality student experience, by providing improved services and business processes.
Phase one will see the delivery of an online system, MyCurriculum which will support student course choices for the 2014/15 academic year. It will also see the provision of a personal timetable by September 2014 (target date).
The OneSource team behind the Student Lifecycle project have identified a number of benefits that phase one will bring – primarily aimed at improving the student experience. MyCurriculum will create a student-led system which will lead to an improved student experience around course selection, will give students more ownership of their choices and a better understanding of degree requirements. It will also allow students to make a better informed and earlier course choice.
Through April, May and June a series of workshops were held - involving various staff groups - to gather requirements across a number of different strands of work covering the curriculum, contact between students and personal tutors, the course selection process and the more technical “back-room” functions of the new system. The format and structure of the workshops has varied according to requirements; some have been led by an internal team of Business Improvement specialists, others by supplier, UNIT4. A series of engagement activities with students has also provided a wealth of opinions and requirements.
Nicki Matthew, Project Director of the Student Lifecycle Project, has also briefed a number of committees to explain the processes to members of the University community.
She said: “The Student Lifecycle project will have a huge impact on both students and staff and so it has been excellent carrying out the workshops as we have been able to gather information from staff about what they feel is required in order to make the project a success.
“Staff from Registry and members of the project and Business Improvement teams got together to gather opinions from School staff as Colleges nominated staff from each school to attend the workshops.
“The workshops have been a fantastic opportunity to engage with our stakeholders, and the project team is very grateful to those who gave up their time to participate. I’d like to acknowledge the range of contributions we received. We may not be able to accommodate everything that has been discussed, but there are certainly some things which have a better fit in other strands of work and that we will take forward to subsequent phases of the Project in due course.”
Nicki added: “A number of workshops are still on-going in July, but the Project is also moving into the development stage with the supplier. The Student Lifecycle team is now looking at the next steps in the process, which will include progressing the actions which arose from the events and working with UNIT4 to develop the solutions.”