Status: FIRST DRAFT IN PROGRESS
Stuff we're still figuring out
- Should we speak to people by topic or by subject?
- How many people would we like to speak to at once?
- What should we ask them to do or prepare before the meeting?
- What homework should we give them afterwards?
- How should we explain to them what this is all about?
- Should we talk about people and stories separately or as we talk about other areas of the page?
- What will our preferred checking and review process be?
- Who should have final sign off? (HoS?)
Who we'd like to speak to
- Head of the relevant school
- Someone with vision - ideally someone who understands the students, marketing and the subject
What we should tell them about
- the project (and CSP in particular)
- their grouping
- the programme matches we've identified
- the related topics we've identified
- the differences between programme pages and topic pages
- what we have read about their subject so far
- our overall goals for topics: simplicity, undergrad focus, user needs, lively, not dry...
- how we're handling postgrad
the sections of a topic page: About (mixed), Subjects (by subject), Careers (by subject), people and stories (mixed?)
Pre-interview or post-interview homework
Identify stand-out or award winning projects that students have been involved with. Ideally these would already be profiled online somewhere on the Victoria site (eg. in a news item).
Identify existing media or profiles?
Check programme mapping
Check related topic mapping
Interview questions
Brain dump ATM, filtering.
As with our research with students, this can be much more conversational than it appears here.
About (general)
What is special about studying <X> at Victoria?
Follow up prompts if necessary. We should aim to hear about 2-4 points of difference. How about...
- the learning environment/location
- opportunities students will have to work with potential employers(real projects, networking, internship programmes, placements...)
- staff - anyone particularly awesome?
- special events (eg. trips, competitions, exhibitions, productions)
- accreditation or affiliations
- Wellington angle
What are some of the great comments you're always hearing from students about studying <X>?
Tell us about your students - what are they like? How do they behave? How does studying <X> change them?
What kind of person might be interested in <X>? Eg. personality traits, school subjects, learning style, hobbies they enjoy...
About (subject)
Tell us a bit about this subject at Victoria.
- What will students learn?
- What will they be qualified or prepared to do at the end of it?
What's it like to study <X> at Victoria?
Note: try to avoid getting into discussions of dry, non-marketable content such as graduate attributes.
Careers and employment
What are the career opportunities like?
Can you tell us about any alumni who have ended up in interesting careers?
What do employers generally think of your graduates?
What sorts of postgraduate study opportunities are their for students and how could those impact their careers?
Note: try to avoid getting into discussions of dry, non-marketable content such as how students will learn teamwork skills.
People and stories
If we hear any good suggestions in other parts of the interview, ask "can you think of any student/alumni/staff profiles that would help illustrate this?"
Do you have any stand-out teachers on staff? Perhaps someone who has won an education award or who students rate well? Do they have a profile?
Miscellaneous
Are there any big misconceptions about this subject?