2010 ATEM Student Service Centres Conference – 2020: A Vision for Student Focused Services Blending the Old and the New to Better Serve Our Students Presented by Bridene Doherty and Marty Mag Uidhir

A little bit of background... The University of Newcastle (UoN) first introduced online enrolment in Delivered via Peoplesoft student system, student interface called myHub. All program handbooks at UoN are also online. UoN has had a growth in student numbers of 6000 since 2005, with no comparable increase in administrative staff. This means that we’ve broken the 30,000 student mark. In 2009, through feedback on the student experience, UoN discovered that not all of our students were 100% impressed. This was at great odds with the University’s strategic plan, and our intention to make student satisfaction paramount. We were providing convenience and self-sufficiency through online services, but it clearly wasn’t the silver bullet. …….so how to address this problem?!

3 Step One: Bring back some Face-to-Face time! Program specific information sessions provided by Program Convenors and Program Officers for every program. Student Administration talk given at each session to deal with the nuts and bolts of uni life, eg. Getting a student card, where to go when you need help etc. Online enrolment demonstration, also explaining online tutorial registration. Online enrolment labs set-up with a lot of staff to help students, individually, to sit down and complete their enrolment. The sessions were aimed at approximately 5,000 commencing students. Sometimes the program was tweaked ‘on the run’ to keep up with various contingencies. Flexibility, and an ability to think on your feet, was highly desirable!

4 UoN’s Enquiry Centre employed 46 new casual staff early in January. This brought our pool up to nearly 60. Definitely an expensive exercise, but necessary. Many of the staff in this pool were current or recently completed students, so were able to identify closely with the students who were enrolling. A week long program of training was arranged covering all aspects of Student Administration and general, ‘what you need to know at uni’ topics. Particular emphasis was placed on the main issue of that time of year, namely Admission and Enrolment. UoN’s online learning system, Blackboard, was utilised for storing important resources and for adding instructional quizzes. These were also available for revision and reference. This depository can be added to and updated at any time with relevant materials. Video tutorials, made with Adobe Captivate, were posted on the web for existing staff to familiarise themselves with the appearance and use of the system. The video tutorials were also available to students, and we had great feedback from our Singapore Campus and distance students about them. Step Two: Ensure Staff Are Well Trained!

5 Step Three: Stand Back and Evaluate A debriefing was held for all parties involved in the program and enrolment sessions. Discussion was lively, but the general consensus was that the project had gone well. The new staff were surveyed about the training that they received. The staff felt well prepared in general, but actually found the enrolment sessions a great training exercise in itself. Our online tutorial registration period went better than ever before in regards to volume of enquiries. Students who missed the sessions were calling the UoN Enquiry Centre after speaking to fellow students who had attended to ask how to get the content they missed out on! We knew it would be big, but perhaps we didn’t realise just how big! This model for enrolment, blending online services with face-to-face time with staff members has proven immensely successful, and I quote a UoN Executive Committee member ‘the orientation and enrolment approach has been a great success’. 2011, here we come!

16 October What will we do differently for 2011? 1.Ensure that the student invitation letter informing the students of the events is crystal clear about: a)When they should come, b)What will be happening, c)That attendance is highly recommended. 2.Make sure that all Faculties are sticking to the program as far as possible to try and deliver a uniform experience. 3.Start planning the whole thing waaaayyyyyyyy earlier!!!

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