2. Department for Learning and Development
Welcome to
Teesside University
Department for Learning and Development
Supporting the Student Experience and Journey

3. Objectives
By the end of this workshop participants will have:
Defined the university’s customers and how each school/department influences the service provided
Explained the role of a grade 4 post in delivering customer service and the impact they have upon the student journey

4. Outcomes : Discuss the concept of the student as a partner / customer
Recognise the importance of providing a great service
Evaluate your current practices that impact on the student experience
Define your role in the student journey

5. Why do we need to support and improve the student experience?
The higher education market has become increasingly competitive and students have become more demanding and better informed about what services and support they expect to receive whilst studying at university.
As a result, institutions need to provide an excellent quality student experience to safeguard their continued organisational existence. Being committed to improving the student experience can increase the ‘retention’ of students by reducing withdrawal rates and aid student progression. It is also pivotal to a higher education institution’s (HEI) ability to attract students. It is no longer acceptable, if it ever was, to treat students entering this level of study as a homogenous group.
The increasing level of student diversity, the increasing costs of delivering HE, the reduction in government/ state funding and resource constraints means delivering an excellent quality student experience has never been more challenging for us.

6. The student experience is always high on the agenda for any educational establishment. Word of mouth plays a big part in the marketing of any product and education is no different. If students don’t have a positive and enjoyable experience, which they believe meets their needs and offers value for money, a college or university is likely to notice a fall in applicants and reputation
Mark Stubbs
Head of Learning and Research Technologies
Manchester Met

7. Customer Service Interaction Process
Service Provider
Customer
What you think the customer wants
Translation into service specific
Service/ Product delivery
Competitors Service
Word of mouth
Unique personal needs
Past experiences
Expected Service
Perceived Service
(Value)
Communication to customers
Gap 5
Gap 4
Gap 3
Gap 2
Gap 1

8. The Facts- Sector wide Trends
A very slight fall in the number of new complaints brought to the OIA.
An increase of two thirds in the amount of financial compensation the OIA instructed universities to pay to students, to £313,750. A further £59,359 was paid in settlements on cases that were settled before full review.
Students from outside the European Union and postgraduate students continue to make more complaints than home and other EU students and undergraduates.
The issues most often complained about in 2013 were:
Academic status (64%%)
Service issues (9%)
Academic misconduct, plagiarism and cheating (6%)
Financial (5%)
Discrimination and human rights (4%)
Office of the independent adjudicator for HE

9. Teesside University 33 Academic related 9 Academic service & staff 10
Total Number of cases 33
Nature of Complaint
Academic related 9
Academic service & staff 10
Inaccurate information/advice provided to student 4
Dissatisfaction with service provided by staff 1
Service related 5
Staff conduct
This academic year has seen a 32% increase in formal cases, but a 24.29% decrease in informal cases. The majority of complaints (53%) came from third year students. This variation may be a result of the increase in student expectations following a change to a higher student tuition fee rate for this academic year. The Ombuds Office has no statistical data to support this, but the OIA, in its annual report, support this assumption.
Information extracted from the Ombuds Report for Academic Year 2012/13
- Formal Complaints Submitted

10. The future…….
Adjudicator Rob Behrens predicts that the increase in complaints is "likely to be accentuated" when fees rise this autumn.
“Clear, accessible complaints and appeals processes, which are properly resourced by the university, must be high priorities for all universities.
“Students go to university with legitimately high hopes. While the overall drop in complaints to the OIA is welcome, the proportion that we upheld and the amount of compensation recommended both increased. This shows that there is still more work to be done.”

11. The Student Life Cycle Aspiration raising Pre-Entry Activity Admission
First term / Semester
Moving through the course
Employment