Building Agile & Responsive Student Services: Implementing Good Practices that Enhance Student Experience
Program Overview:
Today’s context for higher education presents student services leaders and professionals with several challenges. Externally, they have to cope with changing student demographics, emergence of new technologies, demand for greater accountability, and concerns about increasing cost of higher education. Internally, they are often challenged with the mission to contribute to students’ learning and personal growth, and ensure their preparedness for work and life as well as establish seamless integration and synergy with the academic and other administrative units within the institution.
A student services division is an integral part of a student journey and hence, plays a major role in student enrolment, retention, progression, success and completion. To successfully fulfill this role, a student services division must adopt and adapt to the changes affecting higher education landscape. In light of these imperatives, the program is designed to facilitate and elicit answers to the following questions: How can an institution establish a student services division that is adept and responsive to change? How can student services plan and successfully apply operational excellence and innovation tools to deliver sustainable outcomes? How can student services adapt technology to facilitate access and increase its efficiency and effectiveness? How can a student services division develop student-centric culture, and synergize its efforts with other academic and administrative units to achieve common goals? What are the core competencies required for student services leaders and professionals to drive a successful and nimble student services division?
Target Audience:
This program is designed for leaders and professionals responsible for planning, operating and measuring the impact of student services on students’ learning and personal development experience as well as the institution’s mission and strategic goals. It involves Deans, Directors and staff of student services, academic support services (i.e. library, tutoring, etc.), Admissions and registration, counseling among others.