Harper Adams Students’ Union came to MSL System® looking for support in broaden their service provision and digitise many of its processes to keep pace with the changing demands of its students.
The MSL System® provided the solution, helping the Union deliver impactful Student Voice campaigns, hugely popular digital engagement programmes and utilise the data it now has at its fingertips to shape their ambitious development strategy.
The MSL System® - benefiting students and the SU
- Rich data and comprehensive reporting to demonstrate the Union’s impact
- Enhanced Student Voice features
- Greater relationship/communication with student members
- Increased membership engagement and satisfaction
- Easy to manage and maintain website – no need for technical skills
- A digital Students’ Union which is fit for purpose for its members
HASU’s digital engagement transformation
With the majority of first years traditionally living on campus, the Union has always played an important role in offering an events venue close by and regular opportunities for student members to get together. The bar, gym, clubs and societies provide activities and a wide range of extra-curricular experiences, with the bar contributing a significant proportion of the funds available to the Union.
HASU has maintained its commercially strong background, selling close to 31,000 tickets for events which gave it a solid basis to continue expansion of its engagement activities and member services while placing a greater emphasis on digital participation than in previous years.
The Union also launched the ”Harper Forum” and planned a series of educational, information and skills-based online sessions to be delivered by industry experts. Whilst the team knew members were keen for activities they didn’t realise just how popular the programme would be. Using the website and email comms to promote the weekly sessions participation quickly grew to an average of 300-400 attendees a week and included topics as diverse as sustainability in farming, hedgehog welfare, marketing and branding, breeding profitable cows and managing a balanced diet on campus.
The MSL Message Centre has helped us establish a fortnightly comms programme which we send out by email to members to let them know what we are working on and what has changed or been implemented. The segmentation we can do now through the MSL System is key for this communication as we know we can reach the right courses and year groups with relevant details. We can now demonstrate both the Union’s impact and the value of our students’ feedback and suggestions on the student experience for everyone at Harper Adams.
Student Voice - shaping the Students' Union
When HASU implemented the MSL System®, Student Voice was prioritised as a means to shape and inform the Union’s activities and future plans for development. MSL’s surveys, polls, idea lists and forum features have been used to gather hard facts and figures on the Union’s effectiveness and impact on student experience. The Union team works with course reps, officers and the university during term three analysing the data which resides in their MSL System. This forms the basis for the Student Voice Report, published in the summer and the winter, which showcases the recommendations and requests that have been implemented, those in progress and identifies what changes are needed to support students over the next 12 months.
HASU continues to work with MSL on their ambitious, entrepreneurial, student focused development strategy.