Gleanings from informal conversations

Purpose

Each faculty was offered the opportunity of an informal catch-up prior to the workshops. The intent was to learn from them anything that we ought to know before we walked in to the workshop (e.g. sensitive topics, major web work or other change initiatives planned, show-stoppers, etc) and for them to ask questions in a private setting (i.e. not in format of all other faculty managers and not in front of their faculty and school staff).

Planning

The table below was created to track the meetings and the names (so many new people)

Findings

The notes below represent a distillation of these conversations and are recorded here so the wider team can read them and comment/augment:

Victoria Business Schools

• Paul met Claire Williams and Ann Thomson on 7/5/15
• Their expectation are very much aligned with ours, as to what can be achieved in WIP
  • Schools to retain their identity but become a part of the faculty site
  • Important information needs to be maintained better and only once, but be reused as and where required
  • For their UG students they believe that subject to programme is the discovery journey and then later on can learn about schools and the faculty.
  • They appreciate the confusion for students with information in multiple places, and/or in inconsistent places and formats.
  • Subjects are for marketing (and therefore need marketing expertise to get the content right)
  • Want to promote good work/news/etc, but acknowledge that they need web-literate help to do this well
  • They want students in (following rounds of) workshops, alongside staff, so each users group hears the others
• They see their site as being about growing and supporting a community. Might also apply to schools?
• Schools have a strong sense of identity and are likely to resist anything that undermines or threatens this. They believe this sentiment is so strong that they were (initially) unable to identify even one school representative to invite to the first workshop.
• They feel that PG might need different treatment (they want to market VBS, not subjects, not programmes and not schools)
• Will speak with Dean (Bob Buckle) about WIP being an opportunity to advance his wider management change agenda. He is likely to speak to Madeleine to identify higher level objectives/goals/messages.
  • That said, they believe that he will be a champion of this initiative and help identify key school people to participate in the first workshop (even with the thorny school issue)
• No major web work or major change initiatives planned.
• Keen to have us work with them ASAP.

Architecture and Design

• Paul spoke to Fay Julain on 8/5/15
• She is fairly comfortable with the workshop (and too busy) so a phone call was adequate to cover off a few points
• She expects most of the participants to be form their two schools, with 1-2 from the faculty office. 
• She mentioned that their Comms person will start in a week or so would therefore be too new to contribute. Do we suggest that this could be a part of her introduction, if indeed she would have ongoing involvement in this work?
• She warned me that we might encounter quite a strong "disgruntled" sentiment, as the general perception is that the web site does not meet the staff's needs or what they perceive as the student's needs.
  • She feels the planned agenda (so long as we are open to listen) will allow this to surface constructively
• She knows of some "bad blood" or feelings towards earlier (Web Team?) decisions. For example, around the last 1 October enrolment season Course FInder was (re)moved from the homepage without any warning or consultation.
• Heads up on timing: Fay does not think the meeting can be before 18/5 and maybe not until sprint 12. I wonder if this is the same for all faculties?

Science

• Paul met Megan Sellars on 11/5/15
• While this meeting was in the context of Science, she reports to Mike Wilson (Pro Vice-Chancellor of three faculties (Science, Engineering, and Architecture and Design)) and will seek some involvement across all three of the workshops, even if it is only an awareness or visibility of the progress and content.
• Sam Fisher will also participate
• She believe that the timing is good, in that senior staff have been thinking about recruitment, publications, communications, etc. Maybe the web has been seen as a second (and poorer) cousin to the publications (except for international)?
• She will discuss with Dave Harper (Dean of Science) about who best to involve/invite.
• She requested that school staff join the faculty workshop, even if the number goes above 6.
• Psychology is probably the school to watch out for, in that they have done more "unique" things to raise awareness/profile (e.g. staff with WordPress sites to profile their research and publications activities).
  • This school is actively trying to attract good PG students (based on those who want to study a specific thing that Victoria has an expert in.
  • Also of interest because it can be studied in a BSc or a BA (in FHSS).
• She would like to see a clearer marketing focus in the web information (along with content/details (that ought not be in the publications) if and when somebody wants to access it).
• She believes that there is a general excitement about refreshing the web content/style, even if people do not yet know exactly what this means.