The Student

Experience Project

Overview for Kosovo Higher Education visit

Mark Wilkinson

October 2014

Background

• Why do we need a Student Experience Project?• Three major factors driving this:

– Strategic goal of ‘an outstanding student experience’– Responding to student feedback on their experience– Responding to recommendations from

internal/external review

• Project funded for 3 years from August 2012 – July 2015

Aim• The Student Experience Project aims to deliver a

better understanding of the student experience; to pilot and implement developments to services and activities; and to enrich the experience of all students of the University

• This is being achieved by adopting collaborative and partnership focussed methods

Success measures

• Higher levels of student satisfaction – Indicated by qualitative and quantitative research with students– External surveys such as the NSS, also Times Higher

Education’s Student Experience Survey– Internal surveys undertaken by the Student Survey Unit eg

Edinburgh Student Experience Survey, New Student survey, staff perception survey

– Focus Group findings• Contribute to delivery of high level KPIs from 2012-16 Strategic

plan:– Strategic goal: Excellence in education– Strategic theme: Outstanding student experience

• Project evaluation will focus on impact measures

Alignment with other initiatives

• Personal Tutoring Project (Enhancing Student Support)• “To ensure that, over the next decade and beyond, students have access to

a framework of guidance and support that builds on the best of current practices, meets contemporary needs, and is of a quality and consistency

appropriate to a university of high global standing.”• For detailed information:• https://www.wiki.ed.ac.uk/display/PESS/Home

Alignment with other initiatives

• National Student Survey Project and Junior Teaching Fellows

• Focus on five main themes; improving the quality and promptness of our feedback, increasing the academic engagement of our students, ensuring that teaching is valued and supported, ensuring that local practice yields more homogenous outcomes in assessment and feedback scores, communicating our activities to our student body.

• Examples of activity:• Developing Innovative Learning Week to build ownership and engagement of the

student learning experience;• Work with academic staff to support development of teaching skills and to ensure

teaching is more highly valued;• Improve our communication with students – for example around: “You said, we

listened” messages.

The strands• Applicant Experience• Pre-arrival and Induction• Student Information Points• Student Communication• Peer Support• Student Community Engagement • Online and Innovation in Student Services• Programme and Course Information Management Project (PCIM)• Emergency Response • Student Surveys• School Councils• Healthy University

Student Information Points• Aim: To develop, implement and deliver an information service for students,

and for the many staff who also have a role in supporting them

• Key Achievements:

• 3 face-to-face SIPs in place from Sep 2012 (Old College, Kings Buildings & Main Library)

• Social media, email & text services established

• Design and dissemination of new student focussed information resources and campaigns

• Marketing campaign to raise awareness of new service

• Recent merger (Dec 2013) with the Student Administration Student Centre team and increasing integration with other key information providers

Schools Councils

• Aim: To promote student involvement in learning and teaching, and academic community in schools.

• Key Achievements:

Schools Councils

• Key Achievements:• 9 School Councils established in Schools.

• Longer term plan:• Embedding School Councils within the academic culture of each

School• Expansion of the project to all 22 Schools• Ensuring that the Councils self-sustaining

Further information available from the projectweb site:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/student-experience