2014 UCISA Award for Excellence. Application Form. Institution Name: University of Bradford. Originating Department: Information Services

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1 2014 UCISA Award for Excellence Application Form Institution Name: University of Bradford Originating Department: Information Services Contact Name: Sara Marsh, Director of Information Services Objective: A holistic approach to student engagement in Information Services Description: Along with many Higher Education providers, the student experience is a key priority for the University of Bradford and for Information Services. As a result we have invested heavily in a wide range of initiatives and improvements to the physical estate and virtual services to deliver this objective. Examples include recent multi-million investments in the refurbishment of the JB Priestley Library Building and creation of a state-of-the-art Student Central facility housing the Student Union and Student Support services including the Library and IT Services under one roof. This application rather than focusing on just one initiative provides a holistic view of the ways in which we have put students at the heart of our thinking in Information Services. This series of initiatives is much greater than the sum of its parts which are many and varied. The outputs include a significant step-change improvement in NSS scores for Information Services and fully support student employability strategy. The student experience is a key priority for the University of Bradford. At Bradford, we view the student experience as transformative and the student as a key agent of change; we therefore work holistically and recognise the importance of involving the whole student experience across all aspects of the student journey. This includes four key student experience areas: The academic experience The social experience The co and extra-curricular experience Welfare and support matters We therefore define student engagement as: a combination of involvement in the academic and social aspects of higher education level studies. This includes participation in extra and co-curricular activities and access to student and welfare support. We aim to ensure that the institution hears and responds to the views and thoughts of our students and overall, we strive to work in partnership with our students to understand, support and enhance the student experience. We strive to encourage all students to be as engaged as possible in their studies and wider university experience and to make the most of their time at university. As well as regular activity related to the programme of study, there will be various extra-curricular and other opportunities on offer for students. These could include societies, sports, peer support schemes and various employability opportunities. Alongside such activities students can also get involved by sharing their views and ideas. The student voice is essential to our development and therefore whilst studying here, there are a range

2 of mechanisms through which students can tell us about how they are finding their time at Bradford. Both collective and individual feedback is important to us and students can engage in dialogue with staff and other students, underpinned by a shared approach of open-ness and mutual respect. Obtaining and utilising our students voices allows us to make positive changes based on what our students think. It also enables students to play a key role in shaping and enhancing the University of Bradford student experience for both current and future students. In addition to this, our Students Union (UBU) works closely in partnership with the University on all aspects of the institutions service delivery and governance. The Union has created a brand, Team Bradford, which symbolises the partnership between the University and its student population. Under this banner our students regularly volunteer in additional activities. The Union is rated amongst the top 25 Student Union nationally by the National Student Survey, and is well regarded for its high level of engagement with our student population. The organisation was commended by the Quality Assurance for good practice in its engagement of student representation during the institutions Higher Education Review. All of these themes run collaboratively and are indicative of the institution's holistic approach to engaging students in continuously improving our service delivery. Examples of this can be found in the following student activities: Student Ambassador Programme: The University runs an ambassador scheme recruiting students to actively promote the University both on and off campus. Additionally, Student Ambassadors support activities to raise the aspirations of young people in schools and colleges to help them achieve their potential. Students Union Sabbatical Officers: UBU has six full-time elected officers, each with a remit to represent student views. The University welcomes these individuals on to a number of senior strategic and operational committees. In addition to this, the officer team regularly lead and facilitate student focus groups to canvas student opinions on how the University can improve facilities, learning and technology, front line service and other key service delivery to best match student expectations now and in the future. Student and Faculty Representatives (Reps): Our student representation system is jointly managed between the University and Students Union. The scheme annually recruits approximately 450 elected student volunteers who are engaged across all levels of the university, and individual academic faculties, in discussions on how to improve all aspects of the University student experience. Students Union Societies: The University Students Union has approximately 70 active student societies, engaging over 3000 students in extracurricular activities. A number of these societies are classed as departmental societies, linked closely to relevant programmes of study. These societies run activities that are designed to supplement the educational experience for student members. Peer Assisted Learners: A voluntary scheme coordinated by the University, training students to assist new students in their first year of learning. Our peer assisted learning (PAL) schemes at Bradford involve students in their second and/or third year facilitating student led group sessions with first years. This year 75 Leaders have been trained and will work to support around 600 of our new first year students.

3 These are just some of the examples from a broader perspective. The next section of this submission focuses on the contributions to Team Bradford which have developed from the perspective of Information Services. Information Services Information Services has embraced an holistic approach to engaging students in our service delivery. The Directorate has pro-actively embarked on a number of initiatives that have led to successful outcomes which positively impact on our service delivery, the student experience and student employability. Specific examples include: Student Learning Champions: There are fourteen students currently involved in this initiative which has scaled up since September It is an opportunity available to any Bradford student recruited through our internal job shop. The role is to support users of the JB Priestley Building and Student Central by roving the buildings answering a wide range of basic enquiries about the services provided, offering one-to-one support or referring on as necessary. They routinely check equipment and maintain the learning environment. Training days are held in September prior to the start of the academic year. These sessions focus on ensuring everyone is familiar with the services offered by Information Services and look at those services from the perspective of new students. Students also receive practical training on the use and basic maintenance of equipment such as PCs and Printers. Training is provided by staff and existing Student Learning Champions. The first few shifts are buddied by an experienced colleague. PC Clinic: There are three students currently involved in this initiative which has been in place since It is an opportunity available to any Bradford student. The role is to support student owned equipment and software free of charge and is provided in conjunction with our staffed IT Advice service. The team provides a predominantly out of hours service which is very accessible and also a drop-in and by appointment facility. All jobs are logged through the IT Service management system which introduces students to professional job tracking systems. Training and handover is provided and support from more experienced staff, this includes practical training on many basics as well as more advanced IT and network diagnostics. This team has also developed capability as application testers from a student perspective during the launch of Blackboard Managed Hosting. The University adopted best practice (University of Groeningen) by creating test scripts for students to follow which enabled accurate and comprehensive QA testing of the production service prior to final release. PC Cluster Checking: There is one student currently involved in this initiative which came about as a result of student feedback in our You Say We Did process. The role is to ensure that at the start of each working day our PC labs on campus have been physically visited to check for any overnight issues and ensure that there is a high quality experience available. The role involves routinely checking equipment and maintaining if possible and also reporting more serious issues for escalation during the day to IT Support teams. Student Placement/Internship: We have worked hard to provide opportunities for students through work placements and related activity within the University. Students have worked within the IT Services function gaining skills and experience on specific projects and for some of them it has also led to full-time employment with the University. Currently we have a student working in the Computer and Audio Visual Team in our Faculty of Management and Law, we previously employed a student to work in our Information Systems Team as a Trainee Systems Analyst/Programmer (now

4 employed after graduation in our Strategic Planning Department) and also student Summer internships for example, a mature student working jointly with the UBU Student Union developing joint resources for the national Changing the Learning Landscapes project for the Summer Student Competitions: Information Services sponsors and actively participates in student events. For example, during 2014 there was an inter-disciplinary event involving students at Sheffield and Bradford. The topic was Bradford and Sheffield Smart Cities - based on a collection of data resources and a theme provided by Bradford Metropolitan Council. Information Services was part of the judging panel for the event and also provided a prize. The next Hackathon event is being organised and Bradford is sending an inter-disciplinary team to an external CISCO event. stablishing strong relationships with student teams and being part of a Team Bradford approach is proving a successful way to improve and enhance student engagement. Development of student Mobile Apps: Our University mobile app is continuously improved to give it a fresh look and new features. As part of an Information Services initiative called Geek Week (February 2014) there was a competition for students to come up with ideas for the Mobile App. There was a significant prize fund and support for active development in excess of 10k. Two of the winning entries were developed with input from the winning students and added into the App for the current academic year. The first was a Time Tracker suggested by a student in Chemical and Forensic Sciences, which keeps track of personal study time for each module (or anything else) and can be found in the new Study section. The second winner was suggested by a student in Archaeological Sciences. It is a search function for finding sports clubs and societies. This was made available in the UBU Students' Union section. As well as details about all the societies there are also links to their Twitter feed and Facebook pages. About UoB is available for free for ios, Android and Blackberry devices from device App Stores. There is also a web version which can be viewed in any browser: Student training programmes with University suppliers: During this academic session, Information Services has embarked on developing stronger relationships with existing technology partners and suppliers from the student perspective. For example, University suppliers have joined the School of Computing External Advisory Board. As a result, the first accredited training session by one of the University suppliers (ServiceNow) has been provided to a cohort of fifteen students in the Faculty of Engineering and Informatics at no cost to the student or the University. We believe that this is a novel approach within the sector to developing commercial technical skills in specific application areas. Student Academic Projects: Information Services works with students who have chosen projects that are submitted to academic schools with real-life impact. Currently there are two individual final year student projects working on Beacon technology and integration with our Mobile App. One is specifically for University Open Days and another is for the Student Union spaces to promote and market UBU events. In addition there is a team of students sponsored by Information Services working on a ServiceNow project. Return on Investment We believe that what makes this submission worthy of consideration is that the total cost of the initiative is marginal however the impact is significant. We have specifically measured the improvement in relevant NSS: In the National Student Survey the results have improved on previous years with 88% of students satisfied with access to general IT resources when needed this was up 4% on previous year and now matches the English national average. The summary qualitative

5 analysis praised the specialist equipment / resources available, as well as the library and resources and facilities in general. The University also goes on to recruit and retain some of its best students into Information Services for a series of fixed term and indefinite roles. For example, in the British Science Festival in 2012 (and again in 2015) the University retained a number of students to support the IT requirements of this specific event. Information Services also recruits students annually to provide support over the clearing, confirmation, enrolment and registration processes. Finally, a number of our students have been recruited into full-time indefinite roles in our IT Support team in Information Services. Three members of staff are currently employed who were previously working for Information Services in other roles, and two of these have now progressed through trainee programmes (over two years) into indefinite roles. Contribution to the Institution and Excellence The University of Bradford approach to student engagement is practical, effective and holistic. As a Technology University we also focus on the impact on student employability. Student employability is a longstanding strength of the University of Bradford. Its corporate strategy is titled 'Making Knowledge Work' and the Vice-Chancellor describes the University as 'a great technology university' It estimates that approximately 70 per cent of programmes have professional, statutory and regulatory body (PSRB) accreditation. The University has an Employability Strategy covering the years Its implementation is outlined in an accompanying action plan, and is overseen by an Employability Steering Group. In practical terms, much of the work is done by the Careers Development Service. The University is highly integrated into the regional economy. Faculties have advisory boards that represent a range of different stakeholders including employers, placement providers and voluntary sector representatives. Employers speak positively about the University's commitment and its responsiveness to their interests. Employers range from very small companies, for which a student intern can make a material difference, through to regional NHS trusts, which are closely integrated into the University's work. Employers assume a range of different roles in the delivery and development of the curriculum. In many programmes, especially those facing the NHS, a significant proportion of the students' training and assessment takes place in the workplace. Other programmes are developed on a relatively small scale to meet needs identified by employers. Placements are prioritised across the University. In addition to placement activity, the University has developed a number of innovative approaches to promoting employability. 'Build My Career' is a virtual career centre, providing a CV builder, an interview simulator and career management tools. The Careers Development Service runs an extracurricular Summer Experience Programme, providing six-week placements for approximately 40 undergraduates per year. The Bradford Graduate Internships Programme provides internships of three months' duration, most of which are external to the University. The Bradford Graduate Tier 1 Entrepreneurship Scheme is an innovative response to recent changes to laws regarding student visas. Through this scheme, the University sponsors selected students, who demonstrate entrepreneurial potential, to progress onto a 12-month programme of business support following the successful completion of their studies. The Bradford Mentoring Programme brings individual students into contact with career mentors from industry and professional services.

6 Transference of Best Practice The range of initiatives across the University could be adopted at any other Institution even with access to limited resources. We believe that what differentiates Bradford s approach, at this time, is the wide range of complimentary initiatives delivered across academic, administrative, professional service and Student Union functions to the ultimate benefit of our students. Names of key staff involved: Roger Goodair r.goodair@bradford.ac.uk John Fairhall: j.r.fairhall@bradford.ac.uk Stella Taylor: s.j.taylor@bradford.ac.uk Philip Briggs: p.j.briggs@bradford.ac.uk Chris Russell: c.g.russell@bradford.ac.uk Sophie North: s.north@bradford.ac.uk Graham Hill: g.c.r.hill@bradford.ac.uk This submission has the support of Institution UCISA Representative Sara Marsh and there is permission to publish. Appendix Information Services Student Newsletter September 2014 (page 2)