Compass Program

Compass (aka Student Portal) Program

Participants from the Flinders University, Student View Group were invited to enter the 'Name this project' competition. All nominations for a project name were voted on by the group with 'Compass' securing the most votes and becoming the winner.

"Compass - as we are providing guidance and direction to develop and transform the student experience at Flinders. Also ties in with Matthew Flinders’ role as a navigator and cartographer; where we are a reference point, mapping and planning our voyage together as to how this may be achieved" - Tom, Student View group member.

In partnership with students, Compass aims to streamline and improve the way students discover and use support services at Flinders, improving their student experience, enhancing their sense of belonging to the University community and supporting their success.

The purpose of the Compass Program is to:

• Personalise the student experience by putting students in touch with the right services and support, at the right time.
• Enable student success (as defined by students).
• Improve the student experience at Flinders.
  
• Provide a single source of truth for student support and services.
• Simplify student access to support and services.
• Opportunity to reduce wasted time and money on things student don't care about, need or see as a priority. "It may not be just about the portal, digital channels are not always the answer".
• Demonstrate our commitment to being student centred, giving students a voice for this project and others at Flinders.
• Improved sense of belonging and social wellbeing.
• Reduce the perception the University is not listening or don't care about the student voice.

The aim of Compass is to improve the student experience at Flinders while allowing students to influence how Flinders responds to their needs with regards to the following:

Visibility of support services

• As a student I want to understand what University wellbeing and support services are available to me and how I can access them. 

Providing and actioning of feedback

• As a student I want the opportunity to provide feedback to the University. 
• As a student I want to understand what actions are taken as a result of my feedback. 

 Communication

• As a student I want to receive timely information from the University that is relevant to me.
• As a student I want the University to know who I am when communicating with me. 

 Sense of belonging

• As a student I want to be able to meet other students and form relationships with my peers.

Success factors

In order for the Compass Program to be a success, a student centred approach is critical to ensure we deliver solutions which address the purpose of program. We will do this by ensuring:

• Regular and authentic student consultation and feedback will be the drivers of change for this initiative.
• Students feel supported, heard, represented and confident in finding and accessing relevant services when they need them.
• Staff providing student services understand student needs and support requirements and provide adequate self-service channels to find them.
• Staff understand student's need for timely, personalised and relevant information through streamlined and efficient channels (ie newsletter/ online blog or similar) which reduces the risk of missing important items. 
• Enable University staff to support efficient triaging, tracking and reporting of student feedback.
• Identify opportunities to tailor way-finding capability to be more Flinders University centric and helpful to our students.

The Compass Program will likely impact all current students and staff at Flinders and we will work closely with all university support service staff to support the success of this work.

Improve the student experience by:

• Providing a platform for students to submit their feedback in a meaningful way that is open, transparent and referable.
• Providing a personalised service to students within streamlined, meaningful communication via the channels students use.
• Student experience will be transformed; they will feel more supported and able to succeed. The University reputation in relation to the student experience will be improved, resulting in reduction in attrition.  
• Staff efficiency is improved by reducing the time spent on helping students navigate the complex service and support environment across a myriad of platforms. 

 Improvement to student experience will be measured by:

• Using existing metrics to benchmark current student satisfaction levels. 
• Student satisfaction surveys.
• Student feedback through in person services such as Flinders Connect.
• Feedback from other stakeholders who provide support to students.
  
• Periodic 'pulse checks’ will be taken to re-measure student satisfaction after iterative deliverables.