The new annual registration process involves all students registering online each year to complete matriculation, providing many benefits for students and staff. Previously, the University did not require returning students to complete the online matriculation process annually. This led to some data, such as students’ term time address & emergency contacts, becoming inaccurate. Furthermore, areas of the University which depend on registration information were provided with inaccurate information for supporting students and their wellbeing. By having annually updated matriculation data, the University will not only be able to offer greater access to student services online, but it will also comply with the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) changes to statutory reporting requirements, which is necessary for University funding. As part of this project, the registration process was also redesigned with improvements to its accessibility and functionality, making the process easier to complete for students. These improvements were led by extensive user testing and questionnaires to review the student experience, to ensure that the process was made to be as student friendly as possible and accessible to students with disabilities and assistive technologies. The new online registration process can also be completed using a mobile device, offering greater convenience for students, with over a third of students using this option rather than desktop. Students are also able to review the latest data protection laws and university regulations each academic year. As a result of all those improvements, there has been reduced support time required from Professional Services staff. The release of the new registration process was staggered to allow for addressing any errors which arose ahead of the start of this new academic year. This included the use of the new process by students starting at the University earlier over the summer, from which there were no errors and no support calls made to the University. Recently the process was quickly enhanced to capture the students’ location and method of study for this start of term as a result of the hybrid teaching, providing valuable information to the university. At 20th August, over 24,000 students have successfully completed the new registration process. Further information is available on the project website. Franck Bergeret, Applications Directorate Publication date 21 Aug, 2020
