ADVERTORIAL
campusreview.com.au
Operational Reviews in a
Higher Education Context:
Course, Faculty and
Institutional Outcomes
Dr Mo Kader
Consultica Worldwide Management Consultants
T
here is an inherent risk in conducting business operations
irrespective of the approaches to mitigation adopted by
the organisation. Some operations are more critical than
others, and in a higher education context, these could relate to
academic, student experience, quality systems or strategic areas of
the institution.
Conducting a strategic and an operational review of higher
education systems, modes of operation and supply and value
chains can create a “map” of areas for improvement. Operational
reviews can provide for early detection of whether the strategic
direction, course offerings and the ability of the organisation to
respond at times of enrolment downturns are aligned. For example,
lower student enrolments in a course or lower quality Graduate
Destinations Survey results may be a symptom of an operational
“blockage” at a point al ong the value chain. Higher student attrition
rates could be the result of an issue in an earlier part of the supply
chain. So, conducting an operational review of “the business of
the higher education institution” is not a review of the financials,
but a review of the network of interconnected “pipes” that together
create the operational infrastructure used to implement strategy.
An operational review looks at the plans of an institution and
assesses how they are being implemented. It can provide guidance
on enhancing course outcomes, better Work Integrated Learning
programs and increasing student retention and success rates. This
can be done in phases corresponding to the lifecycle stage of a
course or program as shown below.
These reviews can identify areas for improvement in enrolment
services, student support, Learning Management Systems (LMS)
or in campus experiences. Operational reviews are independent,
confidential assessments of courses, operations, faculty-level
initiatives and institution-wide strategy. They are based on
evaluations, analyses and stakeholder outcomes assessments. A
review can produce a “health check” report at a course, faculty or
institution level. It can potentially reduce the allocation of resources
to areas of operations that are not the source of a problem and
redeploy resources to the “real” areas of operational deficiency.
Finally, operational reviews provide depth and breadth to existing
quality systems and can generate meaningful quantitative and
qualitative inputs into future planning.
Our management consultancy provides grounded, confidential
advisory to higher education institutions in the areas of operational
reviews and strategy at course and at institution levels.
Consultica Worldwide Management Consultants
Level 7, 718, 368 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9829 7164
m.kader@consultica.com.au
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