Student Lifecycle Project Humanities Faculty PSS open meeting

Student Lifecycle Project Humanities Faculty PSS open meeting Tuesday 24 th January 2017 Tim Westlake, Director for the Student Experience

Aims for the session 1. What is the Student Lifecycle Project? 2. Where are we up to? 3. Mobilisation and next steps 4. Barriers to successful delivery 5. Opportunities to get involved

Student Lifecycle Project Vision The SLP will improve the experience of our students and staff by providing high quality services that are fit for purpose, flexible, accessible, responsive and cost effective. The SLP is designed to deliver a new set of business processes and an organisational structure which will efficiently and effectively support all our students, from their first contact with the University through to graduation, irrelevant of their mode of study. SLP is not an IT project, this is a business-led project supported by IT

Why are we doing this? Students and staff tell us that are our systems and processes aren’t fit for purpose. Students say…. . “Course unit selection is far too complicated and clunky. ” UG Home Finalist student “There’s no correspondence between timetables on My Manchester and the Student System so classes are missed. ” UG Home 1 st year “Appealing my grade was a difficult and lengthy process. ” Home UG 1 ST Year Student “I literally have to submit my essays like 10 times to make it work ffs #uom #fail #blackboard #salc #uni #student. ” Student on social media “You get threatening emails regarding attendance but nothing is ever done. ” Students in focus group “The PG application is very complex with multiple pages – you can’t upload a generic personal statement; you have to have separate forms for separate courses. ” PGT Student “The accommodation online interface is separate and awkward – it needs to be done on My Manchester. ” Home UG final year student “The 10 -step registration process is initially confusing, and remains confusing every year. ” UG Finalist student “Campus Solutions is confusing and difficult to navigate so choosing modules and seminars is confusing. ” 2014/15 graduate

Why are we doing this? Staff say…. . “Foundation courses are not included as standard in Campus Solutions meaning details have to be added manually. ” Registration support staff “It is time consuming to input attendance information into campus solutions from attendance registers. ” School Administrator “The timetabling system takes so long to load up and refresh that users set it loading and refreshing whilst doing other things” School Timetabling administrator “We should be able to view all correspondence with an enquirer and turn an enquiry into an application. ” DSE staff member “The course unit Selection process is like online shopping 15 years ago. ” Course Unit Selection support staff “The process of Campus Solutions and Syllabus Plus data entry is inefficient, complicated, and difficult to support. ” Central Timetabling team “Academics often request changes after the deadlines which can create several days of work. ” School Timetabling administrator “We have no reliable system… currently academic advisement has to be done by eye, checking exam grids (for our own students) and class rosters (for students from other Schools). ” School course unit selection support staff “It is very time consuming to switch between screens in Campus Solutions when updating marks. ” School administrator “Following up with students who have not completed mitigating circumstances forms correctly is a lengthy process” School administrator

Why now? • Campus Solutions (CS) underpins most of the key business processes that support the student lifecycle • To satisfy a broad range of user requirements the system has been heavily customised • The complexity and lack of consistency across the University, has resulted in data quality and integrity issues that continue to grow and impact downstream processes. • The result is a high burden of support effort, maintenance and upgrade costs • Oracle is due to release the next major upgrade in 2018, if we want support maintained the cost is £ 5 million with no improvements delivered!

Why now? This is a major project so we are taking our time to get it right: • Critical Success Factors Workshop July 2015 • KPMG scoping project Feb – Jul 2016 • An opportunity to review the benefits of a significant Student Lifecycle Project and prepare a business case • To consider reimplementation or replacement of CS • Pilot with MBSW (first adopter) Sep 2016

Student Lifecycle Scoping Project Started in Jan 2016, working in conjunction with KPMG and the objective was to build a business case. Three streams were active: 1. Student Lifecycle Scoping Project (full business case to CITP July 2016) Mapping and reviewing current processes and develop the business case for a full Student Lifecycle Programme 2. Student Lifecycle Pilot Project (business case to CITP April 2016, but started in Project in Jan 2016!). Develop the business case to pilot the 9. 2 version of Campus Solutions for AMBS Worldwide (by Jan 2017). First Adopter. 3. e. Prog Replacement Project Bringing the existing e. Prog replacement project into the overall programme of work Three streams became a single project from July 2016 onwards.

Scoping Project high level findings May 2016 • Staff do not have a single view of a student's time with us • We're reliant on a number of systems that are not integrated effectively 44 current state workshops • We do not have properly articulated business undertaken with 140 processes that are easy for staff and students representatives from Schools, Faculties and to use central PSS. • We have lots of forms, many trying to do the same thing, e. g. we have X mitigating 45 students and recent graduates circumstances forms. consulted - UG, PGT and PGR (home and • The digital interface for students and staff is International) poor and not user friendly • The performance of core systems can be poor at key times in the student lifecycle

Scoping Project - Identified Priorities Ten key areas were identified as priority (noting that work is nonetheless required across all aspects of the student lifecycle): • Student Information Management (linked to the lack of an University wide CRM system); • Student Portal Interfaces; • Admissions; • Programme and Course Unit Set Up; • Course Unit Selection; • Student Finance; • Change of Circumstances; • Timetabling; • Attendance Monitoring; • Mitigating Circumstances.

Result of Scoping Project • Scoping project finished in July 2016 • PRC approved £ 25 million of funding in Sept 2016 Timeframe for project delivery: Sept 2016 – Sept 2019

Student Lifecycle Project Objectives • Improve the Student Experience 40% • Improve the Staff Experience 30% • Improve efficiency and effectiveness 30%

Our Objectives • To support the University’s standardisation and simplification agenda, realising benefits for students and staff • To develop a single view of a student across the whole lifecycle • To develop robust and consistent business processes that are easy for staff and students to use • To develop and deliver an enhanced online user experience for students • To deliver efficiencies

Where are we up to?

SLP Governance Structure Lifecycle Project Board Lifecycle Executive Group Standardisation and Simplification Group Clive Agnew Tim Westlake Malcolm Whitehouse (Sponsor Keith Brown) MRAR Recommendations Lifecycle Business Project Delivery (Sponsor Tim Westlake ) Student Experience Management Group (SEMG) (Chair Tim Westlake) Lifecycle IT Project Board (Sponsor Malcolm Whitehouse) Executive Project Board (Chair Malcolm Whitehouse)

SLP Governance Structure Membership of the Student Lifecycle Project Board Clive Agnew (Chair) Tim Westlake (Business Sponsor) Malcolm Whitehouse (IT Sponsor) Matt Lambon Ralph, AVP PGR Fiona Smyth, Vice Dean TL&S HUMS Simon Merrywest, DOFO, FBMH Simon Rowland, Head of School, EEE Ben Ward, UMSU Louise Walmsley, Business Project Manager Steve Dover, IT Project Manager

SLP – Mobilisation and Critical Path

Core Student Information System (SIS) – moving forward Student Information System Campus Solutions 9. 0 CS first adopter AMBSW Sep 2016 CS further adopters? New Student Information Systems Sep 2019

What has already been delivered? First Adopter (SLP Pilot) • • • Campus Solution 9. 2 phase 1. 1 launched on 12 th September 2016 Campus Solution 9. 2 phase 1. 2 launched on 21 st November 2016 Campus Solutions 9. 2 phase 1. 3 launched w/c 23. 01. 17 c 500 student applications submitted £ 3. 1 million already spent by November 2016 Expected expenditure by April 2017 is £ 5. 1 million Managing the £ 25 million budget carefully will be crucial to the success of the Project

Where are we up to? 3 Work Streams: 1. Process improvements 2. Student Journeys 3. Efficiencies Delivering business process improvements • Jan 2017 – April 2017 = Mobilisation Phase • Business Delivery Work Streams

Major Activity Areas of Student Lifecycle Project Summary Pre-enrolment and Student Communication Student Finance Academic support services Campus life Supported by a significantly enhanced and integrated digital platform Delivered using standardised processes within key work streams Campus Solutions 9. 2 CRM Syllabus Plus ORACLE Upgraded My. Manchester

Workstreams F F 1 Academic hierarchy F 2 Compliance obligations including data management, UKVI and CMA P Pre-enrolment and Student Communication P 1 Student communications Student marketing and recruitment (enabled through CRM) Student communications (enabled through a digital platform) P 2 Application and admissions (including contextual data) SF Student Finance SF 1 Payments to students, including bursaries, scholarships, third party payments and stipends Collection of student fees (e. g. tuition, accommodation), including fee management and maintenance Collection from individuals and third parties (e. g. international and research sponsors) Compliance obligations and training Foundation

A 1 Start of Year Arrival, welcome and student induction Registration and ID card issue Programme management and course unit information, including approval, amendment and annual review in relation to Consumer Marketing Authority (CMA) and Key Information Sets (KIS) Course Unit enrolment Timetabling and Assessments Timetabling and teaching and learning workload allocation Exam scheduling and management (including e. Assessment) Assessments and progression, including exam boards and re-sits External examiners Change to circumstances Mitigating circumstances Change of circumstances Academic appeals, complaints, fitness to study and / or practise (eg. DBS checks) Graduation, including production of relevant certificates Higher Education Achievement Report, including transcript and Manchester Leadership Award Records management and reporting Student records management and maintenance Student engagement and attendance monitoring External reporting (e. g. HESA, HESES, DLHE, UKVI) Sharing of data with third parties (e. g. Manchester City Council) Student mobility Any opportunity for students to work or study elsewhere whilst undertaking their degree programme – whether undergraduate or postgraduate. Student mobility can be both incoming and outgoing. Includes work placements, international placements, fieldtrips etc. Distance and blended learning and credit-bearing CPD SLP scope is “provision that leads to the award of credit and / or award as recognised in the UK Framework for HE Qualifications” Focus of this work stream will be to explore any business processes for these modes of study that are required over and above our core business processes. A 2 A 3 A 4 A 5 A 6 A 7 A 8 Academic Support Services Compliance obligations and training A

Workstreams C Campus Life C 1 Extra curriculum activities (e. g. volunteering) Advice and guidance Residence Careers Occupational Health Counselling DASS Sport Compliance obligations and training

How will process improvements be delivered? • Top 12 processes are already mapped and approved as part of KPMG work and business case • That is just the start, in the discovery and design phase we need to challenge the detail • I anticipate 10 -14 work streams from May 2017 with representation from across the University to agree a single approach to key processes • In partnership with IT Services, but led by the business This stage of the Project is likely to put pressure on our business as usual

Proposed Process Improvements: • The implementation of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) component to allocate enquiries to the most appropriate member of staff • The introduction of workflow functionality to manage admissions, change of circumstance and mitigating circumstances requests • Standardising the course unit and timetabling process to provide students with a single, comprehensive view of their taught programmes • A move towards engagement monitoring as opposed to attendance monitoring

How will process improvements be achieved? Several of the proposed process improvements do not require systems changes but would be delivered through: • Reviews of University policy • Stricter enforcement of existing policy • Transfer of responsibility and accountability for tasks between teams

Student Journeys Improvements to the student experience will be identified by looking at student journeys. It will achieve this by: • Mapping the existing student experience into visual student journeys for UG, PGT, PGR and Blended/Distance Learning • Understanding how students wish to interact with the University. Focus will then be given to demand upon the University in terms of student groups, the methods used and the services utilise

Student Journeys How will the student journeys be delivered: • Our student portal (My. Manchester) is not stable, this requires a new digital platform for the whole University • Must be able to continually improve the portal, as student expectations are changing quickly • Building up the expertise in the University to deliver a digital platform for staff and students • Agree with students their preferred communication channels

Efficiency and Effectiveness A new operating model will set out: 1. Accountability and responsibility 2. An optimised Organisational structure which will deliver: • New Business Process improvements • New Student Journeys • Agreed efficiencies

Efficiency and Effectiveness How will the new operating model be delivered • Student Systems Review (Feb 2015) Recommendations approved by University Senior Leadership Team (July 2015): align the organisation to a high level Business Operating Model When implemented, the BOM will be very challenging for DSE, Faculties and Schools • Detailed analysis of Cubane Benchmarking data and deliver agreed efficiencies • Agreeing the role of the Centre / Faculty and School in relation to the Student Experience

Barriers to successful delivery

Barriers to Successful Delivery of SLP Costs • Funding is split £ 21. 5 million on IT and £ 3. 5 million on the Business • Nearly 25% of IT costs will have been spent by April 2017 • Ideally 20% would be invested into the business to map and deliver change • It is going to be exceptionally difficult to control the costs because of complexity and change requests

Change Impact Overview Uo. M Project Phase Mobilisation Discovery / Design Configure / Develop Release / Deploy Point at which the change was requested Potential Project Deliverable Impacts • • Business Case HL Requirements Solution Overview Test Strategy • All of Define Plus • Solution Architecture Design • Detailed Requirements • Detailed Business Processes • Test Plan • Implementation Plan • Service Design • All of Define and Design Plus • Design and Specifications • Software Code & Configuration • Test Scripts & Scenarios • Test Environments • Training • Detailed Implementation Plan • All of Define, Design and Develop plus • Re-Implementation • Warranty extension • Handover & Support Cost and time Impact 40

Barriers to Successful Delivery of SLP Costs; Future Proofing • • • MBSW rightly want the finished product now, but we are only delivering the minimum viable product (minimum for who!) MBSW do not follow standard University process – they are not alone! I am trying to hold the dam, but it would be a lot easier to let the water through!

Barriers to Successful Delivery of SLP Costs; Future Proofing; Stakeholder Engagement • • • Communication is challenging PGR colleagues want EPROG replacement by June 2017 New D/L programmes want to be in Sept 2017 CPD want to join the party Never mind the 32, 000 F/T UGs and PGTs!

Barriers to Successful Delivery to SLP • • • Costs Future Proofing Stakeholder Engagement Delivering Business as Usual Single Team Working

Opportunities to get involved…. For comments & queries email: studentlifecycleproject@manchester. ac. uk Sign up to the newsletter via: www. dse. manchester. ac. uk/our-projects/studentlifecycle/ Volunteer to attend a workshop during the discovery and design phase (from April 2017 onwards)

SLP – some personal reflections • Excellent support, at short notice, from across the University • Working with external consultants was a very positive experience – but the pace they work at is challenging • Doing such a complex project as part of the day job is probably not the best way • As ever, expect the unexpected e. g. 3 ITS Directors during Scoping Project • There is consensus for change, the challenge will be delivering it • The easy bit (has not felt like it) is over • To this point, this is the hardest thing I have ever done in my career!

SLP – final thoughts • We need to maintain the momentum • Communication and stakeholder engagement is crucial • Standardisation and simplification will be at the heart of the Project • The project will improve the student experience, but not necessarily their satisfaction • This is not an IT project, this is a business-led project supported by IT Services • The Project is likely to bring changes to everyone who has a role in the student experience • For the Project to be a success we all need to be open to change and work as a single team!

Thank you and questions?