Abstract:

The quality of the student experience in the UK Higher educational Sector is a widely debated topic at present. Not only due to the rapidly changing governmental agenda in higher education and the introduction of the ‘capping’ mechanism for the undergraduate provision in England, but also due to the realisation that the quality of the student experience is increasingly becoming the key performance indicator in the industry. Introduction of the industry-wide, nationally and internationally, student survey mechanisms – National Student Survey (UK) and Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (UK) and I-graduate (international) highlights clear drive and urgency for enhancing student experience in the university settings.

University of Derby (UK) was awarded Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) funding – part of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funding stream from August 2009 to April 2010. The main objectives of the Development and Enhancement Review of Business Interfaces (DERBI) project was to review student experience during the transition stage from the applicant to the full participant with a specific focus on the university enrolment process and to suggest improvements of the enrolment process to enhance student experience. In the official JISC feedback on the outcomes of the project, it states that the DERBI project is ‘considered to be a flagship service design project (possibly even a flagship JISC project per se)’ (May 2010).

Methodological underpinning and the empirical research carried out during the DERBI project was grounded in broader understanding of the student experience than just only associated with teaching and learning (Lewis, 1984; Sastry and Bakhradina, 2007). A perspective of student experience where teaching and learning experience is enabled and enhanced (Groonros, 2007) by a portfolio of administrative and support services and its impact on student experience at the university is argued. Student experience is discussed in the context of ‘student journey’ through the university service processes from pre-entry stage to alumni, and not merely in terms of learning experience or the contacts with tutors.

Application of the key services design technique – services blueprinting (Schostack, G.L.,1984; Kingman-Brundage, 1989; Baum, S.H., 1990; Bitner et al.,2008)- for the analysis of the student’s journey through the university enrolment process provides valuable insights into the student service encounter. The technique allows detailed analysis of fail points and areas of excessive wait and instigates development of the services enhancement plan. A wide range of research techniques is demonstrated ranging from mystery shoppers; video recording of the student experience and feedback; focus groups with students, administrative and academic staff of the University; time cards analysis to identify queuing times at the different stages of the enrolment process. Based on the DERBI project experience, JISC has requested the project team to produce a service design and improvement guide for the application in the HE institutions in England.

The DERBI project co-operation with JISC and CITIS (Centre for International Technology Interoperability Standards) during the running of the project and the industry-wide response to the cutting-edge industry practice in understanding and delivering high quality student experience in Universities to date to be presented and further discussed.

Keywords:

Student experience in universities, industry co-operation between universities and funding authorities, service design and improvement techniques.