Tertiary education digitally led transformations to make big gains on lost ground from the pandemic
A new survey of leaders in the tertiary education sector, now in its second year, reveals that institutions are seeing digital transformation as the most effective means to attract students and staff following the impacts of COVID.
Peter Nikoletatos Industry Director – Education, TechnologyOne and Adjunct Professor provides us with insight into the findings.
The recently released Digital Transformation Index Report for Tertiary Education 2022 – an initiative from TechnologyOne – surveyed senior executives and management within the tertiary education sector across Australia and New Zealand during August 2022. The results showed a rise in awareness around the benefits of digital transformation in SaaS, with 80% of respondents placing digital transformation as a high priority, and 83% having either implemented, or in the planning stages, of implementing their digital vision.
Given the level of disruption experienced by this sector in recent years (approximately 20,000 employees stepped down), institutions understand the urgency to reinvent themselves in progressive ways and retire ageing legacy systems that are a hindrance to growth. Built-for-purpose, secure and reliable digital transformation – extending from backend processes right through to front end engagement – is now emerging as the most powerful way to attract both staff and students in a competitive tertiary education landscape.
While the value of digital transformation cannot be disputed, it is hard, and this is reflected in these latest results., Over half of the respondents (53%) are struggling with resourcing to achieve their transformation ambitions, with under half (41%) having the budget to support them. This suggests a catch-22 situation where digital transformation is needed to increase enrolments and staff retention, but the strain on budgets means institutions are reticent to make the initial outlay that could bolster them financially in the long-run.
For those institutions still labouring over the next step in transforming digitally, an understanding of the benefits of digital could be the sticking point. Almost half (47%) indicate that the impact of digital change is not fully understood by their staff, and 63.5% say their executive team is not actively engaged in pursuing and leading transformation.
Conservatism caused by the events of recent years could be informing these statistics. Given proper transformation requires a whole-of-organisation approach, these results indicate that the sector could benefit from educating itself further about digital transformation and different ways to realise it. That way, a transformation strategy with all stakeholders engaged and onboard can be successfully implemented.
Staff and student experience – a big motivator for transformation
It's exciting to note that tertiary educators are keen to up their game on staff and student experience, recognising that digital transformation is the most effective means to achieve their desired outcomes. 81% of respondents identify the improvement of student experience as a high priority and 76% cite increased productivity of employees as either high or a medium priority for advancing to digital.
Engagement through digital transformation equates to the strategic, operational, and educational requirements of any given institution being fully integrated into a single platform enterprise solution or through a SaaS provider. This means making administration far easier on all levels for both internal and external stakeholders – with an intuitive user-interface that people actually enjoy interacting with. Institutions taking this digital step have a distinct competitive advantage when it comes to attracting and retaining students and staff.
For students, the introduction of mobile apps and self-service online options are key components to an enhanced experience. The findings of the survey show that 64% of respondents have either implemented, or are planning to implement, mobile apps for students. A healthier figure of 86% have either implemented, or are planning to implement, self-service online options for their students.
Best-in-class institutions offer a working example
Even those institutions at an advanced stage in their digital transformation journey understand that continual improvement is an important part of any digital strategy. Consequently, leading institutions see digital transformation as not just a project-based initiative but incorporated into the ongoing digital vision of their institution instead.
All institutions that sit within the “best-in-class" quadrant of this survey host their core systems (finance, HR, research management, student management facilities, asset management, etc.) within SaaS. They are committed to using digital transformation to improve student experience, increase enrolments and boost employee productivity. They also have an engaged executive team that is leading the transformation process.
Not surprisingly, cyber security has emerged as a key concern in the survey – 95% have ERM strategies that include cyber security controls – given the rising volume in data security breaches since the pandemic. However, a large number of institutions (71%) are opting to internally resource their cyber security, despite the best-in-class institutions recognising that it is far more resource-, security- and cost-effective to leverage cyber security expertise and scale from a specialist SaaS provider.
As the tertiary education sector emerges from a difficult period, we're seeing a decisive push for institutions to become more digitally progressive. Such a trend means we anticipate even greater digital maturity and transformation in the sector with next year's report.
Download the full report here.
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