Overview

Background  

The project aims to improve the digital experience for the applicant to student journey for online distance learning (ODL)  programmes. Consultations with MVM and the School of Law have confirmed that the application submission to matriculation period routinely causes confusion for distance learning students and the digital services supporting these processes need to be improved. Updating these services will lead to increased satisfaction with the applicant to student journey, as well as reduce staff time spent supporting routine queries from the applicants and students.

The project is a collaboration between Student Systems Partnership and the IS Web Integration Team.

The project will have four delivery strands:

Only the first delivery strand will be delivered to Live by the project the other three will develop prototypes and plans for future developments.

• Improving communications to ODL applicants and students sent by central services to ensure the communications are relevant to ODL programmes and consistent with the messages communicated by the Schools and Colleges. The communication also need to take into account that these student will not be on campus.  
• Updating the MyEd layouts to ensure relevance to ODL students and developing a prototype to visualise the applicant to student journey as a workflow in MyEd to help applicants and new students better understand the actions required of them as they progress towards fully matriculated student. This workflow will also confirm  the steps they have already completed.  
• Developing a proposal and determining requirements for integrating programme, School and College specific messages / information  to applicants and students into MyEd  
• Developing a plan to allow the prototype to be implemented to the Live environment in the first instance for ODL applicants/students and secondly for ALL applicants/students. This plan will include tasks which will be required to be undertaken and resourcing required and which team this needs to come from.

Scope and Objectives  

The aim of the project is to deliver a prototype and plans for the rollout to the Live environment focus on the following:  

• The focus of the project will be on ODL students but with a view to producing a plan to rollout to all students.
• All deliverables will focus on the applicant to student journey covering the period from application submission through to matriculation.
• Improve the MyEd channels / menus and options presented to ODL applicants and students to ensure relevance and avoid overwhelming new offer holders with too much information
• Develop a flexible framework as a proof of concept which pulls data into MyEd from EUCLID
• Establish requirements for allowing Schools and Colleges to publish custom information to applicants and students at different points in the process.
• All actions presented in the MyEd workflow will take the applicant/student to the source system for the action to be carried out; no tasks will be completed in MyEd

Deliverables  

Communications

1. Review and update communications from EUCLID to ensure relevance to ODL and consistency with messages from Schools
2. Look for opportunities to improve communications from other teams, for example Card Services, to ensure relevance for ODL students

MyEd update and workflow prototype

1. Refresh the MyEd layouts for ODL applicants and students, which will aim to replace the current MyEd layout for ODL and will only show options applicable to ODL
2. Develop a new MyEd layout for UF offer holders prior to matriculation or phase in services shown to offer holders in the student view of MyEd
3. Present the applicant to student journey as a workflow in MyEd using EUCLID data
   • Develop prototype for web service and flexible data schema for data exchange between services
   • Tailor MyEd based on data available  from EUGEX via the data exchange prototype
   • Create access points for Applicant Student to complete the signposted tasks.
4. Investigate options for allowing School and College staff to view the applicant and student views of MyEd
5. Develop proposal, including resourcing requirements, to move the MyEd workflow prototype to production.
6. Prodce a layout which can be used on a mobile device.

School data integration

Develop proposal to integrate school managed content with the new MyEd layout to deliver custom information to students. The proposal will cover requirements for the following:

1. Storing the information at programme, School or College level, and linked to workflow status or date
2. Determining the method to be used by Schools to enter and maintain messages to students
3. Presenting the School information to students in MyED and integrating into MyEd so that data pulled from various sources appear as a cohesive list of actions/information, rather than disjointed messages from separate services
4. Investigate the roll that the Notification Frameowrk might plan in any long term solution.

Benefits  

• Improved communiucations from EUCLID for ODL student, resulting in reduced queries and contact with Staff.
• Plan to implement Improved digital experience for ODL applicants and new students. Understanding of what is possible and what the cost will be.
• Design for a web service to pull data from EUCLUD into My-ED. Understanding of cost and how this will fit into a wider framework.
• Provide evidence of the type of queries which will be reduced by presenting the data in this way.
• Proivide a model and a framework that can be extended and rolled out to all students.

Success Criteria

Communications 

• EUCLID generated communications are more relevant to ODL applicants/students and are consistent with messages from Schools and Colleges
• Communications from other central services requiring improvement are identified and the service owners informed.

MyEd update and prototype

• Usability testing confirms that the user interface is useful and a significant improvement
• Proof that a data exchange between EUCLID and My-Ed is possible to support the workflfow.
• A flexible framework has been created which can progressed towards production, is reuseable for additional data sources and can be extended to all applicants and students
• A plan has been produced ffor the protype to be progressed to Live with a full understanding of the requirements and he resourcing implications.

School data integration

• Requirements for integrating school specific data and messages have been developed.
• Schools and Colleges support the recommended approach for the school data integration
• A plan is produced for this to be implemented into Live with a fulll understanding of the resourcing implications.