Student Administration and Systems Communication Framework

Frequency

Description

Admissions policy and procedures – advisory email

Approx 4 editions per year – usually after CASC meetings

Information for staff about coursework admissions policy and procedures for local applicants, providing a direct line of communication with all staff involved in admissions-related work, particularly those providing advice on selection to future students, and those involved in the selection of entrants to courses and in preparing admissions-related publications.

ask.monash

24/7

• FAQ database and Inquiry Management System with FAQs for students on Admissions, Enrolments, Fees, Scholarships and Timetable.
• ‘Tier 1’ staff at Student Service Centres respond to initial student inquiry.
• Where Tier 1 staff are unable to answer the inquiry, they relay student questions to ‘Tier 2’ content experts in SAS, who then aim to respond within one business day.
• SAS content experts provide Client Services/Tier 1 ask.monash staff with advice and updates as required.

Email

Daily

• SAS units maintain continuous email communication with faculties and other central stakeholders, providing procedural advice, systems support, data integrity advice, data reports, reminders of key dates and processes, and requesting information and contributions to publications.
• Each SAS unit maintains relevant task-based contact lists and production schedules to trigger communications throughout the student admin cycle.

Student Admin & Systems, and Client Services web page

24/7

• ‘Umbrella site’ to all units within SAS and Client Services, linking to separate student and staff only pages for Admissions, Coursework Scholarships, Enrolments, ESOS, Examinations, and Fees.
• Organisational charts, Student Administration Network meeting dates, agendas and minutes, link to Student Admin News online newsletter, links to other information resources, publications and systems.
• Umbrella site maintained by Curriculum and Publications unit; discrete operational units that link off the central page manage their own web sites and content.

Student Admin News

Quarterly

• Online staff only newsletter, providing consolidated and authoritative advice to faculties on behalf of Student Admin and Client Services business units.
• Over 300 subscribers (as at May 2009) across all campuses.
• Archived editions back to September 2005.
• Published by Curriculum and Publications unit.

Committee representation

Year-round

SAS works with faculties across several levels within the existing governance structure of the university, with representation on a number of peak university committees, including:

• Access Monash Coordinating Committee *
• Admission Pathways Advisory Group *
• Coursework Admissions and Scholarships Committee *
• Education Policy and Programs Committee
• ESOS Advisory Group *
• Exclusion Procedures Advisory Committee
• Publications Committee *

SAS staff also service some of these committees (*).

Course for any staff (academic, professional, new or continuing) who deal with international students, outlining legislative obligations and processes to be followed to ensure compliance, and the basics of understanding the broad immigration framework.

Internal meetings

Year-round

• The Director’s Management Group meets fortnightly.
• Each unit within SAS has its own regular team meetings.
• SAS has an annual one-day workshop for all staff.
• SAS staff gather for events such as staff welcomes, farewells, and other celebrations.

Student Administration Network

Meetings every 2 months

• The network is a gathering of university administrators concerned with the administration of coursework students in central and faculty organisational units and exists to:
  • Provide a forum and reference point for communication between administrators for matters relating to student administration
  • Discuss current and future business process and technical improvements in student administration.

• Chaired by Director, Student Administration and Systems.
• All faculties, Client Services and Student Admin units are represented.

Welcome to Student Admin workshop

3-4 times a year

• Scheduled to follow soon after each of the Welcome to Monash induction sessions for new staff, to provide new staff with an introduction to student administration activities and procedures at Monash, and their interconnectedness via the ‘Student Admin Life Cycle’.
• Presented by Student Admin Managers.

Working parties, ad hoc project teams, system development groups, user groups, other university committees

As required

SAS convenes, chairs, facilitates and/or is represented on a number of task-based groups internally, with faculties, and across the university as a whole, including:

• Clayton Campus Open Day Committee
• Curriculum Publications User Group
• Divisional Classification Committee
• Faculty Managers – SAS Director meets with these regularly
• Project Steering Committees (e.g. eAdmissions)
• Inclusive Practices Student Equity Committee (representing Divisional Director)
• Structure, Integrity and Reporting Forum (previously Reporting Users Group)
• Student Experience Network
• Student Recruitment Network (UG and PG)
• Transition, Retention and Progression Task Force Committee
• Zone 18 OHS&E Committee

Communication with overseas campuses

Semi-regular

• The Cross-campus Staff Mobility program has enabled a number of SAS staff to visit both the Malaysian (Sunway) and South African campuses, and for staff from those campuses to visit SAS, at the rate of at least one staff member visit each year.
• SAS units have provided assistance to Monash South Africa in development of procedures, system training, and project rollouts (eg. eAdmissions).
• Student Admin units have regular email correspondence with South Africa and Sunway; Admissions and Enrolments units have engaged in regular (fortnightly) phone calls with South African counterparts; Student Finance representatives meet via video conference with South African staff on a monthly basis.
• Student Admin staff facilitate participation by South Africa and Sunway on university committees.

External user groups

Quarterly-biannual-annual

• The Callista Planning and Advisory Group (CPAG) consists of Callista licensees, who collaboratively plan the maintenance and development of the student information system. Underneath that umbrella is the Roadmap Implementation Group (RIG), and a range of web-based collaborative systems – e.g. Calipso for issue tracking and support, various collaborative TeamRooms and a Knowledge Room.
• The Coursework Scholarships user group is a biannual gathering of administrators from Victorian institutions who are responsible for the delivery of scholarship-related administration processes.
• The Enrolments user group is a biannual gathering of administrators from Victorian institutions who are responsible for the delivery of Enrolments-related administration processes.
• The Fees user group is a biannual gathering of administrators from Victorian institutions who are responsible for the delivery of student finance-related administration processes. The annual Fees forum is a gathering of senior student finance administrators from around Australia.
• The Heads of Student Administration (HOSA) is a gathering of senior administrators from educational institutions who are responsible for the delivery of student administration services, held twice a year for state-based institutions in Victoria and annually for Australian and New Zealand institutions.
• The Victorian International Directors Committee (VIDC) is a quarterly gathering of ESOS Managers from Victorian institutions who are responsible for advice regarding ESOS compliance and associated business processes.
• The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) convenes a number of working parties annually, comprising Admissions representatives from across the sector in Victoria. As the VTAC Liaison Officer for Monash, the Manager, Admissions is the Monash representative on these groups.