Student Communications Policy

and Good Practice Guidance

Student Experience Committee

September 2009
Introduction

This document sets out our policy relating to communications with students of
our University.

This policy was revised by a subgroup of the Student Experience Committee

in September 2009. Participants of this group can be seen in the minutes
which are available at J:\Services\ISMS\Student Communications

The Groups terms of reference focused on institutional communications with

our current students, rather than those communications targeted to potential
or prospective student populations. It considered general principles of
ensuring excellent communications with our students.

Given the rapid development of technology available within the higher

education sector, changing student expectations, and planned advances in
our own IT infrastructure, VLEs, and the use of other i-media for learning and
teaching, it is anticipated that student communications will be an on-going
topic of exploration within our University, and that this policy will require
regular review.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the University document Email
Policy and Practice produced by ISMS. This is available to view at
www.anglia.ac.uk/emailpolicy

Principles

In order for any communication to be successful, there are a number of basic

considerations:

Understanding the message to be imparted and the best time for the
communication to take place
The identification of the target audience for that message
The most appropriate medium for delivery
Where the responsibility for ensuring that the message is received lies

In relation to student communications, these considerations are explored in

the good practice guidance, below, with particular reference to the university
environment.

For advice and guidance on choosing the most appropriate communication

channels please see the Communicating With Students leaflet, available at
www.anglia.ac.uk/communicatingwithstudents

Policy

2
Face-to-face contact remains the primary method of establishing a
relationship of communication with our students, and of enabling the
exchange of information in both directions. However, we also communicate
with our student body in a number of other ways which are detailed in the
Communicating with Students document.

This document assumes that staff are not solely responsible for
communication between ourselves and our students. However, all student-
facing staff should have access to appropriate customer service training.

We expect our students to keep their personal contact details up to date, and
to know where to look for, and how to find, information relevant to them.
However, in order to do so, academic departments and support services
should ensure that key information is made available to prospective students
prior to joining and that Welcome information covers the use of: email, notice
boards, information screens, and SMS text messaging, where appropriate.
The Student Charter, and the Student Communication Charter, give
information on all student communications at Anglia Ruskin, and outlines the
responsibilities of students to manage their communication with us, as well as
our responsibilities towards them. These documents can be found on the
ANet:
http://web.anglia.ac.uk/anet/students/documents.phtml

Information about the way we communicate with students should also be

available during Welcome.

All Anglia Ruskin communications should be clear, courteous, accurate,

appropriate, and timely and, whatever the media chosen, the content should
be jargon-free, without the use of colloquialisms, unexplained acronyms or
complex phraseology.

All communications should conform to guidance regarding Anglia Ruskins

corporate identity, and should state the authors name and job role, or give
details of the responsible department. All written communications should be
dated.

Email Communication

The Student Charter informs students that it is their responsibility to check

their Anglia Ruskin email account at least twice a week during teaching
periods. Students are also informed that, should they choose to set up mail
forwarding on their email account, they are responsible for ensuring that mail
forwarding is set up correctly and that they are able to receive emails sent to
their Anglia Ruskin email account.

Staff should use always use students Anglia Ruskin accounts when
communicating with students by email. If a student emails you from a non-
Anglia Ruskin email account you should reply to their Anglia Ruskin account
where possible.

3
Staff should always use their own Anglia Ruskin accounts when
communicating with students by email.

Student Experience Committee

September 2009

4
Student Communications Policy

Good practice guidelines

The nature of the message

To ensure excellent communications with our students, our Faculties and

Support Services need to take consideration of the following:

The most important information that we can give our students about
communication is what we are going to tell them, how we are going to
tell them it, and when. Our surveys suggest that students do not
always know what information/communication is available to them, or
how to access it. Students are more likely to use email, for example, if
they understand that it will be used to deliver key information.
What messages students need and, importantly, when these should be
given. Asking continuing students to tell us what information they felt
they needed, and when, should inform future practice and can be
managed through consultation with the Student Representation
system. Key messages should be reinforced by repetition, particularly if
they are first given during the busy Welcome period.
Our students are keen to tell us what they think about their experience
at Anglia Ruskin. However, too much evaluation- of the Welcome
experience, for example- can lead to survey fatigue, particularly if we
fail to feedback to our students what they told us, and what action we
will taking as a result.

Our target audiences

Colleagues should give consideration to whether messages are

intended for new and/or returning students and the differing needs of
these and other more discrete groups, e.g. particular cohorts, seminar
groups, or campus residents/those that travel in to campus. Our
surveys have indicated that students are sensitive to mail that they
perceive as having no value to them as individuals. For example, mass
emails regarding sport on one campus will be of interest to some
students, but not those studying at our other sites, as distance
learners, or off-shore; these students are more likely to experience the
same message as spam.
All student communications should take account of issues relating to
accessibility, equality, and diversity. See our equality and diversity web
pages at: http://www.anglia.ac.uk/equalops/ Further information about
accessible student communications is also available from our Learning
Support and Disability Resources Teams, based in Student Support.
Please contact Cambridge ext: 2298 and Chelmsford ext: 4240.

5
The most appropriate medium for delivery

Ours is a large and diverse student body. Our students different modes
of attendance: part-time, full-time, off-shore, distance/online learning
impact significantly on the sort of communication media that they
experience as helpful. Our surveys have indicated that those studying
online may have very well-developed communication systems within
their cohorts; the use of First Class by our Ultraversity students, for
example. This may mean taking our messages to these students
virtual environment, at the same time as encouraging them to use the
other information and communication systems such as the Anglia
Ruskin web pages, and the student email account that operate
outside it.
Students at partner institutions will have particular communication
needs. Further information about the student experience within our
regional partner institutions is available from Student Services
We need to consider whether messages are intended for campus
residents or students travelling in? The vast majority of our students
live off-site and want key information, about class changes or
cancellations, for example, to be available to them before they leave
home and in a format that they can access anywhere. Messages
posted on the Information Screens are accessible via the ANET web
pages at www.anglia.ac.uk/infoscreens. There are also RSS feeds
available for the info screens to enable them to be accessed via any
rss feeder, including ones on mobile phones. For generic information
on what an RSS feed is the BBC web site has a useful explanation:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/rss/3223484.stm .
The communication needs of disabled students; is the message
accessible? See target audiences, above.
Keep material on notice boards up to date, change regularly, and
ensure students are aware of what sort of messages they can expect
to find on specific boards/ where important messages will be posted.
Posters can be useful; in halls of residence, on classroom doors, and
at entry points to buildings, posters can get important/emergency and
time-critical messages to those residing on/ attending campus.
Departments should give consideration to whether a planned student
information cascade would be of value to particular student groups,
e.g. those on placements.

Student Experience Committee

September 2009