What you asked: How does the University make decisions on how it spends its money particularly related to our student tuition?

Where was this answered: Town Hall (from 00:04:23-00:12:01)

What they said: Each year a budget is agreed by the Board of Directors at Arden University which sets certain objectives to be achieved, and it can take 4 to 5 months to come up with a strategic spending plan.

Whilst the University has a 5-year strategy, year on year needs of every department is reviewed and budget plans are made accordingly.

Student experience is a major part of the university delivery and investments are made to enhance this area.

Considering academic experience professional bodies are invested in so student can get accreditations. Additionally wider avenues are explored to improve employment opportunities for students through external networking.

The university wants to give all students a competitive advantage when they graduate and is looking for ways to invest on the use of artificial intelligence as this technology is gaining significance in various industries.

What you asked: What are the key areas students should be aware of in the new University strategy?

Where was this answered: Town Hall (from 00:15:17-00:21:11)

What they said: The new University strategy is still being discussed and isn’t finalised yet however key areas that were highlighted are below.

International expansion and improvements to academic experience:

• The university is keen on international expansion and would like to welcome international students to the UK.
• Another area of significance is getting closer to employers, providing more employment opportunities for students within their course.
• Looking to enhance student support and support for more personalised learning.
• Additionally, module calendar and assessment strategy are other imminent areas that are being looked at.

Arden NeXt:

• The university is researching and preparing a strategy called Arden NeXt which is all about improving student experience. This strategy will consider academic affairs as well as student experience where there can be further improvements.
• Areas which have already been introduced under this strategy are support for students through peer mentor programmes, StartSmart which is the new student orientation, Success Coaching and more.
• These changes were implemented to ensure students understand all support and services they can get from Arden based on student needs research.

Key Improvements:

• A key thing to improve is the pace of change at Arden and for students to be able to keep up with the change as well as actively participate in the decision-making process.
• The university will continue to be technology led for teaching, learning and wider support.
• Furthermore, the university will scrutinise actions that can be taken to ensure students get the best possible outcome after choosing to study at Arden by enhancing teaching, learning, assessments, and so.

What you asked: How are decisions made to introduce new systems, create new programmes or expand into new campuses?

Where was this answered: Town Hall (from 00:21:12-00:30:41)

What they said:

Creating New Programmes:

The decision to create new programmes is essentially driven by market demand.

The senior academic leaders consult the insights and commercial team who undertake sector research to understand the demand, the competition and the resources needed to deliver it.

External networks and consideration on the position of the course comparing its demand in current market compared to 5 years ago helps to appraise the options. Additionally, comparisons are done with similar or related programmes to appraise the course.

Student input is considered in making decisions on needs and wants of current and prospective students.

Using the data, the senior academic team prepares a business case which is presented to other executives within the university before the final decision is made on creating a new programme.

Introducing New Systems:

IT strategy gets looked at every five years. The university sets up core or super core systems to support teaching and learning. There are three big pillars of the system strategy which are being released in phases:

• The new Student Information System (SITS) is being used to record student data.
• The existing learning platform, iLearn, where students get learning resources.
• Salesforce being released as part of customer relationship management system.

Accuracy of information and data has driven the reason for introducing new systems. This is also to ensure that effective systems are used to support the growing student populations. The university acknowledged that introducing new systems can come with initial bugs.

Expanding into New Campuses:

When choosing new campuses, the university looks at data and understand the demand for a particular location before choosing a new site for campus. The university is currently looking at Midlands and the North in considerations for campuses in the UK.

As an example: The university opened a campus in Manchester and learnt that there are many students who travelled from Leeds to Manchester. Study shows that commute can affect student engagements and so a new campus in Leeds was opened. This has further given insights into student travelling from Newcastle.

What you asked: What reassurance can you provide regarding the mitigating steps that have been taken to reduce the issues that were faced in the initial release of the student portal, which is called e: vision?

Where was this answered: Town Hall (from 00:35:34-00:39:06)

What they said:

The institution was aware that there was an issue in the middle of January with the new platform that impacted the ability of students to submit their work. The mitigation took longer to resolve however, any technical bugs that existed have now been resolved.

There were no recurring technical issues or bugs for the February regarding student submissions.

The university is working towards clearing a backlog of queries and providing feedback to students impacted by the initial technical issues.

What you asked: How does the university guarantee a fair and transparent process to students who have gone through the appeal process? Additionally, how can we better support students as they go through this to limit any negative impact or detriment?

Where was this answered: Town Hall (from 00:45:00-00:47:37)

What they said:

The university has a comprehensive and recorded processes for students going through their academic appeals or other appeal matters. They are carefully considered by a panel, and it is recorded. The Conduct and Disciplinary procedure cover this information which are designed to be fair for all students.

Specific cases such as academic misconduct matter for plagiarism – there are clear procedures followed where the initial decision on whether a student has committed any academic misconduct goes through reviews twice by two different members of staff. So, there are a number of stages taking place before a decision is made.

The university acknowledges that it currently isn’t systematic with supporting students and guiding through the process in a timely manner, however the Students’ Association has started a new independent advice service which could help bridge this gap.

Better communication to support the students in understanding the thoughts behind the decisions and outcomes could further enhance student experience.

What you asked: All student communication has been a real problem we’ve experienced particularly when an issue has been raised multiple times to different teams, and we are not transparently aware of work being done to address this. What are the University plans to improve all student communications and how will that be delivered?

Where was this answered: Town Hall (from 01:13:53-01:17:33)

What they said:

The university is aware that this is an area to be worked on to ensure that communication is coherent.

To address this the university are in the planning process for creating a unit called “Strategic Student Communication.” The unit is intended to include a Head of Strategic Communications (currently under recruitment), a Communications Manager who regularly sends out messages to students and a newly hired individual who will help with the technical side of creating messages through the cloud systems.

This unit will work to create a strategy to ensure that there is a cycle of messages that go out regularly (these will be prepared and tweaked appropriately). Certain communications need to go out at the start of each semester and so these would be prepared for the 4 intakes that the university has.

The university is interested to understand ways in which students want to be communicated to. This is because emails are not always the most effective means. There are some communications that must come from the official university emails however, the university is eager to find other ways to communicate and create a coordinated approach for this.

The strategy will help with proactive and informative messaging alongside being reactive. The university will work to send good communication for new as well as current students.

One approach that the university is working on currently is the creation of a TikTok account for sharing informative videos for prospective and current students. And similarly other social media platforms would be considered for communications.

What you asked:

1. What tests and strategies were applied prior to launching e: vision? And will there be a report or an outcome of investigations into the negative effects the initial bugs have had on students?
2. How are errors in university systems such as e:vision, Student Hub or iLearn, handled and how can students be informed about the ongoing development of university systems?

What they said:

You don’t go down a transformation path unless you have a really difficult problem to solve, because it’s not an easy thing to do. In Arden’s case we had a suite of legacy applications that were effectively end-of-life and could not be relied upon to be a long-term platform for our ‘Digital First’ journey.

Transformation is more than a technology project. It involves the entire business so the scale of it is huge and as it involved replacing our core student administration platform, it is probably the largest technology project Arden has undertaken.

Prior to Go-Live there were rigorous test cycles conducted and the decision to Go-Live was subject to the scrutiny of the senior leaders and the governance at the university.

We firmly believe we have addressed each of the technical issues with robust and durable solutions and acknowledge that the mitigation tools available to us can be impactful. However, the backlog created by the initial issue has taken additional time to resolve through subsequent submission cycles, and our failure to meet service level agreement is the root cause of increased complaints.

What you asked: Are there any plans to evaluate and address the backlog created by the initial bugs in e:vision through wider communication to students? Better university wide communication might help in reducing the number of individual queries from students.

What they said:

Throughout the initial bugs, and in response to events occurring, the university teams have engaged with students at the earliest opportunity and provided as much direction as possible, though there is always room for improvement.

Reflecting on this period, we believe there is a need for increased engagement with the Students’ Association and the student body in general not only in the development of strategies and services that support learning and engagement, but also to create awareness in the ongoing investment that underpins and enables those services.

What you asked: In my experience, iLearn goes through regular maintenance, however, this also causes disruptions in our learning. Are there any plans to reduce these disruptions?

What they said:

Like all organisations, Arden, outside of project delivery, also needs to support its existing systems and this occasionally requires maintenance outages. As far as possible we schedule such work for out-of-hours periods of historically low utilisation and publish banner notices in advance.

What you asked: What is the University developing outside of academic opportunities and support, to provide wider opportunities for student experience?

What they said:

We are creating TikTok videos to explain each of the programmes so that students can learn about them.

1. Student Life – a full-time Student Life Advisor has been appointed to each Campus who will be on campus to help create a dynamic student campus life through cultural and social events, celebrations, games, and activities. This is where students can get involved outside of class, make new connections, and learn soft skills for their CV. The Student Life Advisor, in collaboration with the Peer Mentor Lead (and from Autumn, the multicultural hub advisor), will work together to increase engagement opportunities on campus. A Student Life Activities guide has been produced for each campus as well as for Distance Learning students.
2. ArdenCONNECT is a peer-to-peer programme designed to increase connections and sense of belonging. All new students are assigned an experienced student Peer Mentor in their first semester who work closely with the Academic Persistence team. They provide support and guidance to all the peer mentors on campus. Every incoming student has an opportunity to join a group of new students and be supported by a Peer Mentor. A Peer Mentor Lead will also support online peer mentors for new students joining our DL programmes. The peer mentor meets with their group of students biweekly to provide connection opportunities. In addition to these social connection opportunities, new students can reach out to their peer mentor with their questions, needs for learning or navigating university systems, or to get referrals to resources relevant to their needs.
3. First Year Fridays (FYF) are part of the ArdenCONNECT programme. First Year Fridays take place every second week (it doesn’t have to be a Friday), when students meet with their peer mentor and peers to decide how to spend their time together, whether it is going for a meal together, doing activities, or inviting a faculty or staff expert to give them a talk on a subject of mutual interest.
4. StartSmart is our new student orientation. Our Blended Learning StartSmart replaced the previous one-day inductions held on each campus, which includes a session involving meeting the peer mentors, who are available to talk to students during lunch. StartSmart is a 1 & 1/2-day orientation (one day off campus at a venue with all new students from that campus and one-half day on campus, where students learn about their study programme from their faculty and campus resources and have time to connect with students in their programme). We have also developed a new StartSmart Milestones iLearn module as part of milestones with refreshed content for the website launch in August 2024. StartSmart new student orientation for DL was rolled out in October 2024 and it is conducted online.
5. Pass First Time provides academic skills and tools to support students in their first semester. The goal of this programme is to equip students with the academic skills they need to pass their module assessments the first time. This mandatory program is offered virtually to all new students across all first-year programmes in their first 4 weeks of classes. Pass First Time is designed to help students gain the skills (e.g., notetaking, essay structure, academic integrity, and research skills) and the confidence to prepare for and successfully complete their assessments the first time.
6. On Track is a newly designed programme of support that focuses on helping students experiencing academic setbacks by offering targeted support to deal with academic barriers and challenges. On Track support goes beyond the conventional model, for example, by offering mentorship programmes, study skills, counselling support, and success coaching. The programme encompasses assessment support from Semester 1, available both on campus and online. It features week 10 semester/module previews designed to enhance student engagement as they advance through their programme. Additionally, it offers resit and progress support, academic progression reviews, and levelling up through orientation sessions at each level. On Track replaces the old programme, Arden Achieve and was launched in September 2024 for Blended Learning and in October 2024 for Distance Learning.
7. Another academic support unit has been created on each campus called the Learning Success Hub. This brings together all academic skill support resources under one umbrella to make the library and academic skill supports (including the English Language Hub) visible to all students. The Learning Success Hub includes the Library, Academic Skills Tutors, Academic Integrity education, the English Language Hub, as well as study skills workshops.
8. Wellbeing Services (previously Inclusion Services) – Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisors are available on campus and online to provide support for any student mental health and wellbeing needs. Disability & Accessibility Advisors will also be on campuses and will continue to provide student needs for supports online.
9. Student-facing Finance Officers are now available on each campus to support students with their financial questions and needs.
10. IT Help Desk is available for student technology needs, and we are planning to add ‘Digital Ambassadors’ so that the hours for student IT support can be extended into the evenings and weekends.
11. On-campus Success Coaching. Coaches provide wide-ranging supports for students who are struggling to meet their programme and university requirements. Coaches help students at-risk for doing poorly in their academic work and dropping out. Through this service students get Personalised Coaching Sessions with individualised support from experienced coaches who understand the unique challenges of university life. There are also DL success coaches to support our online students.
12. RenewU & BeWell micro-credential. – Success Coaching has launched this micro-credential to provide students with knowledge, resiliency skills, and strategies for achieving and addressing wellness needs. Eight online self-directed modules are housed in iLearn and available free to students. Faculty, Student Hub Advisors, Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisors, counsellors, etc., can refer students to these resources. If they wish, students can earn a digital badge for any of the eight RenewU & BeWell modules they submit and pass an assignment (based on relevant competencies) to Success Coaching.
13. MultiCultural Hub Advisors will be introduced to each campus in Autumn 2025. A multicultural hub will provide a variety of programmes and support services tailored to the unique needs of Arden’s diverse student population. The Hub will support both domestic ethnic citizens and international students. This role will work closely with the Peer Mentor Lead and the Student Life Advisor to create and sustain a student life and culture on campus.

What you asked: Would the University invest further in the new Students’ Association advice service to offer other support to students?

What they said:

The Independent Academic Advice Service has just started, and there are high hopes that it will enhance the options for students in advocating for individual needs. It’s important to remember that the service is set up and run by the Students’ Association and it works alongside the University’s student support services and does not intend to replace any existing support. The service will be evaluated in the first year, involving students, and there will, of course, be expansion of reach if it shows an impact.

You can find a full list of University Services available to you here: https://www.ardenstudents.org/advice/universityservices/

What you asked: Is the University exploring graduation in locations to support our midlands & northern campuses?

What they said:

Yes, as the number of graduates grows, it is likely we will move to 2 or even 3 locations. Birmingham will be next, followed by Manchester. In the meantime, remember that the university can offer financial support for those needing help with travel expenses to graduation.

What you asked: Some campuses do not have typical facilities you would find at a university for example a canteen, what opportunities is the University exploring to improve this?

What they said:

Arden arranged for a canteen at Tower Hill campus. There is café at the Birmingham campus and a café at Manchester. Currently there are no food facilities at Leeds, Holborn or Ealing campus. We have a plan to roll out for Autumn semester trial of food provision in two other campuses. If successful we will expand to all campuses.

What you asked: What is Arden doing to foster relationships with the community around campuses? More specifically employers in the various regions.

What they said:

We have appointed an Employer Engagement Director (new role) who is working with employers, communities, and the local business chambers in all of the regions that we have a campus. The purpose is to engage more local communities and build partnerships with employers to benefit our students. We have also offered to support and sponsor local events to cement these partnerships.

What you asked: Will the University be introducing recognition schemes or opportunities for students who are performing well academically and in other parts of the University experience?

What they said:

We are eager to encourage and recognise each student’s performance in their studies. A student’s performance reflects the quality of teaching and how well we inspire them to achieve success. To acknowledge their achievements at various stages, we are developing a series of micro credentials and badges. Additionally, we are exploring recognition schemes beyond badges, such as scholarships and industry awards for students who have engaged in workplace experiences. Although we are still in the early stages, we are collaborating closely with colleagues, including the students’ association, to identify opportunities for our growing student population.

What you asked: What is being done to ensure there is no discrimination in assessments for students with declared disabilities? Currently my experience has been ableist and often the expectations from markers do not consider reasonable adjustments.

What they said:

Our EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) team closely monitors inclusive learning within the curriculum. Their responsibilities include inspecting curriculum content and reviewing feedback provided on various programmes. Their work alongside student feedback (informally and through the complaints process) offers valuable insights into areas where we need to change our approach.

Additionally, we must ensure that reasonable adjustments are considered during the marking process. This is considered during the moderation and external examining processes, where the team's role is to ensure that our procedures are fair and transparent while providing tailored support for all students.

We also have an ‘Abrahart working group’ that are looking at the whole student experience with a view to producing a set of principles that will guide the teaching staff to address student support through teaching, assessment and reasonable adjustments.

What you asked: What further work can be done to ensure students get their feedback and grades in a timely manner to improve in their next assessment?

What they said:

Through the Education Committee we have proposed to offer different assessment approaches. For example, in some of the distance learning programmes we have integrated student online forums/discussion boards as part of an accumulative approach to the final assessment. It means what you write during the learning process becomes part of the end summative assessment. This means tutors will be able to provide timely feedback more frequently than just at the end of the module.

Furthermore, we are developing a new personal tutoring system to assist students gain feedback and support from their tutors.

What you asked: Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been mentioned multiple times to suggest that it is being used by the university, what measures are being considered to ensure students aren't negatively impacted by AI checks as well as to reduce academic misconduct cases?

What they said:

Arden University is deeply interested in Artificial Intelligence, and we are developing a strategy on how to incorporate AI into the student experience and prepare students for its use in employment settings.

To understand the best ways to utilise AI, we have been engaging with students, staff, employers, and local regional mayoral sectors. This information has helped us establish AI Acentus, a sub-committee of the Research Committee. We have created an AI strategy that encourages students to access the incubator hub and learn more about integrating AI into their project work.

As a result, we have authored a new statement on the use of artificial intelligence in assessments to guide students on when and when not to use AI in their studies. This policy aims to prevent any instances of academic misconduct. Our intention is to provide students with the correct information to use AI ethically and to help them enhance their skills and development.

What you asked: Students with learning differences and reasonable adjustments can sometimes require assistive technology provided by DSA. These have integrated Artificial Intelligence technologies and have in the past affected student submissions as they were flagged for academic misconduct. Are there any steps being taken to reduce such instances by the university and will this be addressed in a statement or policy to support or guide students as well as staff?

What they said:

Yes, our goal is to use our understanding of AI in a positive manner that supports and encourages student success. Our new AI policy will outline the ethical use of AI, detailing when and how it should be used.

What you asked: Are there any plans to reevaluate library resources any time soon and will there be further investments made into Kortext? In my experience, the current digital library, Kortext, does not allow a quality audiobook function for disabled students, because it can only be used by highlighting a few sentences at a time and reading those, making the process really challenging.

What they said:

Yes, we plan to re-evaluate our library resources to better meet the needs of our students. Our EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) team are currently reviewing the resources and their support for all students.

What you asked: Before we had e: Vision, we released modules via iLearn and could use a button to defer a module without evidence using that system. Since the transition to e:vision, we have to apply for deferrals through extenuating circumstances, and it has been implied that deferrals without evidence will no longer be allowed moving forward. Please could we have some clarification on why this decision was made?

What they said:

Evidence for deferrals through extenuating circumstances (EC) was suspended during the pandemic to ease the circumstances for all students – particularly those in caring professions whose lives and work were seriously disrupted when the pandemic hit. The University appears to have forgot to revert to the correct policy (evidence required) once the pandemic lifted!

The introduction of our new Student Information System re-introduced some standard processes such as the requirement of evidence for ECs. We apologise for this, but it is important (in fact, essential) for a university to keep students progressing in their studies. Automatic acceptance of ECs does not help with that goal. Naturally where students have a clear need for ECs it will continue to be supported but you will need to supply reasonable evidence to do so.

What you asked: Does the university have an executive complaint department for students to take their concerns to? This is with regards to longer wait times for getting responses from the Finance and existing Complaints departments at the university. (the student has indicated as long as 9 weeks to get a response).

What they said:

Not yet, but there are plans to have this enhanced within the next year. It is standard practice to have a central co-ordinating function that co-ordinates answers to complaints and appeals at the various stages (1,2 and 3), making sure things go to the right places and are responded to in a timely manner. The introduction of new Customer Relationship Management systems will also help us keep track and respond better than we have been doing.