April 2015 Programme and Subject Information Reference Group

Date

Meeting 1:

Attendees

Goals

  • Web Improvement Project (WIPII) overview
  • Introductions and agree group members
  • Review and agree the groups charter & meeting frequency
  • Overview of initial understanding of courses, subjects and programmes

Attachments

Discussion items

ItemWhoNotes
Welcome and introductionsDavid

Introduction of the members of the reference group and members of the WIPII project team.

WIPII OverviewDavid and Chrissi

David provided an overview of how the Victoria web channel home page has changed over time. Some of the keys web projects over the last couple of years were presented, with plans for upcoming work for the web team in 2015. The first web improvement project took place circa 2012.

Chrissi presented the high level goals of the WIPII and the proposed delivery model, currently under discussion. The proposal is a 5 phase approach, of which Phase 1 Discovery is currently underway. The second phase, and current highest priority for the project is to address the courses, subjects and programme information in tandem with work on faculties and schools.

The specific approaches for delivery are yet to be determined but workshops and consultation with the reference group will support recommendations going forward. Teresa noted her flexibility around the solution for FGR being a separate faculty site, and that meeting users needs were paramount.

Reference group charterDavid

David presented the draft charter for the reference group. It was noted that where possible, operational discussions to be held outside of this group due to constraints on members time. A core requirement is to develop recommendations from the group in the area of programmes, subjects and courses. These will be presented to the executive sponsor, Madeleine Setchell.

Minutes will be circulated by the web team.

Charlotte noted that her position on the group may be a placeholder for student recruitment.

Kristina and Theresa will represent Faculty Managers, and feedback to their group as required.

Dependencies on other university projects were discussed. David noted his involvement in the CRM project which he can feed this into the group. David and Kristina are on the SSIP board. Adrienne also had close involvement in this area.

The following changes for the charter were noted:

  • Change 'further' to 'prospective' students
  • Update the names of the reference group members, noting Charlotte not Catherine (subject to final discussion on who will be representing student recruitment), and a hyphen to be added for Kristina's surname.
Additional group membersDavid

Do we require a student representative on the group? The group agreed that feedback will come from students via other sources (e.g. focus groups), so not felt to be a requirement for this group.

Academic Office was noted as an additional representative.

There was also a suggestion for Careers to be represented. Charlotte noted that some members of her team are careers specialists.

Courses, subjects and programmesPaul

Paul presented a high level diagram looking at the relationships between programmes, subjects and courses.

Some analysis has already been done around how courses, subjects, and programmes should be used as master data. There are currently inconsistencies across the web channel. How these are managed centrally needs to be addressed to support improving this content.

Definitions around the terms are currently being fleshed out and require agreement within the group.

All the information is currently centralised within the faculties and schools.

Theresa noted this is not only confusing for students, but for staff also. There is an administrative need to make this more straight forward.

Next stepsDavid

Minutes will be circulated, and the next meeting will be in one month.

Paul noted that if there are any questions from the group, he would welcome further discussions. Paul can be contacted on paul.seiler@vuw.ac.nz.

Action items