Going Global, Starting Local – Digital Student Data 2014 Heads of Student Administration Conference 22 August 2014 Kathryn Blyth, Academic Registrar, Australian Catholic University Neil J Robinson, Executive Director Academic Services and Registrar, University of Melbourne In the beginning… In 2013, HOSA Conference attendees were invited to nominate themselves or others to participate in a reference group, with other interested stakeholders, to consider an Australian response to the Groningen Declaration. In conjunction with Universities Australia the Digital Student Data (DSD) Reference Group was formed. The Group took as its purpose the exploration of digital student data coordination across Australian universities. A survey of institutions in late 2013 led to the development of an initial response to the Groningen Declaration. This was endorsed by Universities Australia’s DVC-Corporate group on 27 February 2014 and subsequently by the DVCAcademic/Education group on 16 May, 2014 Looking Global As a result, Ainslie Moore (Universities Australia) and Neil Robinson (University of Melbourne and Chair of the DSD Reference Group) presented the following statement of interest at the Groningen Declaration Annual Meeting on 9 April 2014: “The Australian Heads of Student Administration Digital Student Data Reference Group supports the work of the Groningen Declaration and wishes to participate in the global movement to enhance student mobility. It is the Group’s ambition to sign the Declaration once it is confident that it can deliver on the objectives. Although the Group is not yet in a position to make this commitment, it is currently engaged in a process of consultation and ongoing work to ensure that the decision to sign is reached with due diligence and commitment.” Going Global… A recap and link to our discussions yesterday… • We are facing unprecedented change – in student expectations, through competition, structural changes (Federation University) and potentially funding change • We are experiencing global mobility – of students, of staff and of student data • We are responding to demands for increased efficiency and an improved student experience – but Commonwealth changes may mean an additional administrative burden, requirement for us to provide financial advice and more complex student enrolment and retention patterns Deciding an approach Some acknowledgements: Kathryn Blyth for her encouragement to keep going, Anthony Manahan for his hard work and enthusiasm, the Reference Group for their contribution and Tom Black for his inspiration… more of that later (no pressure Tom!)… At its meeting on 22 May 2014, four potential approaches were considered by the DSD Reference Group, which agreed on the following option: Adopt an approach like the UK where an established organisation becomes the facilitator outsourcing the activity to a third party platform provider… Conceptualising the approach A concept proposal Going Global, Starting Local: Digital Student Data Mobility was prepared based on the agreed option and recommends a detailed feasibility study. The following staff contributed to the Concept Proposal: Mr Phillip Anthony, Manager, Assessment Services Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre Ms Stella Birch, Senior Advisor RMIT University Ms Joanne Calmer, Manager, Strategy and Planning Monash University Mr Michael Dorman, Manager, Enrolments, Fees and Scholarships Australian Catholic University Ms Megan Huisman, Academic Registrar University of Wollongong Ms Catriona MacGregor, Executive Officer to the Academic Registrar University of Melbourne Anthony Manahan, Senior Student Services Analyst University of Melbourne Ms Alyson McGrath, HDR Manager Griffith University Mr Robert Morrell, Director, Student and Academic Services University of New South Wales Ms Victoria Norris, Intern, Academic Registrar’s Group University of Melbourne Mr Jon Stubbs, Director Student Services University of Western Australia Looking at what’s feasible The DSD Reference Group endorsed the concept proposal and the recommendation to proceed to a detailed Feasibility Study at its meeting on 30 July 2014. Managing Organisation The suggestions for an existing organisation are predicated on them already representing the sector. However, given the focus is not just on admissions and nor is it necessarily just on universities, the creation of a new entity should be considered. Options include: • Universities Australia • Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admissions Centres (ACTAC) • Create a new organisation Approach A repository approach whereby an external data store is provided which can be accessed by students, educational institutions, and third parties who have been given permission by the student (e.g. employers) versus a broker approach using EDI or XML with the ability to support both data and document management via both machine-to-machine and machineto-person. Platform/providers This is somewhat dependent on the approach but some broker focussed options include: Emerging technologies should also be monitored for potential opportunities. Let’s get started So, we would like: 1. Endorsement of the Concept proposed 2. Endorsement to sign the Groningen Declaration – Noting 1 and 2 are subject to DVC-Resources and DVC-Academic/Education support 3. Endorsement to actively engage our NZ colleagues in attempting an Australia-New Zealand approach Any Questions? © Copyright The University of Melbourne 2009