University digitalisation

The UK’s higher education sector has entered a new era. Attracting new talent, promoting growth, and, ultimately, surviving, depends on effective implantation and use of digital technologies across schools and universities.

Universities are not equipping themselves to adapt to the challenges ahead will struggle to compete. Whether you aspire to be a pioneering digital leader in the sector, or just to stay relevant, now is the time to act!

So, what are the key considerations for university digitalisation in the new normal?

Data management

Higher education institutions handle large volumes of data, frequently containing personal student information, and which can be strictly confidential. Therefore, accessing, analysing and securely storing data is incredibly important.

Access to financial data is critical when preparing strategic plans and for decision making. It is important to have access to up to date and relevant financial data and reports. Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) solutions can help to integrate financial data to make reporting and planning easier and more efficient. These tools can help with student number planning, consolidation, reporting and more.

Communication

According to the latest UCAS report, the number of applicants from outside the EU continues to rise and are currently up by 14 per cent. It is now more important than ever for universities to be able to provide instant responses to candidates from across the globe. Multilingual chatbots provide prospective students with immediate response in their preferred language. Having communication solutions like this in place will improve the experience for international students and strengthen the rapport between them and their selected university.

Enrolment Efficiency

Student enrolment is one of the most time-consuming, but most important tasks, for higher education organisations. Processing large volumes of applicant data and sending out communication packs manually is prone to errors and can lead to delays. There are digital solutions to make this process more efficient, for example, to send out automatic responses, based on the keywords and phrases used in the enrolment inquiry. Also, with the help of digital solutions, organisations can set up workflows, ensuring all necessary steps have been followed in the enrolment process.

At RSM, we have an experienced team who can discuss finance solutions that can help you to stay relevant, enable growth and support changing requirements while making your organisation operate more efficiently.

To discuss your finance options get in touch with May Ku or your RSM contact.