julie kelly - it's more than just a building
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“It’s more than just a building”
Julie Kelly, Head of Student Centre and Hub Co-Ordinator
University of Hertfordshire
UH background
• Founded 1952, a former polytechnic with strong
roots in industry (aerospace)
• Ambition to be “Internationally renowned as the UK’s
leading business facing University”
• Currently has c24,000 campus based students
• Largest School: Health and Social Work (lots of
students on placements)
The campus (student view)
What our students wanted . . .
• No queues
• “Tell my story once” with seamless handovers to
other UH departments
• Multiple access routes into one common service
• Easy, convenient connectedness to University
services
• Single point of contact
• Extended service hours to meet our needs
Hutton Hub – the solution
• Creation of a new student zone at the College Lane
Campus
• A single location for all student services which were
previously distributed across various buildings on
two campuses
Expected benefits
• Enhance the student experience by integrating
services, not just co-locating them
• Improve accessibility by moving support services
next to the social hub, the Forum Hertfordshire
• Improvement of the quality and suitability of the
existing buildings
Key milestones
• Planning approval – Summer 2012
• Contractor appointed – Autumn 2012
• Building work to start – Winter 2012
• Completion – Summer 2014 (January 2015)
• Review – Spring 2016 (TBC)
The campus (pre-Hub)
The Hub
The Hub (2)
The Hub (3)
Teams in the Hub
• Student Centre
– Admissions, Student Records
and Enrolment
– Frontline Services
– International Student Support
– Residential Allocations
– Student Finance
• Careers, Employment and
Enterprise
• Campus Pharmacy
• Medical Centre
• Occupational Health and Safety
• Student Life: off campus support
• Student WellBeing
• Students’ Union
• Study Abroad
• Santander
• Café Zest: juice bar
Hub opening hours
Teams*
• Monday to Wednesday 9AM – 5PM
• Thursday 9AM – 7PM
• Friday 9AM – 4PM
Hutton Lounge
• Daily 7AM – 10PM
*Except Campus Pharmacy and Students’ Union
An integrated approach
It’s more than just a building, it’s an
opportunity to provide an integrated
student experience
How was this delivered?
College Lane Phase One (the building)
People and Processes (the people)
IT for Integrated Services (the technology)
The building
• Handover was delayed, and delayed again
• Problems with the site – chalk mines
• Glazing contractor went into liquidation
• Handed over in time for Christmas 2014 (just!)
June 2014 Sep’ 2014 Nov’ 2014
The people
• Creation of the Hub Management Team and Hub
Coordinator role
• Harmonised opening hours which required a formal
staff consultation (introduced Sep’ 2014, i.e. pre
launch)
• Changing the culture for teams to start working
together to enhance the student experience
Hub Management Team and
Hub Coordinator
• No change in structure or line management
arrangements
• Management teams are responsible for the
delivery of their own services
• Hub Coordinator is responsible for oversight and
management of shared resources, health and
safety, and cross team staff development events
The technology
• Student/user-focussed, with the need for
organisational efficiency
• Provide a 24/7 online service; enabled on mobile
devices, accessible anywhere
• Provide a single point of entry to services
• Shared, accessible technology services even when
the operating service is closed
Technology delivered
• Self service Information Points in the Hutton Lounge
‘manned’ daily
• Queue management software
• Appointment booking software
• Ask Herts: knowledge management tool allows
students to self serve
Queue management
Queue management MI
Appointment booking
Ask Herts
• Prior to project we had lots of sources of ‘the right’ answer to a question!
1) StudyNet: managed learning environment
2) StaffNet: intranet
3) WWW: main website
4) Printed publications
5) Staff (the people!)
• For every question we answered right the first time – we saved time!
• The solution? ask.herts.ac.uk A search engine, content repository and
sign posting system (if we already have good content elsewhere we
direct people to it)
Information Points
Information Points (2)
• Designed to be more than a kiosk
• A phone if you need to speak to someone
• Computer to access Ask Herts and other services
• Check in for pre-booked appointments and join a
queue if needed
• Supported by staff with our Front of House iPad
application
What do our staff think?
• 82% were happy with their new working pattern
• They would have preferred better communication about the changes
and what was going to happen
• The virtual queue is valuable; much less stressful at peak times
• They prefer the new working environment
• They would like to work more with their colleagues in other teams
• Great show case for recruitment open days and interview days
What do our students think?
• They like the new building and services being together
• They like the new booking system, but don’t see why they need to use
it when we are not busy
• They felt there was insufficient signage to explain what to do/where to
go
• They like Ask Herts – 1,000 visits per week
• They were not aware of our late night opening
Challenges
• Formal Hub review and
evaluation
• More integration – staff want
more, but how do we make that
happen?
• How do we fully integrate our
processes?
• How can we encourage all
services to use the technology?
• Signage?
• How do we ensure that Ask Herts
remains relevant and does not
become a victim of its own
success?
• How do we make the space feel
more welcoming?
• How do we better promote the
Hub and the late nights?
• More furniture?
• Music?
Lessons learnt
• A clearer brief from senior
management
• Agree names for things/buildings
upfront
• Good business analyst support is
critical
• Keep driving forward – weekly
meetings
• Phase your changes – no ‘big
bang’
• Take a risk?
• Change your management
structure?
• Signage and promotion are
important
• Expect delays, problems and set
backs . . .
• Review and evaluation – you are
unlikely to get it right first time
Questions?
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