Moving Out, Moving Up, Moving On: Relocating Student Administration at ANU Division of Registrar and Student Services Mark Erickson Therese Douglass A Presentation to HOSA September 2011

What we are going to talk about… 2

Who are we… Research intensive institution of approx students 75%/25% split between local and international 55%/45% split between undergraduate and graduate Single 145 hectare teaching campus next to the Canberra CBD Highest proportion of students living in residences on campus in Australia 3

Who are we… Division of Registrar & Student Services (DRSS) is ANU’s second largest Service Division Approx 125 permanent staff (200+ with casuals) Encompasses student administration, recruitment, international students and strategy, student support services, alumni, equity, indigenous education support, chaplaincy Support the student life cycle and enrich the student experience 4

5 What we look like…

Where we were… 6

What we had… We occupied not-for-purpose accommodation of various ages and in various states of disrepair. The main Division building which housed student administration, international student services and recruitment since 1974 was built in 1965 (as the student union) We had a dismal front of house that was the interface between us and students and which was overwhelmed during peak periods We had fragmentation of services and inefficiencies in resource allocation because of limited space being available in main building We had low staff morale because of poor amenities, vacancies remaining unfilled because of lack of space, and a general feeling of neglect 7

What we had… (the not so good) 8

What we had… (the pretty bad) 9

What we had… (and the down right ugly!) 10

Then we were told we would be moving! 11

12 What we wanted We wanted to take advantage of what was possibly a once in a (career) lifetime opportunity! We wanted a lively and contemporary space centrally located on campus for the delivery of services and transactions to students We wanted to consolidate our footprint on campus to create a one- stop shop for the convenience of students We wanted a great work environment for staff aimed at improving our morale and productivity We wanted to revise some our existing practices around service delivery and transactions to improve student interaction and find efficiencies

What we wanted… 13

What we wanted… 14

What we wanted… 15

16 What we were allowed to have… A space in a new commercial building on the margins of campus Allocated space on two floors that would not fit all of the occupants of the main building, let alone allow consolidation of our outlying services We would get a completely new fit-out with a new student enquiry space, air conditioning, new furnishings but delivered under the University’s new space allocation and management model Some consolidation of our student reception points, funding to introduce automated queue management, and a chance to look at cross skilling staff.

What we were allowed to have… 17

How were we going to get there? A relocation taskforce was created to oversee the project, including Division executive, the architect, Facilities & Services project managers and the building project manager A Division project manager was nominated (Therese!) A Division IT and equipment coordinator was nominated Team coordinators were ‘volunteered’ to help with on-the-ground delivery of instructions and tasks 18

How were we going to get there? Weekly project meetings were initiated Early finalisation of areas impacted by the move A space and storage audit was conducted Plans were reviewed, revised and reviewed again Managers were regularly consulted for feedback Previous student surveys were mined for comments on physical environs Development of a liaison plan that included contact with impacted areas such as facilities, security, mail room etc Investigation and adoption of queue management technology Timeline established to target the mid year teaching break for the physical move 19

When we were going to do things 20

What we knew… 21

What we knew… 22

What we knew… 23

What we knew… 24

What we knew… 25

Project progress… 26

What we knew we didn’t know… 27

What we knew we didn’t know… 28

What we knew we didn’t know… 29

Project Progress… 30

What we didn’t know we didn’t know! 31

What we didn’t know we didn’t know!! 32

What we didn’t know we didn’t know!!! 33

What we didn’t know we didn’t know!!!! 34

What we didn’t know we didn’t know!!!!! 35

Project Progress… 36

How did we prepare? 37

How did we prepare… 38

How did we prepare… 39

How did we prepare… 40

How did we prepare… 41

How did we prepare… 42

How did we go? 43

What did we end up with? After three separate moves (finally) finishing on Wed 24 th August… We did get a lively and contemporary space for the delivery of services and transactions to students – just off campus We didn’t really consolidate – but we lost a few of us along the way… We got a great work environment where everything is new and the staff reaction has been fantastic We are in the process of installing our queue management system, we are reviewing our customer service practices and the skill sets of staff and we have consolidated our student interfaces 44

What did we end up with… 45

What did we end up with… 46

What did we end up with… 47

What did we end up with… 48

49 Where we are we now...

What did is there still to do? There are still one hundred and one little fixes, touch ups and installations to happen The queue management system is still to be implemented Customer service process reviews and reconfiguration of resources still needs to occur There is still a lot signage and other communication to be completed to help students find us The Division restructuring needs to be finalised We still have to have an official opening! 50

What we would do differently! We would make sure we had a stronger vision of what we wanted We would insist on seeing more of the furniture before agreement and signing off on EVERYTHING We would pick a better time in the year to carry out the moves We wouldn’t ask people to coordinate a move and continue to do their real job! 51

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Some of our old and interesting things… 53

Some of our old and interesting things… 54

Some of our old and interesting things… 55

Some of our old and interesting things… 56

Some of our old and interesting things… 57

Some of our old and interesting things… 58

Some of our old and interesting things… 59