(See also: Project Progress - completed developments).
Key to consultative groups:
Table of contents, in order of Priority, then by Consultative Group Number
| Priority |
Consultative Group item number |
Requirement |
| Work in progress |
MAG001 |
Extension of Academic Record channel |
| MAG003 |
Incorporation of the Library portal into myUWE through a single sign-on |
| MBG001 |
Student status letters |
| MBG002 |
Student and staff photograph submission |
| MBG008 |
Student photosets, not by SyllabusPlus grouping |
| MBG009 |
Bursary information |
| none (decided prior to elicitation process) |
Timetables: Student Allocator |
| High |
MBG021 |
Student financial statement |
| Medium |
MBG015 |
Academic Calendar |
| MSF001 |
Student representative database |
| Low |
MBG005 |
Award ceremony booking |
| MBG010 |
Email alerts to unread messages |
| MBG012 (and MAG004) |
Personalised links to (and between) programme and module specifications |
| MBG018 |
Parking permit |
| MBG019 |
Budgetary information |
| Deferred |
MBG003 |
Staff personal information |
| MBG006 |
Human resource reporting |
| MBG013 |
Module preferences indication |
| MBG016 |
Staff expenses claims |
| MBG020 |
WAP version of myUWE |
| none (decided prior to elicitation process) |
Timetables: room bookings; room utilisation information |
| Out of scope |
MAG005 |
Email communication with tutorial groups |
| MBG011 |
Profile of interests |
| MBG014 |
Student ambassadors |
| MBG017 |
Booking training |
| Provide another way |
MBG004 |
National Student Survey and First Destination Survey |
| MAG002 |
Generic exam feedback channel |
| Refer to ISCG |
MBG007 |
Announcements: timetabling groups; SMS |
MAG001 - Extension of Academic Record Channel
| Requirement |
Extension of Academic Record channel to include as one phase credits (achieved, outstanding credits required to become eligible for an award) and, as another phase, results |
| Provenance |
Faculties and Academic Registry |
| Audience |
All MAR students |
| Benefit |
Would complete one of the most popular channels with students. Results already available on the web but should clearly be brought into the portal. Credits required for completion would be a significant benefit to students and all staff providing advice to students about their programmes. The MAG noted this was work in progress approved by the PMG in the interim between the old and new portal management structures. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Work was deferred in favour of online registration and has been picked up again - is not part of the elicitation process. Work in progress. |
| Priority |
Work in progress |
Return to top
MAG002 - Generic exam feedback channel
| Requirement |
Generic exam feedback channel |
| Provenance |
Faculties |
| Audience |
All students |
| Benefit |
Of benefit to students and possibly would help with the NSS feedback ranking. Of benefit to academic staff who wish to give their generic exam feedback online. May influence University policy on exam feedback. Would need careful development. The MAG thought this would be of benefit particularly as Blackboard can't be used for exam feedback as passing students lose access to a module run when the Field Board is locked. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
This was previously agreed but deferred work which the RPSG had ranked as high. The myUWE Management Group (MMG) needed to re-prioritise at least one work stream and this was ranked by the MMG as medium. Following the new Blackboard policy for 2008/09 that there is an expectation that all module runs have a presence in Blackboard, it is now the intention of the Blackboard Management Group to deliver this facility through Feedback courses in Blackboard. |
| Priority |
Provide another way |
Return to top
MAG003 - Incorporation of the Library portal into myUWE through single sign-on
| Requirement |
Incorporation of the Library portal into myUWE through a single sign-on |
| Provenance |
Library |
| Audience |
All students and staff |
| Benefit |
The Library portal is being developed with a view to a pilot in 2007-2008 and release in Sept 2008. University policy is that there are two portals only (e:Vision the applicant portal; and myUWE) so this portal will be to be incorporated at some point. There is clear synergy between the two systems. There will be a demonstration of the Library portal at the MAG meeting on 7 Nov. Single sign-on is an issue. The MAG received a demonstration of the current state of the Library portal. Members were very enthusiastic about this development and saw it as extremely useful and an obvious application to incorporate into myUWE. The MAG recommended that this application should be given very high priority, certainly it was the highest current academic priority. The MAG recommended that existing library services like access to users' library records also be brought into the portal through a full library channel of which the library portal was one part.here was some discussion of the possibility of online payment of library fines without a clear view emerging. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Both the RPSG and the MMG considered that this was high priority and should include access to the library record |
| Priority |
Work in progress |
Return to top
MAG005 - Email communication with tutorial groups
| Requirement |
Email communication with tutorial groups |
| Provenance |
Faculties |
| Audience |
All MAR students |
| Benefit |
It should be possible to facilitate email groups from the photosets channel. It wasn't clear what extra facility this would provide as communication with tutorial and seminar groups (i.e. teaching activities in Syllabus Plus) was facilitated through the announcements channel. No action recommended at this stage. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
This was deemed to be out of scope for the portal |
| Priority |
Out of scope |
Return to top
MBG001 - Student status letters
| Requirement |
Student Status letters - at the start of the year faculty staff are inundated with requests for student status letters as form of proof for council tax and banking purposes. This takes up a lot of time and gives the students an impression of unnecessary bureaucracy. It was recognised that banks have specific requirements that may not be served by an electronically produced letter, and the output would need to be protected, but this is a good example of a student producing personal information from the portal. |
| Provenance |
Faculty administration Students |
| Audience |
Students |
| Benefit |
Would improve the student experience in providing required information more quickly and would reduce the administrative time involved. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
The initial estimation is that this is a relatively small project and is strongly supported by the Student Forum and faculty administration. This will depend on analysis to determine whether or not a student-generated letter would be acceptable to the recipients. Agreed as HIGH priority by RPSG and MMG. |
| Priority |
Work in progress |
Return to top
MBG002 - Student and staff photograph submission
| Requirement |
Student and staff photograph submission - the current photograph collection process is out-of-date and provided problems this year for new students. In addition, photographs themselves get out-of-date and require updating. This will provide a personal submission process for both students and staff. |
| Provenance |
Feedback from the Welcome Week 07 Faculty Administration |
| Audience |
Students and staff |
| Benefit |
This will provide a quick way of applying for a student ID card and avoid the "antiquated" process currently used. It will possibly provide an opportunity to review the way cards are produced. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
A relatively small project to allow students to submit photos through the portal to a database already in use by the portal. It would be a medium size project to extend the database to include an application for a student ID card. This is supported by House Services, who are responsible for the storage of student photographs and production of student ID cards. It received enthusiastic response from the Students' Union. The work requires detailed specification but has been included as HIGH priority. |
| Priority |
Work in progress |
Return to top
MBG003 - Staff personal information
| Requirement |
Staff personal information - the portal has been successful for students but is of little benefit to many staff. This will need careful investigation, because of the sensitivity of the data, but it was agreed that to allow staff to access and update some personal information would be of benefit to all staff. |
| Provenance |
myUWE Business Group Human Resources |
| Audience |
All staff |
| Benefit |
Will give many more staff a benefit of having myUWE by providing the ability to maintain personal information. The data will be improved because this is easily available and staff will be more inclined to use it. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
There is no current connection to SAP and this would have to be achieved before a true assessment can be made. Advice received indicates that this would be very big project and possibly expensive. |
| Priority |
Deferred until further investigation into the Portal/SAP connectivity. Not included in the current plan. |
Return to top
MBG004 - National Student Survey and First Destination Survey
| Requirement |
National Student Survey and First Destination Survey - to improve the take-up of both surveys. It could be provided through a time-limited tab in myUWE with announcements to encourage the completion of the survey. It was recognised that this would require extending the time that myUWE is available to students after they have completed their registration. If this was considered to be worthwhile the access to UWE systems beyond the student's UWE career would need to be referred to ISCG. |
| Provenance |
Marketing and Communications Student Services |
| Audience |
Students |
| Benefit |
Improving the response to both surveys is a strategic aim for the university. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
This is not necessarily personalised information and is therefore not suitable for a portal application. If the intention is to raise awareness this will be best served by an announcement or a time-controlled splash on the myUWE landing page. This would be a relatively small project and ATG will try to help in this regard outside of this process. |
| Priority |
Provide another way. |
Return to top
MBG005 - Award Ceremony booking
| Requirement |
Award Ceremony booking - this can be a complex process (ceremony tickets, gowns etc.) and although booking is available through the university's online store, there have been a few problems this year. Some students have been making the wrong choices when faced with different ceremonies and it would very beneficial to students to have this personalised, based on their award information. |
| Provenance |
Faculty administration Students |
| Audience |
Graduating students |
| Benefit |
Will personalise the ceremony according to the student's award information and will avoid booking the wrong ceremony and the resulting confusion and re-booking. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
This appears to be more a development for improving the online store. Not seen as a personalised information service and the audience is relatively small. Agreed that this is a low priority. |
| Priority |
Low |
Return to top
MBG006 - Human Resource reporting
| Requirement |
Human Resource reporting - access to management information about staff (e.g. sickness records) could be provided personally, based on a member of staff's employment contract and management responsibilities. |
| Provenance |
myUWE Business Group Human Resources |
| Audience |
Staff managers |
| Benefit |
Currently if a manager requires access to the SAP Manager's Desktop it means having to purchase a licence and provide training - which makes this a limited-use application. Provision of this information through the portal would negate this and reduce the need for paper reporting. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Requires connection to SAP, therefore is deferred (see MGB003). |
| Priority |
Deferred |
Return to top
MBG007 - Announcements: timetabling groups; SMS
| Requirement |
Announcements - to include:
- Timetabling groups
- SMS
Agreed that this would be a benefit to faculties for immediate messages, like class cancellations. See following item on photoset groupings. |
| Provenance |
Faculties
House Services |
| Audience |
Students and staff |
| Benefit |
Would help in instant messaging and avoid faculties having to set up individual SMS provisions. Improve the targeting of the intended audience. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
This has been split into 2:
- timetabling groups will be considered as part of MBG008
- SMS will be referred to ISCG because of costs - UWE preferred service costs 5p per text message.
|
| Priority |
Refer to ISCG |
Return to top
MBG008 - Student photosets, not by SyllabusPlus grouping
| Requirement |
Student photosets, not by SyllabusPlus grouping - this is something that has been raised before. There is a need for student photosets for students whose records are not held in SyllabusPlus (e.g. BBS Pg programmes are "fixed" and are not scheduled in S+). This would require legal advice on who can have access but if photosets are linked to a structure similar to the announcements, student photosets could be produced by all grouping based on their registrations in ISIS. |
| Provenance |
Faculty administration |
| Audience |
All staff and not only those attached to teaching activities. |
| Benefit |
The benefit would be the same as already provided by displaying teaching photosets in myUWE and now that the photosets have proved successful there is a demand to widen the groupings to provide the same benefit to a wider group. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Technical advice is that this would be best developed as part of MBG007, part 1, and integrating SyllabusPlus groups into the portal groupings structure.
Included as HIGH priority. |
| Priority |
Work in progress |
Return to top
MBG009 - Bursary information
| Requirement |
Bursary information - at the start of the academic year faculty and academic registry staff were swamped with calls from students about how much bursary they would receive. This information is calculated in ISIS when a student's SLC information has been received. |
| Provenance |
Faculty administration
Student Services |
| Audience |
Students |
| Benefit |
Students will see the amount of bursary they will receive so will improve the information available to them. It will also avoid unnecessary calls to faculty and academic registry staff. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Depending on the next phase of online registration development - this could be included in that work.
Considered as work in progress. |
| Priority |
Work in progress |
Return to top
MBG010 - Email alerts to unread messages
| Requirement |
Email alerts to unread messages - the communication via email has been improved by showing the UWE email account in the portal but it could be improved by alerting students on the home page that there are a number of unread email messages in their UWE account. |
| Provenance |
Faculty administration |
| Audience |
Students |
| Benefit |
Would improve communication by email which has been difficult when students are reluctant to use their UWE email account. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
This would not be possible across all 3 email systems. A medium project to include webmail and staff mail.
Low priority. |
| Priority |
Low |
Return to top
MBG011 - Profile of interests
| Requirement |
Profile of interests - a way to subscribe and unsubscribe to email communication. A personal profile could be stored, according to defined personal interests, that could be used for communication. For example, Centre for Sports, Chaplaincy etc. |
| Provenance |
myUWE Business Group |
| Audience |
Staff and students |
| Benefit |
Would avoid blanket emails being sent and received that are routinely deleted before reading.
Could extend the announcements to include personal interest groups and not only ISIS groups. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
This is beyond the scope of the portal to provide but the portal might contribute to a project to provide this service in a number of ways. |
| Priority |
Out of scope |
Return to top
MBG012 - Personalised links to (and between) programme and module specifications
| Requirement |
Personalised links to (and between) programme and module specifications
This was considered to be a good thing to personalise this through the portal, accepting that this information is available elsewhere online although not personalised to a student's programme/modules. |
| Provenance |
Faculties
Academic Registry |
| Audience |
Students |
| Benefit |
This would improve the quality of the information available to students; information that is fundamental to a student's programme of study and in making informed choices. This is entirely dependent on a consistent and maintained set of module descriptions and programme specifications. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Unclear about the significant benefit and would depend on a University-wide system that does not yet exist.
No action at this stage - low priority. |
| Priority |
Low |
Return to top
MBG013 - Module preferences indication
| Requirement |
Module preferences indication - personalised online collection of module option choices.
Agreed that this would be a great benefit in reducing paper processes but would depend on changes in working practice that would need to be agreed. |
| Provenance |
Faculties
Academic Registry
Central Timetabling |
| Audience |
Students and staff |
| Benefit |
Would reduce the use of paper systems and improve the exchange of information between ISIS and SyllabusPlus through electronic means. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
The Student Allocator project is seen as the provider of this and will be running an extended pilot this year for next year's module choices.
Work deferred until the Student Allocator is at a stage for portal development. |
| Priority |
Deferred |
Return to top
MBG014 - Student ambassadors
| Requirement |
Student ambassadors - there is no easy way for faculties to see whether or not there are student ambassadors available for events. Not sure how this can be done through myUWE but there is obviously a need to have access to student ambassadors at relatively short notice. Is there currently a place for this? |
| Provenance |
myUWE Business Group |
| Audience |
Student recruitment staff and events managers |
| Benefit |
Open days and similar events are very important in the recruitment process and co-ordination of student ambassador availability would help in this process. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Not sure this is in the scope of the portal and the target audience is too small for this to be considered a priority for the portal. There is no dispute that this is required but it is not appropriate for the portal. |
| Priority |
Out of scope |
Return to top
MBG015 - Academic Calendar
| Requirement |
Academic Calendar - containing school, faculty, university key dates.
Agreed that this would be a good idea but would depend on it being maintained and the group was uncertain about how this could be done. |
| Provenance |
myUWE Academic Group |
| Audience |
Staff |
| Benefit |
Staff would be able to log on to myUWE to see key dates at a glance. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
This would depend on the dates being collated in a consistent manner and a single source. It should be achieved in the short-term by a more coordinated presence on the UWE website.
Medium priority. |
| Priority |
Medium |
Return to top
MBG016 - Staff expenses claims
| Requirement |
Staff expenses claims - Richard Dewfall reported that some improvements to the expenses claims process are under consideration but not necessarily online. |
| Provenance |
myUWE Business Group |
| Audience |
Staff |
| Benefit |
Another staff benefit that could be personalised. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
This would require connectivity with Agresso and the work deferred in favour of online registration to provide students with their financial (debt) statement will be included as the proof of concept to connect the portal to Agresso (MBG021).
Deferred until connected to Agresso. |
| Priority |
Deferred |
Return to top
MBG017 - Booking training
| Requirement |
Booking training - for staff to book on all training courses. There may be some issues of staff management but this is seen as a useful tool for staff to view and book. Not necessarily a personalised service because it would be difficult to see how this could be organised. |
| Provenance |
myUWE Business Group |
| Audience |
Staff |
| Benefit |
Benefit staff to be able to book training online. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Small audience; out of scope for the portal. This should be provided elsewhere. |
| Priority |
Out of scope |
Return to top
MBG018 - Parking permits
| Requirement |
Parking permits - this year staff were able to pay for parking permits through the online store and the ordering was fine but there was some confusion about delivering the permit to staff. Once the permit has been "purchased" the process becomes invisible. |
| Provenance |
myUWE Business Group |
| Audience |
Staff and students |
| Benefit |
It would help staff to know that they have a current permit and when they need to order a new one. Some staff were uncertain of their status when the warning emails were sent and it would help if their personal position could be shown. This could include students but it was from a staff perspective that the case was made. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Unsure of the requirement and may require connection to both ISIS and WPM. Small to medium size project.
Low priority. |
| Priority |
Low |
Return to top
MBG019 - Budgetary information
| Requirement |
Budgetary information - available to budget holders to monitor situation.
There was not enough information to decide whether or not this would be of benefit. Agreed that MN would seek further clarification and discuss with Richard Dewfall. There was a feeling in the group that this is already available to the appropriate staff, although not necessarily online. |
| Provenance |
referred by myUWE Academic Group |
| Audience |
Staff budget holders |
| Benefit |
Budget holders could monitor budgetary situation on a personal basis. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Would require connection to Agresso. Very low audience and this is available to budget holders albeit not in a web application. Possibly out of scope and agreed as a low priority. |
| Priority |
Low |
Return to top
MBG020 - WAP version of myUWE
| Requirement |
WAP version of myUWE - containing immediate information like class cancellations.
The group did not necessarily understand what this meant. Leave on the list and seek further clarification. |
| Provenance |
referred by myUWE Academic Group |
| Audience |
Staff and students |
| Benefit |
Can convey information via mobile phones quickly. Possibly replace the practice of SMS messaging. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
Technical advice suggests that WAP has largely been superseded by other mobile protocols. Any portal functionality specifically targeted at mobile devices is likely to require a mobile-specific version of the portal with stripped-down features - making a very large project. This received little support from the Students' Union. It was agreed that this will be deferred and reviewed in one year's time. |
| Priority |
Deferred |
Return to top
MBG021 - Student financial statement
| Requirement |
Student financial statement - to present a student's account information (work deferred in 06/07 in order to develop Online Registration). |
| Provenance |
Finance Dept |
| Audience |
All students |
| Benefit |
Provides students with a current financial statement where a debt position is clear. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
This works was deferred in favour of online registration and has be re-introduced to the plan as a high priority. This will provide a proof of concept for connectivity to Agresso |
| Priority |
High |
Return to top
MSF001 - Student representative database
| Requirement |
Student representative database - enable a student to search for contact details of their student representatives |
| Provenance |
Students' Union |
| Audience |
Students |
| Benefit |
Enables students to establish who their student representative is. Probably two phases: the database; and accessing it through the portal |
| Outcome from RPSG |
The requirement would need to be specified more clearly in order to make a more accurate assessment of size and complexity. The MMG agreed that this is a medium priority. |
| Priority |
Medium |
Return to top
Timetables: student allocator; room bookings; room utilisation information
| Note |
No consultation group item number - decided prior to elicitation process |
| Requirement |
Timetables:
- Student Allocator
- Room bookings
- Room utilisation information
House Services representatives had sent apologies to this meeting so it was difficult to understand what this means and the expected benefit - defer to a future meeting. |
| Provenance |
Faculties
House Services |
| Audience |
- staff/students
- staff
- staff
|
| Benefit |
Would help students to "tailor" their timetable within given constraints. |
| Outcome from RPSG |
The Student Allocator project is underway in CETTS and much of this would depend on that project.
Deferred depending on the Student Allocator project. |
| Priority |
Deferred with the exception of Student Allocator which is Work in progress |
(See also: Project Progress - completed developments).
