Three examples of teamwork

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Chuck out your Paper Chintz

• Any Librarians?
• How many use printed handbooks?
• Employ any MetaData Experts?

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Staff Student Information_at_ staffs

• Paul Boardman - Director of the Process
  Improvement Programme - PiP
• JISC Exemplar Site
• Building Learning Communities - BLC
• PiP

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Tales of...

• How two teams became one
• Two approaches
• Teamwork

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The Problem

• Staff information
• Student Information
• Concerns for the Environment

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The Players.

• Franchesca Francis - Registrar Dean of Students
• Ken Sproston - University Secretary
• Sheila Dexter - Quality Support
• Web team

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Dreams and Deliverables

• Kens Golden Dream- one staff Handbook
• Franchesca - Took on the challenge from Modular
  Development Committee
• PiP - Remit for the redesign of Management of
  Student Information Core Process

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Staff Handbook

• Ken had almost achieved a staff handbook on 2
  previous occasions since joining Staffs
• seconded Rachel Baker - mammoth clerical task
• Criticisms from colleagues
• - not centrally available
• - version control
• Once done - no excuse for not maintaining

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Change of Perspective

• Need to move from reactive to proactive handbook
• It started as Rules,Regulations, Arrangements
  and Procedures but it became clear that it was
  going to be a general information resource for
  staff
• First meeting was in autumn 98

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Student Handbook

• Modular Development Committee voiced its concerns
  - task group set up with Deans, Associate Deans,
  School Administrator, Student Records, etc
• Variable quality of info was delivered via
  Student Handbooks
• Consistency needed!!!

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Perennial Problems

• Best presentation for Students?
• How - Format
• Where - Registration
• When - Regulation changes - Annually
• Problem - Retention - Scalped and Dumped

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Write once -use many times

• Award Versions tailored to needs of students
• Validations- panels having information they
  require
• General Handbook
• Award Handbook
• Module Handbook
• Validation Support Document

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Help from the Centre

• Sheila Dexter from Quality Support - Award
  Handbook and Validation Support Document
• Helen Heath - Student Records, looking at the
  General Handbook
• Expertise in each sub-group used on the
  appropriate area of information

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Lists of Lists

• Each would take their allotted piece and work on
  it
• Bring back to the Group
• Agree the divisions of headings and documents
• 4 lists of headings were agreed

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Time-scales Objectives

• Went to QDC as recommendations
• QDC asked to consider time-scales and objectives
• September 1999 for General Handbook
• September 2000 for Awards Handbook

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Staff Handbook

• Ken was Chair of Internal Quality Audit-IQA
• Sheila was Secretary to IQA
• One of IQAs original aims was to map what was
  happening within and across the University -
  massive task!

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• Developed a list of major functions and then sub
  areas of those functions
• Obvious connections to Rachels document
  collection
• Staff Handbook - initially much more of a data
  collection exercise
• Much more data in circulation - but not
  co-ordinated

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Bring out your dead!

• There was a co-ordinated Student Handbook and had
  been for some time
• Vast quantities of paper emerged from every dark
  corner - much of it irrelevant
• Both teams were running in parallel
• Both had agreed to focus on end user needs and
  requirements!

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Atoms or Electrons?

• Students need a generic set of info that they
  must have access to
• Staff have a broader useful category - depends
  on their roles
• Staff site on the intranet would be easier to
  achieve and progress faster
• Student site predicated on the usefulness of
  materials for future developments

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Compare Contrast

• Staff HB - more straightforward - but labour
  intensive,with endless chasing of documents
• Student HB - seen as the first part of an
  on-going series of developments -Award and School
  specific
• Single sources of info - linked electronically

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Meanwhile..back at the Ranch..

• Franchesca had been working with the Students
  Union, redrafting the regulations
• Personalising them
• Staff info still retained distant prose
• Ken and Franchesca had to reach the critical
  point
• Realised that similar outcomes were required-
  albeit different Info.

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The Web and all that..

• The team- Geoff Bridgewood, Mike Cheung,Julie
  Adams,Eric Halliday,PiP team
• Agreed on PDF and Web text
• Developed navigation -based on 3 layers
• Spent the summer scanning and putting the
  documents onto the sites- regular progress
  meetings

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Show and Tell

• Presented to University Management Team in
  September 99
• Sent a merged email to all students and an all
  Staff email
• Staff and Student NT image had to be updated-
  wrong time of year to ask!
• Rapid redesign for radio buttons

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So What?

• Estimated Cost savings - 43,000
• Annual cost savings of over 20,000
• University forms are next - but thats another
  story!

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What have we learned?

• Team work! - divide the tasks between empowered
  teams- utilise interest and experience
• Involve Librarians - metadata experts!
• Set Stretched Goals with a presentation to
  hierarchy in the diary
• Maintain pace and dont leave it to one or two
• Agree to provide info once by the most
  appropriate person

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Theres more..

• Introduce the right people at the right time
• Only user-centred design and language
• Choose the right Project Champion
• See that the experience is rewarding
• Move from atoms to electrons- its easier than
  eating beavers to save trees!

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