Podcast transcript: How to put students at the center of a digital strategy for higher education

Oliver Jones

Hello and welcome to “Leading into Tomorrow.” This is a new podcast series from EY teams, where we’ll explore how organizations can innovate to respond to future challenges and opportunities. I’m your host, Oly Jones, EY-Parthenon global leader for the Government and Public Sector. Each episode, we’ll be joined by expert guests, for unique insight into the new strategies they are creating for today’s world, and how they are executing those strategies in their organizations. Our topic this time is the rapidly changing face of higher education. Joining us from Sydney is Tim Hume, Chief Information Officer at Macquarie University. Hello Tim.

Tim Hue

Hello Oly.

Jones

And, from Melbourne, Catherine Friday, Global Education Lead for EY. Hello Catherine.

Catherine Friday

Hi Oly.

Jones

Tim, you joined Macquarie University in 2019 after a long career in both the public and private sectors. Universities were already facing a whole host of challenges – and opportunities – many of which were accelerated by COVID-19. Can you outline the big issues you faced when you joined Macquarie?

Hume

Some of the big issues we faced at Macquarie when I joined was that we had operating expenditure budget pressure, we had headcount pressure in comparison with the sector, we had aging systems and technologies, and no clear strategy to address or fix any of that. What I recognized is that people are at the heart of transformation, so transforming the organization had to be my first port of call in order to man the ship for that journey ahead. Second, we had to ensure that we had a digital vision strategy and road map that was developed for the university in a collaborative and inclusive manner. That whole student life cycle needed to be embodied within the digital transformation. That was something that hadn't been looked at as one journey before. It was looked at in segments, it had different parts of the university looking at any particular one of those at any point in time, but no real … I'll call them customer journeys here, but really, it's a student journey through the university that was essential to be examined.

Jones

I expect many of the listeners to this podcast will have gone to university “in analogue,” if I can put it that way. Can you give us a flavor of how the experience might be different for today’s students when they come through Macquarie?

I think Macquarie has been very much a physically based campus institution, and our job was to transform the exciting part of that into being a digital campus. That's not an easy journey, it's not just about putting the systems up and delivering content. It's about what content we put online, what forms of collaborative scenarios we can put up that students can take part in, what hybrid scenarios we have on campus for people who are collaborating with people, perhaps in other countries, who are part of the same course or part of the same unit. They all had to change. It's no longer turning up at a lecture, being able to read a magazine inside the boring bits. People are paying these days a reasonable amount of money to get a good education. A good education means that they want to be able to take something away to restudy it, or replay it, sometimes at double speed and we've all done that through the odd lecture here or there. But this is all part of a new learning experience that is transforming the way we learn.

Jones

Catherine, coming to you, how does this strategic approach compare with what you’re seeing elsewhere in this sector, both in Australia and overseas?

Friday

Look, it's fair to say that Macquarie’s response is definitely at the leading edge in terms of what we're seeing in the sector. Of course, all providers, pretty much, wherever they might be in the world, have recognized digital disruption and the potential opportunities that that brings, and some are recasting parts of their strategies to integrate digital for teaching and learning and parts of research as well. But we haven't yet seen any others, as yet, that have put digital enablement at the heart of their future the way Macquarie is looking to. And also to have that student at the center of the experience that Tim has just described as well. And so far in our experience that is something that some universities are talking about, and starting to talk more about, but none of them have embraced and leant into it, as yet, the way that Macquarie has.

Jones

So, in addition to the opportunities and challenges presented by digital, universities around the world are facing a difficult picture in terms of funding. Tell us about those difficulties and how you are seeing universities responding to that?

Friday

So revenue challenges, as you say Oly, have been huge. Particularly in those countries such as Australia, but there are others –UK, Canada, US and others – who have historically been reliant on international students coming onshore. But regardless, pretty much anywhere around the world institutions have had to find increased money for COVID-19-related expenses such as testing and PPE, and the technology costs of transitioning to online learning. And at the same time, they've had lost revenue from lost tuition fees, lost housing, and rent and other auxiliary services that they might get. So, they have costs going up and revenue going down, and as we all know that's a pretty uncomfortable place to be. The way unis have responded has generally been to cut headcount, sell real estate, and to postpone or to cancel big projects. Some are also undergoing significant internal reorganization and restructuring activities, but we're starting to see increasing numbers also looking to digital to help them respond to cost pressures as well. And to look at how they can introduce technology, like robotics, as a for instance, to permanently reduce costs and improve cycle times and also improve responsiveness as well. So, there's a real upside to introducing technology at the moment, albeit it might not be the sort of circumstances in which some unis may have chosen to do it in the first place.

Jones

OK, well, our conversation continues, and coming next, we’ll look more at the challenges of implementing transformative strategies in higher education.

Tim, what do see as key to delivering the digital transformation you described earlier?

Hume

In New South Wales, a key attribute of a good public servant is to be frank and fearless. And I think I've been a good public servant and frank and fearless in my career. This translates well in the higher education world as well. The phrase “that is not how we do it here” should be taken as a personal and professional challenge to all of us involved in transformation. We need to at least critically examine how we do things today, and how and why they might need to change in the future for the university to reach its vision and mission. There are no sacred cows in transformation. You can question anything in a safe setting and constructively look at how it might be made better, if it's still needed, or how to replace it if it's seen better days.

Jones

And what are the barriers you're having to overcome to drive transformation?

Hume

In any industry, there are always areas where there is religious fervor, I would say, associated with particular products or particular processes. In higher education, learning management systems and curricular management systems tend to take those pride of place positions on the shelf. They are also areas where there are competing products coming into the market that are fairly innovative but need to be given a chance to really prove their value in a transformation environment. They're two doors that I've tried to open as part of the digital transformation, not with a necessary view to change, just to pick up the rock, look what's underneath it and examine what our options are.

Jones

Catherine, when it comes to implementing innovation in the university sector, what do you see as the key enablers and inhibitors?

Friday

What we're seeing is that future teaching delivery for many institutions, potentially most, actually, is likely to be combinations of face-to-face, online high-quality digital, and blended learning. So it's increasingly common, I mean, our discussions across the sector, to have discussions also about synchronous and asynchronous learning, and even ideas like hyflex or hybrid flexibility are now coming into play. So, in order to know what's right for them, and this goes back to the point that Tim made earlier, about having students at the center, unis need to be deeply engaged with, and listening to. their students to really understand what students value about their experience of that particular university. And therefore how the university should think to design and build the right architecture for that. The flip of that is that the biggest challenge or inhibitor is to not have those conversations, is to not have that level of engagement and be listening. And for a uni to start down the path of doing some sort of digital planning and strategy, and not have the student at the center of the design.

Jones

Tim, what have you learned from involving students in your transformation?

Hume

One of the most important things we found as we brought students into the planning process is that they have no fear or filters. So they haven't got to worry about losing their job, and a good public servant doesn't worry about it at the best of times, but maybe most other people do. The other is that if you listen to an unfiltered voice, and quite often some of the things are not of value, but in amongst  that, absolute pearls of wisdom about how they found enrolment processes, the things that they found repetitive and pain points that, to be honest, we may not have even picked up on because we thought they were more interested in other parts of the system or the learning experience. So I like the fact that there's not much filter there.

Jones

What for you is key to getting the buy-in from the rest of the organization to your transformation agenda?

Hume

To be honest, most CIOs are going to struggle with how do they free up budget to be able to look at transformation? And one of the transformations that they have to undertake first is the transformation of their own environment and making the business-as-usual environment as lean and as efficient as possible. No bells, no whistles, pure customer service, pure service delivery, so that they can funnel every single spare dollar into business transformation. That message has to get across. Without it, if you're lethargic or your own organization does not run optimally, how can you expect the business to buy into a transformation agenda that is in their patch? So, it's a key ask, I guess, of CIOs to look internally and transform themselves. Probably before they go out and look to transform the business.

Jones

Switching topics, and a question for you both: do you think better relationships with the private sector can help universities transform? Tim, one for you first.

Hume

I think partnerships with industry, partnerships with public service, getting people involved that have done large scale transformation before, is the only way to succeed. I think the days of building it in-house, having an army of developers, are long gone, and to be honest, the risk profile associated with that is way more than we can bear. If we do partner, if we do build successful relationships, successful commercial relationships that make sense for both the institutions and for the vendors involved, I think we'll get a better outcome.

Jones

And Catherine, turning to you on that?

Friday

I agree with everything that Tim said, but I guess I'm also seeing that there are increasing opportunities and, dare I say, need for partnerships between universities and the public sector as well. When we think about really understanding what our future student needs, and without confusing skill acquisition with broader higher education experience, nonetheless all universities are moving further towards  the need to produce job-ready graduates. That's a phrase that's being used increasingly often. And for universities to support their students as they focus on employability at the end of their studies. And so I think one of the great ways for universities to really be able to do that and give their students real-life exposure and experiences, and very effective work-integrated learning, is through that much closer integration and collaboration. Between the academy and between the world beyond the academy as well.

Jones

Finally, Tim, a tough question for you. If you were to identify just one pearl of wisdom for other public sector leaders embarking on transformation, what would it be?

Hume

My number one pearl of wisdom would be: don't take no for an answer. When you first start the transformation discussion, even from the executive group, sometimes the transformation message needs to take a few hearings and iterations to get across the line. The journey isn't easy, but in higher education, right here, right now, it's a matter of survival. And as dark as the last two years have been, the future's never been so bright. So, I would say jump in, boots and all, but be prepared to go through some hard yards getting the transformation journey sold.

Jones

Tim, thank you.

Hume

Thank you.

Jones

And Catherine, thank you.

Friday

Thanks Oly, it's been a pleasure.

Jones

Do join us again when we’ll hear from more expert guests about how they are leading transformation in their own organizations. Also, you can subscribe to this series, so you won’t miss an episode. From me Oly Jones, Tim Hume and Catherine Friday, thanks for listening and goodbye.