Circularity

1 | December 7th, 2010 | Posted in collaboration, media, research, travel

I began work at the 1994 Group back in January, in the snow and cold, in fact for the first week I couldn’t even get into London from Cheltenham, so I worked from home doing things like setting up this blog and my Twitter account. Now I’m coming to the end of my contract, it’s cold and snowy, and I am again working from home – all very circular.

In the early part of the year I spent a lot of time talking to people and organisations about students’ expectations of university; I ran a survey with university staff to find out about the innovative ways we communicate with prospective applicants; I read lots of literature; and I attended conferences. The consultation phase probably took up more than a third of my time in this project. Now, with real circularity, I’m spending the last few months talking to those people and organisations again, and attending conferences to disseminate the results of a year’s labour:

> A working paper: Student Expectations of University project: Analysis of responses to a survey of UK Higher Education Institutions.

> A report:  Managing Students’ Expectations of University.

The project has featured in a number of conferences and podcasts, although media coverage has remained elusive:

> Paul Marshall gave a conference presentation: Information, Advice and Guidance for progression to university.

> Paul Marshall gave a conference presentation: Strengthening partnerships between leading universities and schools.

> Professor Janice Kay gave a conference presentation: Meeting student expectations and maintaining university reputation.

> We organised a roundtable with, and at, Goldsmiths: Myth Busting: How can universities provide more accessible and accurate public information?

> Despite the fact that I lost my voice the night before, I was interviewed for a JISC on Air ‘online radio programme’:  Successful Student Recruitment.

> I gave a UCAS Research Forum: Shaping prospective students’ expectations of university.

> Professor Paul Wellings gave a keynote at the HMC Annual Conference: The Importance of Being Advised

> Professor Paul Wellings gave a conference keynote: Student experience, quality, funding.

> I held a workshop at the same conference: Better information for prospective students.

> Derfel Owen interviewed me for a QAA podcast:  Managing students’ expectations of university.

> I gave a conference presentation: The right information, advice and guidance – outcomes from the student expectations of university JISC-funded project.

Despite that aforementioned lack of media coverage, the work of the project is being picked up here and there, for example in these blogposts: Employability & the Role of the University and OER – out of the shadows and into the light? as well as by Kable: Jisc praises social media in student recruitment.

I sincerely hope interest in the project will continue, even when I’ve left the Group to join the University of Bath (a 1994 Group university you’ll note!), and of course there’s the launch of the online resource to come yet too!


Press release

2 | November 19th, 2010 | Posted in media, policy, research

Social media helps universities attract the right students

Facebook photo albums, online clips and video briefings for international students are among examples of best practice highlighted in a new report aimed at helping universities and colleges better inform their first-years about life at university.

Well-informed students are less likely to drop out, so the report illustrates innovative ways of communicating with prospective freshers, to inform and advise them while managing their expectations of higher education.

The report has been produced as part of a JISC-funded project led by the 1994 group.  The ‘student expectations of university’ project is aimed at enhancing applicants’ understanding of higher education.

Dr Harriet Dunbar-Morris, who wrote the report, said: “Government proposals to increase graduate contributions will make it more important than ever for universities to demonstrate the benefits they offer. Prospective students need solid information on what university life will be like, both in and outside of the lecture theatre, if they are going to make informed decisions on where to apply. The examples in our report show some of the steps 1994 Group universities are taking.”

The examples come from institutions around the UK who are working to ensure that all groups of students are catered for, including unemployed, mature and international students and those with experience of living in care.

“There is still more that can be done however,” added Dr Dunbar-Morris. “Our universities are committed to opening the doors to talent from a wide range of backgrounds. We want to ensure that those unfamiliar with university life have access to a wide range of information. To aid this, the next step of this project will be a new online resource which offers a starting point for research into universities.”

Malcolm Read, Executive Secretary, JISC, said: “Within universities and colleges there are many excellent ideas for managing students’ expectations that others could usefully learn from.  In many places, new technologies play a crucial role in communicating with tech-savvy freshers.  By highlighting these examples we want to help the whole sector become more competitive in attracting and retaining students of the highest calibre from the UK and beyond.”

A Higher Education Academy survey in 2006 showed that of first year students at university, 41% of those who knew little or nothing about their course before enrolment had thought about leaving, compared to 25% of those who knew a moderate amount or a lot – strongly suggesting that the more students know about their institutions and courses before enrolling, the less likely they are to consider dropping out.

ENDS

The full report: ‘Managing Student Expectations of University’.

Listen to a podcast about student recruitment.

Media Contact:

Mark Fuller
0207 872 5596
07952 286 223
mark.fuller@1994group.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

1. The 1994 Group represents 19 of UK’s leading student-focused research-intensive universities. It was established in 1994 to promote excellence in University research and teaching.

2. 12 of the top 20 universities in the Guardian University Guide 2011 league tables published on the 8th June 2010 are 1994 Group members.  In 17 major subject areas 1994 Group universities are the UK leaders achieving 1st place in their field (THE RAE subject rankings 2008). 57% of the 1994 Group’s research is rated 4* ‘world-leading’ or 3* ‘internationally excellent’ (RAE 2008, HEFCE). 10 of the top 200 universities in the 2010-11 THE World University Rankings are 1994 Group members.

3. The 1994 Group represents: University of Bath, Birkbeck University of London, Durham University, University of East Anglia, University of Essex, University of Exeter, Goldsmiths University of London, Institute of Education University of London, Royal Holloway University of London, Lancaster University, University of Leicester, Loughborough University, Queen Mary University of London, University of Reading, University of St Andrews, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of Surrey, University of Sussex, University of York.

4. The 1994 Group are carrying out a JISC-funded project to provide better information to inform the decisions of university applicants. For further details about the project please see www.1994group.co.uk/researchprojects. For an interview with Dr Harriet Dunbar-Morris who is leading the project, please contact Mark Fuller, Director of Communications, 1994 Group. Tel: 0207 872 5596 or 07592 286 223.

Dissemination

0 | November 19th, 2010 | Posted in media, policy, research

I’m coming to the end of my time at the 1994 Group, but things aren’t slowing up at all, if anything I’m busier than ever.

I’ve just launched a report, based on the work I’ve been carrying out on student expectations of university, at the Enhancing the Student Experience Conference. Policy Review TV have made some of the videoed keynotes available for free here: http://policyreview.tv/conference/457.html.

I’m speaking at another conference next week, I’ve taken part in a podcast for JISC, and there are a few more other dissemination things in the offing too. And, with my policy hat on, there’s been plenty going on as well, as I said in my last post – there’s no rest for the wicked!

hashtagging about

1 | November 10th, 2010 | Posted in acronyms, media, online resource, policy

It has been a busy few weeks in the HE policy, hashtagged world:

#browne – Lord Browne’s long-awaited report came out, suggesting increasing graduate contributions to the cost of their HE, within a package of other recommendations. (The 1994 Group response to the report is on our website).

#csr – the Government announced huge cuts to HE funding in the Comprehensive Spending Review, and later David Willetts responed to Lord Browne’s recommendations by raising the graduate contribution cap to £9,000.  (Our Chair, Paul Wellings, said in the Guardian this week: “This is an amount that allows institutions to enhance as well as replace funds lost through the government’s spending review, maintaining existing levels of excellence and creating opportunities to improve further” and our response to the CSR is on the website).

#demo2010 – over 30,000 students are said to have taken part in a demonstration today against tuition fees and HE cuts. (Our Chair had some advice for them in that Guardian article: “Overblown rhetoric distorts debate, perpetuates myths, and stokes unwarranted fear. These are sentiments that all those involved in UK HE would do well to take note of, particularly those organising their own rally this week [...] Shrill cries about students being saddled with excessive financial burdens will understandably deter many from applying to university. It’s right that there is a debate about the nature of graduate contributions, but the full facts of the government proposals need to be included”). I can’t help but remember my ten years spent in France, where we had ‘manif’ after ‘manif’ usually organised by people other than students with different axes to grind, particularly now that we are getting reports of a minority turning to violence.

The next hashatag mention goes to #loveHE – always and every day! – something that some, but apparently not all, of the students and university staff on #demo2110 share.

And finally, tomorow is my own big hashtag event, the culmination of a lot of my work over the summer on the project. We launch the project report at Enhancing the Student Experience 2010 aka #Stuex10!

To come, an online resource providing information, advice and guidance to prospective students – keep watching this space!

World Rankings (guestpost)

4 | September 30th, 2010 | Posted in guestpost

Introducing Martin Hughes of TheUniversityBlog and his thoughts on league tables and world rankings as a guestpost.

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How important are league tables and world rankings?  Does it matter that a university can be in 4th, 13th, 17th, 21st, 22nd, and 81st position on various tables?  Should all league tables be mixed together to make a master table?

Malcolm Grant, president of UCL, argues that world rankings don’t capture the diversity of universities.  How can a student make sense of ranking systems when there are so many and they all have different outcomes?

UCL is the institution resting in those 4th, 13th, 17th, 21st, 22nd, and 81st places, depending upon which world ranking you check.  Grant explains that the methodology behind each set of results differs greatly, hence the huge variation from one ranking to another.

I see relevance in league tables to a point, but they cannot realistically help potential students decide where to study.  At best, rankings give students a pointer, suggesting similar institutions to those they’re already interested in.  Think of rankings as a starting point, rather than an end result.

Rankings are a useful pointer but, as Grant says, they should not overreach themselves:

“They do a disservice if they influence student choice, or come to be treated as a performance measure by the leaders of hugely diverse institutions.”

I’m inclined to agree in the main.  The concept of university is huge and it’s impossible to rate them in a linear fashion.  However, these tables do allow the ability to highlight areas requiring more detailed research, and have scope to recognise areas that need particular improvement.

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to dig deep into the raw data.  Original statistics aren’t always put forward comprehensively and it’s difficult to understand how those stats have been put together.  There are many arguments over methodology too.  The list goes on.

The National Student Survey – while not a world university ranking – is one such table that could pull more detailed information out for managing the link between:

> what students want;
> what students need;
> what nobody yet realises students need.

Far from overreaching itself, specific listings such as the NSS can be tweaked to deliver even more detail.

Earlier this year, NUS debated the idea of a new league table “designed by students for students“.  This, in conjunction with the NSS, could be a real boon.  By serving as a central source for students to research institutions, it has the potential to be wider reaching.

And a wide reach would certainly be welcomed.  People have more information than ever to aid their choices, but that information isn’t always well publicised or easy to access.  Many prospective students still do not investigate enough in their search for relevant places.

Rankings are here to stay, whatever your opinion of them.  Just take the recent publication of Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings for 2010/11. This was no quiet, unassuming list.  Rankings get talked about.  If a similar amount of interest could be emulated amongst students in their own, targeted set of rankings, we may see the first such resource that doesn’t “do a disservice if they influence student choice”.  It won’t be easy, but I hope it would be worth it.

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Martin Hughes celebrates uni life (and beyond) in all its diversity at TheUniversityBlog.  Because life shouldn’t stop when you study!

Too much to say so little time

1 | September 30th, 2010 | Posted in collaboration, media

I set up this blog so that people could follow my progress on the Student Expectations of University JISC-funded project, and yet I haven’t blogged in many weeks.

It’s not that I’m no longer working on the project, far from it! But an awful lot has been happening both at work and at home… responding to consultations; moving house; writing a case study report; getting married; having a holiday;  being ill;  recruitment exercises for support in the office; and covering the work of the Director of Research at the 1994 Group until we get a new one – to mention but a few (phew!)!

And now, of course, there are a number of things I want to write about, as well as introduce you to Martin, aka @universityboy, who has written a guest blogpost for me.  So, after weeks of silence, expect to hear from me several times in quick succession:

> a blogpost inspired by reading this in the Guardian: Elite universities: a clash of cultures and cutlery;

> a blogpost inspired by *not* reading this in the Times (because of the paywall) but courtesy of fellow Tweeter @WilliamCB who summarised the effects of funding cuts for us in a blogpost;

> a guest blogpost by @UniversityBoy about rankings and information;

> and an update on the project, of course!

So, watch this space as they say!

Being LinkedIn

4 | August 3rd, 2010 | Posted in collaboration, media

One of the great things about my current role is taking part in the wider HE network. I attend conferences, I meet VCs and PVCs, I go to Westminster, and I interact with colleagues across the sector by a variety of means.  For example, the ‘Times Higher’ launched a #loveHE campaign, in their magazine and on Facebook, and some of my Twitter colleagues and I took that campaign to LinkedIn. Sometimes doing research/policy is a lonely business, so it’s nice to feel part of a group, you can too if you want to:

Join the LinkedIn #loveHE Group by clicking here!

I know some of those Twitter colleagues personally (@MarioCreatura and I worked together, briefly, at the 1994 Group) and some I only know virtually (@NHJ_HE and @universityboy for example, and worth a ‘follow’ IMHO).

Like me, all three of them blog as well, so without even meeting we can bounce ideas off each other, and get a feel for what’s exercising people. This morning for example the three of them were discussing a Guardian article about the use of A* in admissions, and, according to Mario the ‘Twitter Convo’ is due to turn into a blogpost.

This week Martin (aka ‘universityboy’) has written a blogpost which is really useful to me in the JISC-funded project:

http://theuniversityblog.co.uk/2010/08/03/50-ways-to-choose-a-university

When I get the online resource up and running I hope to have exactly these types of posts from people, so Martin I hope you’ll do a guest blog for me?

In the meantime, dear reader, do have a look at what’s exercising Martin, Newell (aka NHJ-HE) and Mario:

http://theuniversityblog.co.uk

http://newellhj.wordpress.com

http://www.mariocreatura.blogspot.com

I’m going back to my ‘mystery shopping’ online with a ‘prospective student’ hat on, to find examples of good practice in communicating with university applicants. All suggestions welcome! And by the way, yes I did see the xkcd cartoon (below), but I couldn’t possibly comment on how many of the sites I’ve looked at are like that ;-)

Myths, damned myths (and statistics?)

0 | July 27th, 2010 | Posted in collaboration, policy, travel

If I had wifi access on my train journey in and out of London I would probably have put this blog post together much sooner, but I don’t, no idea why, other First Great Western trains seem to, but oh well, my enormous season ticket price is obviously not enough to provide that kind of service to regular commuters!

During Universities Week, as you know if you are a regular reader, we held a policy roundtable to bust myths about university. It was a very successful event: 35 senior university leaders, policy makers and representatives for schools and colleges met to debate this overarching question:

> How can we provide more accessible and accurate public information about universities in order to create realistic and manageable expectations?

The debate was lively and wide-ranging, some of the issues raised were:

  • the need to create a better understanding among students, the public, politicians, media and other stakeholders about what universities are for, what they do, and what they contribute to national wealth and national health;
  • the need to create a better understanding of the current university system, how it is funded, how it assures quality, standards and opportunity;
  • the need to produce more transparent and comprehensive information about universities and admissions processes in order to ensure that as good a match as possible is created between what universities are looking for, and the applicants that apply to them;
  • how the provision of fuller information around all aspects of what universities do helps to manage, sometimes to temper, and sometimes to raise, the expectations of students;
  • the need not just for information, but also for advice and guidance (see my recent blogpost: information, information, information (is not enough).

Here are some pictures from the event. As you can see Goldsmiths hosted us in a lovely building (called Deptford Town Hall – no longer a town hall, and not in Deptford, which initially made finding it on a map a bit of a challenge for those of us not from London!).

Pictures from the roundtable at Goldsmiths

Information, information, information (is not enough)

3 | July 23rd, 2010 | Posted in acronyms, policy, uncategorised

I recently attended another acronym-laden meeting: HEPISG (Higher Education Public Information Steering Group) formerly the TQI/NSS Steering Group, to tell them about the Student Expectations of University project and the recent Policy Roundtable: ‘Myth Busting – How can we provide more accessible and accurate public information about universities in order to create realistic and manageable expectations?’.

I had a very brief few minutes in the spotlight, and packing in everything I needed and wanted to say was a bit tricky. A bit like Kirsty Allsopp on Location, location, location it would have been nice to knock a few walls down, move a few rooms about (figuratively speaking)… but still I got my message across: education, education, education (have I heard that somewhere before?) or in other words:

information is not enough, prospective students also need advice and guidance on how to make use of it.

I’m really pleased a lot of people have woken up to the idea that applicants need information to make a well-informed decision about university, but I do feel the need to re-iterate at every given opportunity, they do need more than that!

Hands up anyone who agrees (and #loveHE!)!

Thinking creatively

5 | July 15th, 2010 | Posted in online resource, policy

I’ve had a busy time since I got back from a lovely holiday in Tuscany (www.psmartino.it). On my first day back at work I went to the Apple offices to hear about CampusM, an application designed to give students access to campus services through their smartphones (iPhones and the like!) and a new version/product for student recruitment i.e. applicants.

> By the way, someone asked a question there that no-one was able to answer: how many applicants (not students) have smartphones? Anyone out there in the blogoverse have an answer to that?

I’ve also had a trip to the University of Bath where I talked to staff there about how they communicate with prospective applicants. I rather put one of them on the spot when I asked what the next big thing would be, after blogs, facebook, youtube, apps, what tech is next for young people. But she wasn’t phased, and suggested that I look into foursquare – so I will!

It (foursquare) may not turn out to be useful for communicating with potential applicants, but Bath are certainly doing lots of things to enhance and develop the university-applicant-student relationship, so watch their space!

Both of those meetings were about how other people are ‘thinking creatively’ about communicating with students, so really helped me with keeping my finger on the pulse and reflecting on the design of the online resource. But this week I also attended a breakfast seminar run by IntoUniversity which in its own way is ‘thinking creatively’, in that it offers an “innovative programme that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to attain either a university place or another chosen aspiration”, through out-of-school study, mentoring, aspirational coaching, personal support and, in partnership with universities, FOCUS weeks, days and weekends.

The event was very interesting; Andrew Dilnot (of ‘More or Less’ fame, and also Oxford), Jo Blandon (University of Surrey) and Lee Eliott Major (Sutton Trust) and about 20 participants were discussing whether educational failure has an economic impact, and whether we should in fact be making economic arguments about the benefits of education and social mobility at all. The general feeling around the table (there were quite a few reps from educational charities), was that we all do what we do for moral reasons, but we have to give economic reasons in order to be heard.

Which brings me nicely to Vince Cable’s speech this morning, where the Minister set out his aspirations for the HE sector.  Alarm bells went off in my head when I heard the following: “I’m an economist so I think about the margin, as well as the average. The fact is that we don’t know much about the marginal costs and benefits of HE participation”. Oh dear I thought, a university education reduced to earning a graduate premium. Dr Cable did go on to say that there is more than a cash return to studying at university, but his focus this morning was not on “the transformation of life opportunities”, but on the HE sector needing to think creatively about funding methods.

As you’ll know from previous posts, the Browne Review asked the sector to do precisely that, come up with some proposals for the future funding of  higher education and student finance. It seems that Dr Cable has his own preference: a graduate tax, and this has sparked much debate across Twitter and the blogoverse already. e.g. Vince Cable & the future of higher education and http://twitter.com/#search?q=vince%20cable.

We, the 1994 Group, have welcomed ‘a bold and progressive vision for the sector‘, and, from my personal and project point of view, in particular, the commitment from the Secretary of State to strengthen the information available to  applicants…So now I can get on with ‘thinking creatively’ about how to provide information to prospective students :-)

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