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Course Data - University of Hull

Funded by the: Jisc e-Learning programme.

Lead Institution: University of Hull.

Learner Provider Type: Higher Education

Project Duration: January 2012 - March 2013

Key Words: Course Data

 

Case study tags: course data, process improvement,kis, hearcourse information, stakeholder engagement, university of hull

Note: This is an abridged version of this project's final report.  The full version is available here.

 

University of Hull

Project Summary

Our overall project aim was to use the experience of the cross institutional development of the XCRI-CAP Course Data feed as an opportunity to prepare the institution to develop a more open and rigorous approach to course data management, improving the quality and flow of data throughout the organisation and the efficiency of business practices.  The direct benefit of developing the XCRI-CAP feed will be the ability to provide detailed and accurate course data, ultimately for all of our courses, to data aggregators like Unistats, UCAS, Hot Courses etc., who will in turn use the data in their feature-rich, searchable on-line course catalogues for potential students to compare similar courses, like with like.  We hope, along with the rest of the sector, that this will ultimately lead students to make better informed decisions on their choice of course. Well-informed students are more likely to choose a course that they will complete and be more motivated to achieve better results.  In addition, more detailed and specific course information will help employers from all sectors, as consumers of course data for undergraduate, postgraduate, CPD, distance and part-time courses, make informed choices about the most appropriate local, regional and national courses available.

 

The project aims are also consistent with the University’s Strategic Plan which describes an ‘engaged university’ with a culture and vision that is ‘Connected – Open – Excellent’ and that will strive to ‘Improve the effectiveness of processes and operating models.’    Key to the project’s success has been the establishment of a project team drawing strength from both an Implementation Group and a Steering Group, fully empowered to drive developments forward and with quality assurance as an implicit driver.   In particular, the work of the project has contributed significantly to bringing together relevant internal stakeholders from across the University for the detailed consideration of the business process changes necessary to improve the institutional management of course data. This has been an exciting and refreshing experience, confirming that we are all working towards a common purpose; the successful recruitment of students, effective and integrated course management and thriving longevity for the institution.

 

The work of the project has also been timely in feeding directly into the new institution-wide ‘Core IT Systems Refresh Programme’, with key members of the Course Data Project Team part of that team. It is hoped that the Programme will include delivering a single source of course data, accessible by a range of appropriate users, updatable by approved users for the purposes of programme development, approval and management, on-line and print production and publication, student management and administration, management of the VLE and the automatic provision of course data for the purposes of other national initiatives such as KIS and HEAR etc.

 

 

What did we learn?

XCRI-CAP has the functionality to facilitate making a range of institutional data more widely available internally for the benefit of business functionality and cost saving. For example: student handbooks, module catalogues, short courses and training opportunities for graduates, and CPD modules for staff.

 

An essential part of the project has been the Public Relations element; selling the benefits to already busy stakeholders and team members. We learned that, for successful buy-in, it was important to have key messages and business benefits documented for each group of stakeholders to make it clear to each why they should engage with the project. For example, it is a HEFCE requirement to provide KIS data and, at Hull, the data is largely derived from that which already exists; there is therefore a clear imperative to participate coupled with a minimal impact on programme administrators’ workloads. XCRI-CAP on the other hand requires additional data to be collected and input, eg the 140 word abstract, or to be presented in different formats.

 

It is equally important to be clear to partners what is expected of them as part of the project. Different partners approached the project differently depending on their vested interests and their understanding of the benefits of the project

 

It is important be very clear about the difference between XCRI-CAP and KIS.  Recruiting students is key and XCRI-CAP is up front about that, more so than KIS which is about providing information to prospective students.  Research undertaken as recently as January 2013 (and cited in the introduction to this report) confirms that most students like detailed information on course content in addition to ancillary introductory information.  This means detailed information that is not provided through KIS and which is generally not provided in web course information or in a printed prospectus.  If other institutions are providing this and Hull is not then we risk losing students. To reiterate, XCRI-CAP is about supporting and enhancing student recruitment by providing more detail on course content and across a greater scope of provision than that required by statutory reporting such as KIS.

Project planning needs to be mapped into the institutional timetable as data is time sensitive.

 

Cross institutional understanding of the business benefits is essential for the success of an XCRI-CAP project.

At Hull the XCRI-CAP project was led by the Head of Quality. This was a risk which became apparent during the life of the project as the commitment of IT professionals to supporting the project and providing the technical expertise is essential. There was excellent communication with IT professionals at Hull from the start of the project and this went a long way towards mitigating this risk

 

Finally, we found it hugely valuable to research and use up to date methodologies and approaches within the HE sector and IT generally in relation to business process mapping and determining business requirements.  It was also encouraging to speak to other Universities regarding their approaches and to see that many of us were approaching our projects in a similar way. 

 

Immediate Impact

We anticipate that the implementation of XCRI-CAP will drive improvements in access to course information throughout the university, both in the short term and in the medium/long term…

 

Impact area - Prospective Students

  • More user-friendly and more intuitive Internet search capability, especially for on-line, CPD and distance learning.
  • Ability to compare University of Hull course modules with other institutions, both locally and throughout the UK.

 

Impact area - Staff/Faculty Departments

  • Greater ownership of course module/programme information.
  • Improved currency of data.

 

Impact area - Quality

  • Increases emphasis on quality assurance as an important element of business processes. (Immediate and continuing impact).

 

Impact area - IT/System Architecture

  • Implementation of eXchange Course Related Information – Course Advertising Profile (XCRI-CAP) 1.2 feed and feeds for external agencies.

 

Impact area - Finance/Senior Management Team

  • Contributes to the university’s strategic objectives. 
  • Ensures greater visibility of competitor’s prices and portfolio comparison with other institutions. 
  • Improved understanding of breadth of courses/modules/programmes on offer to aid rationalisation where necessary. (Immediate and continuing).

 

Impact area - Business Improvement

  • Facilitates efficient collection by aggregators and enables distribution internally and to other agencies.
  • Learning lifecycle improved through course visibility/interoperability with UCAS. - Immediate and continuing impact.
  • UOH openly advertises its value to all future applicants. - Immediate and continuing impact.
  • Demonstrates viability in the future to capture data on other courses.

 

Impact area - Synergies with Core  IT Systems Refresh Project.

  • The work of the project has paved the way forward for productive cross institutional working required for the Core IT Systems Refresh Process. -  Immediate and continuing impact.


Impact area - Synergies with Curriculum Reform Programme (CRP).

The CRP has synergies with the EPA aspect of the project as it supports the introduction of a single source of course data; making (quality) course data  accessible to a range of appropriate users, updatable by approved users for the purposes of programme development, approval and management, on-line and print production and publication, student management and administration, management of the VLE and the automated provision of course data for the purposes of other national initiatives such as KIS, HEAR etc. Immediate and continuing impact.

 

Future Impact

Impact area - Prospective Students

  • Increased choice and better informed about opportunities (and cost), leading to better decision-making and improved learning experience.

 

Impact area - Staff/Faculty Departments

  • More streamlined/efficient business data processes.

 

Impact area - Marketing

  • Simple data entry interface that generates a standardised .xml catalogue and feed to the academic information system (AIS).
  • Ensures alignment with and seamless integration with key processes.
  • Removes nugatory work and duplication.

 

Impact area - Quality

  • Greater transparency of information.
  • More efficient and effective course data validation.
  • Increased volume of information for management intervention.


Impact area - IT/System Architecture

  • Removes nugatory work and duplication.
  • Can be used as an interface with the Key Information Sets (KIS) initiative.

 

Impact area - Finance/Senior Management Team

  • Supports the establishment and growth of the Federation of Colleges.

 

Impact area - Business Improvement

  • Reduces duplication and enables easier data transfer, saving time and money.
  • Standardised software improves business continuity when updates are required and enables efficient new services development.

 

Impact area - Synergies with Talis Aspire E-Reading Lists

The e-Reading Lists@Hull project collects information on reading lists for each module and makes them available to students electronically. This information is also collected via the approvals process and stored and maintained on the module specification in the AIS. The Electronic Programme Approvals aspect of the project will link with e-ReadingLists@Hull so that this information is collected only once and the project will determine the best source of data.

 

Impact area - Synergies with Web Team aspirations/plans and developments

Marcomms is also investigating digital work flow and asset management systems with a view to enhancing the quality, timeliness and accuracy of course publications. As part of the Implementation Group, Marcomms is keen to ensure that the synergies with the course data project are fully exploited and integrated.

 

Conclusions and Recommendations

  • On reflection it is useful to see your XCRI-CAP Course Data project as a reflective learning opportunity.  The development of the test XCRI-CAP data feed is your institution’s opportunity to come together to review its understanding of its existing course data infrastructure, processes and management.   The interim solution is the development of a feed that pulls together ‘hard to reach’ data on short courses, CPD, distance and blended learning courses.  This experience provides the test bed for pulling together the ‘requirements specification’ for your ultimate systems solution that will deliver a single definitive source of course data within your institution. 
  • XCRI-CAP undoubtedly also has the functionality to facilitate making an extensive range of institutional data widely available internally for the benefit of business functionality and cost saving.
  • Critical to the success of the project is the internal public relations exercise - much of this depends on the ability of the project team to translate the technical aspects of the project into short, medium and long term benefits and to communicate this effectively to individual stakeholders, team members and stakeholder departments.  
  • It is essential to provide clarity of expectations and commitment for project partners. Each particular partner will approach the project differently depending on their vested interests and their understanding of the benefits of the project specific to them.
  • It is important from the outset of the project to be able to articulate the difference to between XCRI-CAP and KIS to administrative staff involved in the management and processing of course data, otherwise the work involved in can easily be confused as being an over-burdensome oversight addition to KIS that has been tagged on to the initial requirement.
  • Although it may seem like stating the obvious to those having gone through the project, to colleagues newly embarking upon the project, it useful from the outset to see course data as part of a complex matrix of institutional process/cycles taking place within the year and from academic year to academic year, from programme approval, student application through to programme review, student graduation and course continuation ad infinitum.  Different academic and service departments all have different interactions with the data at different times of the year for various reasons and that is their purpose, to manage their processes and the data at that time and going forward.  These all have to be acknowledged, captured and understood by the project team and business analysts and mapped into the new technical architecture for achieving a single source of course data.  
  • Involvement of the IT professionals within the institution from project start is essential; as long as this is the case, the project can be located and driven from within any of the professional service teams within an institution. 
  • Seek out the professional business expertise within the organisation relating to methodologies and approaches to business process mapping and determining business requirements.  If they do not exist then undertake research of your own into the most up to date methodologies, and then adopt the most appropriate for your institution.
  • We have been very fortunate to be able to learn from the various hubs of expertise within Jisc and to have been able to make use of the exceptional support resources relating to XCRI-CAP and other related projects that Jisc have made available on their many websites, blogs and portals. Those embarking upon XCRI-Cap development will be well served by these ongoing resources.
  • Collaboration with other higher education institutions at meetings, on-line meetings, over the phone and via emails has been incredibly helpful over the lifecycle of the project, and we have proved as a sector that this is something in which we excel. 
  • Developing the feed was a relatively straightforward process.  Jisc had very much prepared the way for the sector with the previous pilot XCRI-CAP development work, the result being that the project development and support resources available from the website and from Jisc throughout the project have made it an enjoyable process and project to manage. 

 

Further details: email and contact names etc

Project Director  Prof Glenn Burgess

Project Manager  Dr Amanda Wilcox

Contact email  l.j.braham@hull.ac.uk

Project Web URL www2.hull.ac.uk/administration/hullxcri.aspx