Introduction
Students are vital co-creators of their university experience. Active student engagement is essential to fostering a positive and enriching learning environment where they can thrive. It’s important that students feel recognized and heard as individuals, and by collaborating with them, the university can truly flourish. Therefore, it is vital to involve students in decisions that affect their courses and educational experiences.
Student consultation refers to the process of involving students in discussions about changes that may directly impact their academic experience.
This article outlines our experience of conducting student consultation for a dissertation unit, on Executive MSc Strategy, Change and Leadership, a part-time, post-experience programme at the University of Bristol.
Background
The University of Bristol Business School has a strong commitment to “educating the next generation of managers and leaders”. The long running part-time MSc Strategy, Change and Leadership programme has been a vital part of the School’s executive education offering.
However, there has been considerable change in the ways the world of work operates, in how managers are expected to lead the workforce, manage change and “sell” and implement strategy in organisations in the last 5 years. With the advent of new generation of workforce (Gaidhani, Arora, & Sharma, 2019), work from anywhere and flexible working arrangements (Chung & Van der Lippe, 2020), the Great Resignation (Formica & Sfodera, 2022), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technological advances (Wisskirchen et al., 2017) and increasingly global and culturally diverse employees (Yari, Lankut, Alon, & Richter, 2020), there is a need for regular updates of education programmes.
Dissertation is the final element of a Masters course and offers students an opportunity to deep dive into a problem or issue.
A recent call for authentic assessment, launch of the Bristol Skills Profile and increased call for student agency in education, coupled with recent developments in the executive education market, resulted in implementation of changes to dissertation unit. As part of the programme review, a dissertation was changed to Capstone Project.
A Capstone project serves as the culmination of a student’s academic journey, testing their mastery of key concepts and challenges related to their subject of study. Unlike a traditional dissertation, which typically follows a more rigid structure, the Capstone project offers greater flexibility, allowing students to choose among such options as business consultancy, teaching case study or academic dissertation. This focus on practical application empowers students by providing options that align with their interests and goals.
While both a dissertation and a Capstone project require substantial research, critical thinking, and evaluation, the Capstone project is generally more applied in nature, applied in nature , emphasizing real-world problem-solving.
Student consultation process
After the programme changes have been thoroughly reviewed and subsequently approved, a student consultation had to be initiated to discuss the changes with the students and to seek their feedback.
First, students were informed via Blackboard about the proposed changes, along with a brief description of the consultation process.
The core of the consultation was a 1-hour face-to-face session, held during one of the programme units attended by all students affected by the changes. This session, led by the Programme Director, provided an overview of the differences between the Dissertation and Capstone Project, followed by an extensive Q&A.
Following the session, students received an email along with a document summarizing the minutes and Q&A. They were given two weeks to submit any objections to the Programme Team.
Outcome
As in this case there were no objections raised by students, the outcome is that the Capstone Project was to be implemented for Cohort 2023 of the programme. The students were confirmed about the outcome via Blackboard.
Key learnings
Approval process and timings
The relevant Heads of Academic Groups and Faculty Director were consulted on the proposed unit change and once approval was given the development of this unit took place via a variety of processes such as the WAM to secure teaching space, Unit Code sourcing and UPMS for programme catalogue update.
On an administrative level, the Programme Team had to ensure that the correct unit code was implemented for the new unit via the Unit Collation Data process. This process also involved the removal of the previous unit code and name for the relevant cohorts.
Key Timings
- February 2024 – SMT meeting, conversations with Jo Rose and Wayne Holland
- March 2024 – advice, unit code sourcing, UPMS
- April 2024 – session with students
- May 2024 – outcome of consultation
- June 2024 – final communication of outcome to students
- Summer 2024 – review of upcoming processes to accommodate new unit (tailored handbooks, adjusting timelines for final project, and so on)
Student communication
The introduction of the Capstone Project proved to be a positive change for the cohort as they enjoyed having the choice. However, there proved to be ambiguity over which choice was the best for them therefore clarity is key when communicating the options to students. After the approval for the unit, there has been a Q&A and multiple channels of communication from the Programme Team and the Unit Director for the relevant teaching component of the Capstone Project.
Conclusion
Running student consultations may seem like a lengthy and complex process. However, by following all the necessary steps and providing students with multiple opportunities to ask questions and discuss the implications for their learning journey, the process can become a valuable opportunity to implement meaningful improvements to the student experience, as well as their learning and development.
