University Strategic Plan 2022-2025
This section is part of the Strategic Plan 2020-2025, which sets out the goals and priorities for the University, its faculties, departments, centres, institutes and schools.
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Enabling Strategies |
Commitments |
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The University of Malta is committed to serving the needs of all prospective and current students, staff, alumni and external stakeholders. We recognise the need for efficiency in the provision of student-centred processes in the areas of enrolment, scheduling and assessments, as well in ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of students’ academic records.
The University will continue to review programmes to enhance the service it provides to its internal and external stakeholders. The development of processes, decisions and implementation will be student-focused to provide the best educational experience possible. We will invest and focus on delivering the best technological and logistic support to facilitate the following essential student processes by:
One-Stop Office for Student Services
We aim to set up an office to deal with queries and services required by students enrolled at the University. A One-Stop Office for Student Services would provide students, from all academic programmes, the convenience of visiting or contacting one office to talk with trained officers regarding enrolment, academic records and financial issues. This common area would also enable staff who are dedicated to the respective areas of service to interact, interrelate and cooperate to resolve problems more effectively and efficiently.
Ceremonies, Certification and Records
We will create a unit for ceremonies, certification and records within the Admissions and Records Office to deal specifically with the organisation of opening, graduation and other official events, as well as with the issuance of transcripts, diploma supplements and other official documentation for students and alumni.
Document Digitisation
The University will explore ways to reduce paper documents in the interest of sustainability and efficiency and replace them with secured electronic media. This strategy will affect all student processes that are not yet digitised, from enrolment to graduation.
We will leverage opportunities for rapid implementation on all paper-based request forms such as those for study-unit add or drop adjustments and requests for the extension of studies and will make them available online.
A more complex project would be the development of methods to distribute certification using secure digital platforms on demand. Another project that requires multilateral coordination would be to create automatic recognition systems with other educational institutions.
Automated Scheduling of Lectures and Examinations
Through the collaboration of various administrative departments, the University will introduce scheduling software for lectures, teaching and examination sessions. We will evaluate new functionalities that are added via new University management software, thus maximising our use of technology in our management processes. Utilising established applications for the allocation of facilities will allow the University to capitalise on the usage of physical space, which may help save on the energy used to operate buildings that are not utilised fully.
Student Information Management System
The existing Student Information Management System and the University App MyUM will continue to be enhanced, and new features and services will be provided for students. This improved functionality will assist the University in having all applicable student services available through the web, thus eliminating paper forms and email queries, which take time to process and resolve. The University will evaluate the processes required to enable students to take responsibility for registration, curriculum, and programme adjustments. The University will consider activating the functionality of the existing Virtual Learning Environment to empower academic staff to post grades directly, and to encourage voluntary course feedback.
Mobile Applications
As the use of mobile technology continues to expand, so will the expectations of students. We will promote technology to determine which services can be offered through the University App. The main concern when using mobile technology is maintaining the security of student data, records and privacy. Services and process such as annual enrolment and study-unit results are already available on the app. New services will be introduced, such as timetables and reminders of important student and staff deadlines.
Management Information System
The University has a vast amount of student-level data that can significantly inform policy. Analysing and organising the data will increase evidence-based decision-making and identify opportunities for improvement. The University will move forward on the implementation of a management information system which will provide timely information about students, programmes and resource allocation for deans, heads and administrators of departments, and directors of academic and administrative units. Through the deployment of a tried and tested system, we will be able to:
The University will be able to drive better solutions for improving the quality of research, learning, student services, marketing efforts to promote student recruitment, as well as increasing operational efficiencies and optimising financial resources.