How to make volunteering matter to university students
Do you want to get more from your university experience than just your degree? Are you someone who wants to help in the community, but feels a student life won't offer the time to get involved? In this blog Joe Crook from the University of East London, talks about volunteering, student life and explains how it can all fit into a busy student lifestyle.
Lean: taking the strain out of admissions
Middlesex University has boosted staff confidence, reduced mundane tasks and produced a better student experience, simply by improving their admissions system. Karolin Arvidsson sets out how they did it.
We need a passport photo not a selfie: an admission officer’s plea
Many institutions are responding to the student-funded business model by examining the ‘student journey’ in a systematic way. The Efficiency Exchange team ran a workshop at the Student Record Officers Conference to explore ideas for improving interactions with students at key points on their journey. Rosie Niven shares some insights.
“It’s all standard behaviour.” So what is all the fuss about?
There has been a lot of awareness raised recently around gender based violence and questions around the idea of standard behaviour. In this opinion piece,...
Student engagement monitoring survey
Royal Holloway has launched a survey into how Higher Education institutions monitor student engagement. They plan to use the findings to help them design their support for academic departments as they advise their students.
Finding ‘pain points’ in the student journey
Like all service users, students have their stories of where their experience could have been improved. Jean Mutton presents some of the findings from a Jisc study seeking to identify these 'pain points'.
EDITORIAL. Never Alone: Universities’ key role in supporting students’ wellbeing and mental health
Among the many issues universities are currently concerned about, students’ mental health and wellbeing have become a core concern. According to a YouGov’s survey (2016) a quarter of our students suffer mainly of depression and anxiety, or, mostly, both combined. The need to perform, financial worries, and being in a different and new social environment can all contribute to making students feel overwhelmed at times. The IPPR study Not by Degrees (Thorley, 2017), however, paints an even more disturbing picture.
Sir Ian Diamond: ‘We can improve… by sharing best practice’.
In an interview with Efficiency Exchange, Professor Sir Ian Diamond reflects on how universities have adapted to become more efficient.
Service design for universities
Sometimes solutions are under our noses - you just need the right approach to unlock them. In this post, consultant Jean Mutton explains service design, which she says is for anyone who often thinks "there must be a better way".
Student Coin – Creating value for students
Higher education offers many opportunities for students which can create more value in their university experience. Benjamin Stone, university business entrepreneurship student and founder of Student Coin, took advantage of one of his projects and created the Student Coin. In this blog, Ben shares their Blockchain journey so far.
