Perspective Chapter: Digitization of Traditional Higher Education Touchpoints

Abstract

This chapter presents the possibilities of using e-services in the context of higher education. Modern technologies provide an opportunity to create a stronger bond between the higher education institution and its stakeholders, among whom students and employees are the most important and those who have the greatest needs in terms of the number and frequency of use of e-services. The main objective of this chapter is to explore the role of e-services in relationship management in the higher education complex ecosystem. There is a possibility to digitize a lot of traditional higher education touchpoints, such as everyday administration processes, admission, enrollment, relevant information sharing, e-learning, Q&A, and similar. The comprehensive e-services system was developed and implemented in one of the higher educational institutions. The upcoming generations of students are increasingly likely to have prominent previous experience with the major use of digital technologies as a part of their elementary and secondary level education. Higher education institutions should expand the portfolio of their e-services, given that the demands of students are expected to increase in the future.

1. Introduction

The way of running businesses in the last decade has drastically changed in such a way that it is impossible to imagine doing any business without the application of information communications technology (ICT). This, naturally, is becoming even more important with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic [1]. However, even before this pandemic, ICT applications became an integral part of the everyday business of a large portion of business systems [2]. Over time, ICT has been gaining its importance becoming more and more important in the daily functioning of all business organizations.

Higher educational institutions are regarded as organizations, which according to their business, are considered special companies (justifiably to some extent), and yet many good practices that have been applied in successful business systems, particularly corporations, are not applied in higher educational institutions, neither state nor privately owned ones. However, a pandemic does not make a difference between corporations and higher educational institutions but points out that educational institutions cannot be regarded as separate entities but have to adjust to changed circumstances and different ways of working [1].

Although higher educational institutions organize their business dealings differently when compared with classic companies, certain segments of their work function exactly the same way as in classical companies (they both require human resources management, financial policy, goods or services procurement, work promotion, etc.).

With the development of competition in the higher education market and the emergence of many new higher educational institutions and study programs, some elements that have never been considered before in higher education attract the limelight—approaching students as stakeholders [3], developing and maintaining the relationship with students [4], struggling to attract new students [5], taking care about relationships with students and employees, etc. The complex ecosystem of a higher educational institution is made up of many relations similar to those already mentioned, and which imply a whole series of business processes and activities. In order to satisfy those relations in a proper manner, it takes a thorough and comprehensive approach at the level of higher educational institutions, which should integrate and take care of many intertwined business activities.

How can proper use of technologies affect the quality rating improvement of a higher educational institution in the present competitive market? The Association of Colleges in North Carolina established that a corporate information system aimed at a student as a stakeholder can also provide better chances to attract enrollment and retain new students [6]. Let us take, for example, the situation which has changed the manner in which people behave—the coronavirus pandemic. If there had not existed some use of e-services on behalf of higher educational institutions until the onset of the pandemic, the relationship between universities and students would have been totally disrupted. Never before the application of information technologies in the everyday relationship between teachers and students have become so prominent. It is not just about the educational process itself but also about the comprehensive relationship that an educational institution has with its user—the need to digitalize as many points of contact as possible.

2. Students as stakeholders in higher education

Although some find it difficult to accept the idea that students are the same as stakeholders in reality that is what they are. In today’s market, more competitive than ever before, institutions offer students study programs, inter-faculty exchanges, practices, and similar activities that enrich a student’s life. They are customers who enroll in study programs, aimed at getting their diplomas, and donating as alumni members. The longer the satisfaction gained from the processes on both sides, the more durable their relationship will be thus bringing benefits to both sides. One of the ways in which faculties can affect the duration of this positive relationship with students is something that many corporations have already incorporated—managing relationships with stakeholders by means of contemporary information communications technologies [7]. The objective of an institution is to manage those relationships in an efficient and effective way in order to create firm and long-lasting relations.

2.1 Application of contemporary ICTs in higher education

Managing relationships involves the development of strategies, processes, and technologies with the purpose of strengthening relations of the company with a customer during their lifetime—from marketing and sale all the way to post-sale support [8, 9]. The concept of relationship management (customer relationship management, CRM) is widely accepted in the world of corporations but it is still a relatively new phenomenon in the sector of higher education [9]. Similar to other business systems, by accepting the CRM concept relationship managers in higher educational institutions aspire to improve business performance, promote better management practices, and advance relationships with current and potential students.

From the point of view of a customer, CRM business strategy enables him the interaction with the higher education institution through just one entity which encompasses all the necessary data of the individual in question. In the case of a student, this can be seen through his/her interaction with the employees who take his/her data for enrollment and registration, through financial matters, student’s account, etc. From the educational institution’s point of view, CRM provides a clear and comprehensive picture of every individual and the activities connected with him/her [10].

In order to pay attention to students and realize contact with them, and in doing to gain their loyalty and make them satisfied, higher educational institutions can nowadays turn to e-service concepts in their functioning. The application of e-service for the management of relationships with the users has become a part of business strategy and is not considered merely a marketing tool. That strategy supports the management in decision-making by using the existing information within the organization and, more importantly, by using information technologies for marketing programs and activities of the organization. The primary objective of managing the relationships with users is to notice and deliver services adjusted to each user himself/herself.

Bejou [7] proposes the adoption of customer relationship management as a way to establish and maintain a relationship between a student and a higher education institution. Customer care is represented in a certain form in most educational institutions today, so there are departments for providing services to students. However, real customer service must contain more than a department or a few individuals. CRM must include a special, service-oriented environment, and everyone within the organization should be engaged in trying to achieve that goal [11]. The fact is that today a strong relationship with customers is the key to success in any business [12, 13, 14, 15].

If we make an analogy with the development of computer applications, it can be said that e-service technology connects the frontend of the departments, that is, the ones protruding toward the user (such as sales, marketing, and customer care), and the backend departments such as management, finance, logistics, and human resources services, with user’s touchpoints [16]. “Touchpoints” represent channels through which the company has contact with its customers, and they can be the Internet, e-mail, sales, call centers, advertising, physical points of sale, and the like. These “touchpoints” are often under the control of special information systems [17].

Tapp et al. [18] state that the use of direct and marketing databases generated through the CRM system can greatly enhance the potential of a higher education institution to attract new candidates. Adoption of the CRM strategy leads to gaining insight into various relevant data on students that may be important, that is, on the basis of which a basis can be formed later for providing a service that will correspond with their expectations, build loyalty on behalf of students, and all that taken together will affect their retention within the institution. Potential customers are likely to hear positive experiences about the services provided by other users. In his study, Hill [19] reveals that there is a correlation between students’ expectations regarding services and their satisfaction. The same author also claims that higher education institutions should detect the expectations of their future students from the entry point to the institution until the moment of successful completion of the study program [20].

Very often, the choice of one higher education institution over another one with a similar level of quality may depend on the way the institution communicates with its (potential) students. The modern age is such that most students want established, relevant, and complete communication with the staff of the educational institution. The easiest way for higher education institutions to establish harmonious relationships with their stakeholders is by using an e-service system based on the application of modern ICT. Such a system provides valuable insight into information about students, creating a possibility to build a stronger and more personalized connection with former (alumni), current, and future students. In other words, the mentioned system applied in higher educational institutions enables the institution to constantly update information about stakeholders, facilitating and monitoring every interaction that the institution has with them through various platforms, regardless of where they are located. The e-service system can be designed so that it helps employees by simplifying their work process, and ultimately, improves their relationships with students. The result of all this is an increased interest in enrolling in the institution, increased student retention rates, better communication with students, and a happier and more satisfied team [21].

e-Service system can enable sending automated messages that will remind students of the future exam terms. Simple things such as reminders can help students to better organize their time, prepare more efficiently for exam obligations, and can have a positive effect on their welfare and the results to be achieved.

Collecting means and donations through the creation of long-lasting relationships with the Alumni club members is very much present at many universities. Diversification of higher educational institution revenue apart from traditional students’ tuition and public financing has become very important for universities. Nowadays many institutions are faced with the reduction of state financing which leads to financial pressure and the request to reduce their expenses. For that very reason, many higher educational institutions in other countries pay great attention to the relationships with former students (alumni). A comprehensive e-service system centralizes information on donors and Alumni club members and uses them to send automated notifications at certain periods during the year in order to inform all interested parties about the success of the program and the students in the particular institution. The incorporated analytical system examines which events and types of communication that year contributed the most.

2.2 The student life cycle

The focus of marketing today is not so much on attracting new customers as it is directed at the customer’s satisfaction concept by offering users what they want, taking care of the relationship with them—the relationship which is not only commercial, unidirectional, and impersonal. The consumerist concept in higher education should be in the context of relationship marketing and not transactional marketing. Although students can be considered users, the nature of educational services, especially the relationship duration, suggests the development of the relationship rather than the approach of “pay and buy” [22, 23]. Adoption of CRM on behalf of educational institutions implies in itself the use of appropriate instruments which will help in collecting information about students’ requirements regarding education, and adjust services to measure their characteristics and requirements, all with the aim to enhance the educational process and to obtain better results which will reduce the number of students who drop out of university or abandon further education [20, 23, 24, 25, 26].

One of the features that separates higher educational institutions from business systems in other branches, and which makes the application of contemporary technologies aimed at CRM ideal for higher education, is the dedication and long-term relationship to which students agree when they enroll in the study program [27]. Other industries do not have that “luxury” to affect the life cycle of a client, which lasts several years. On the other hand, it can be good practice for higher educational institutions to consider their students as users since such an approach enables competitive advantage and enhances the ability of an institution to attract, retain, and offer appropriate service to its students/users.

From the relationship management point of view, the concept of a client’s life cycle can be transported to a student’s life cycle which is made up of the phases through which a student passes while considering and using the services of an educational institution. The phases in the life cycle of a student are as follows:

Possible → potential → candidate → accepted → enrolled → former student (alumni)

• Possible: any student who, according to the Law, can be a candidate for enrollment in the university.

• Potential: a student who is currently in the phase of gathering information and forming an opinion about a higher education institution.

• Candidate: a student who has made a decision to apply for enrollment in an institution.

• Accepted: the student is accepted when the institution has made a decision to accept the student.

• Enrolled: this is the stage when a student officially becomes a student, that is, part of a higher education institution.

• Former student (alumni): a student who has successfully completed the study program, and if he is satisfied with his academic experience, he will develop a long-term loyalty relationship with his institution.

From the point of view of relationship management activities, student enrollment activities related to the conversion of a possible into an accepted student constitute a marketing component. The conversion of accepted into enrolled is a component of sales, while the continuous enrollment and the presence of alumni is a component of customer support and retention. However, the student life cycle involves several complex interactions, especially during the retention phase because the academic program, counseling, and student life play a key role in student retention.

According to the results of a study conducted by Ogunnaike et al. [28], it was found that a student’s desire to recommend the institution of which he was a part, or still is, increases if the student life cycle is well managed by the institution. It was also noticed that a strong connection of the educational institution with parents leads to the situation that the student recommends his/her institution to others. Managing a good relationship with the parents of students also increases the desire of students to continue their postgraduate studies at the same institution.

The research conducted by Hilbert et al. [5] expresses a slightly different approach. It states that the student life cycle consists of three phases: entry, presence, and departure. In the entry phase, students are considered as potential clients, the present phase is made up of existing clients, and in the departure phase, they are already lost. However, the departure of students from the university/college does not mean that their communication with the institution is interrupted. At that point, universities strive to keep relationships with their students using some strategic methods [15].

3. Comprehensive e-service system

The comprehensive model of the e-service system in the complex business ecosystem of higher education is shown in Figure 1. The model takes care of managing relations with a large portion of stakeholders of the higher education institution, among which students and employees are the most demanding in terms of the number and scope of electronic services. In addition to relations with stakeholders, the model represents support for the proper and efficient conduct of business functions: marketing, education, science, human resource management, finance and accounting, and procurement.

Figure 1.

Infrastructure of the comprehensive e-service system.

The model consists of numerous elements and is based on cloud computing. The central part of the model is the infrastructure as a service (IaaS). A public cloud consisting of several virtual private servers (VPS) was chosen as the appropriate form of cloud computing. Each of the servers has a dedicated purpose and they have been separated with the intention, primarily because of the better optimization, higher security offered by this approach, and other practical reasons.

The comprehensive e-service system is based on open-source technologies. The system was developed by using Python programming language in combination with Django as a web framework. MySQL was chosen as a relational database management system.

As shown in Figure 1, the system consists of several modules. Some of the modules are actually specific Django applications, which have been integrated together into the main project. This has been done respecting one of the principles of Django design—DRY (Do not Repeat Yourself). The important part of the e-service system’s architecture is web services which are used to improve the performance of the system by utilizing Django’s cache framework.

Which are the benefits offered by implementing a comprehensive e-service system in higher education in the field of student relationship management? Using adequate communication channels, potential students can obtain appropriate and timely information that is the focus of their interest. When using the online learning platform, candidates are in a position to attend classes without physical presence and prepare for taking the entrance exam for enrollment in the institution. The process of applying for admission to the faculty can be completed much faster and easier with the help of online tools on the portal of the institution. Processing the results of the entrance exam with ICT support drastically shortens the time required for the formation of preliminary and final ranking lists, which shortens the period of stress exposure for future students. By using the already existing data on candidates in the system, and for the purpose of realizing the enrollment of candidates, there is no data redundancy, and the whole process of enrollment of candidates is accelerated.

Potential students, who decide to enroll in the educational institution, extend their life cycles and become current students of a higher education institution, where their previously existing data are taken over. In this way, a path is established for nurturing the relationship with the student during his entire life cycle from the moment he becomes a potential candidate until the act of graduating. The whole process of studying is then further facilitated for current students in several aspects—by using students’ modules they are able to apply for and cancel exams, follow all notifications, monitor all their teaching and pre-examination obligations, and have access to all information from their student file and use the platform for online learning. These students also have at their disposal timely notifications and all the necessary information relevant to their education through web portals, student services, social networks, email marketing platforms, and mobile services. More importantly, they are given the opportunity to leave feedback on various issues, fill out questionnaires regarding the pedagogical work of teachers and associates, the work of professional services and management, and in doing so greatly influence the work of the institution. There are several channels through which one can contact the institution and get answers to their questions in a short time. This way of working increases the retention rate, raises the reputation of the institution to a higher level, and at the same time reduces the costs of attracting new students, which, on the other hand, protects the income of the institution coming from tuition fees.

Upon graduating from the university, the students become members of the Alumni community thus completing their life cycle at the university. It is important for the institution to stay in touch with its former students and to work on maintaining good relations. It is in this field that the Alumni Portal is important, which helps in informing and organizing various types of events, gatherings, and professional training that are necessary for graduates, sends reminders about events, monitors events, and sends accompanying information.

The comprehensive e-service system can help an institution in one of the following ways:

• nurtures the relationship with the student throughout his/her entire life cycle—from the moment he/she becomes a potential candidate to the act of graduation;

• maintains complete student profiles—centralizes all contact information and helps to understand and analyze potential candidates, at every point of contact;

• realizes contact with each member of the community: potential candidates, current students, alumni, employees, parents, and other contacts;

• delivers relevant and appropriate offers, recommendations, advice, and actions at the moment optimal for potential candidates;

• automates communication, freeing up time for other activities;

• increases the retention rate by improving reputation, reduces attraction costs, and protects the income of the institution coming from tuition fees;

• achieves a more efficient workflow, enabling employees to complete their tasks faster and easier. Reduces paper usage and the need to use a variety of storage solutions;

• enables access, addition, and data modification 24/7, either in the office or on the road, with the use of mobile devices;

• provides students with the fastest possible form of information, helps them to manage their responsibilities in a simple and clear manner, improves communication with the staff of the higher education institution, and provides an easy way to update data;

• invites prospective students, current students, and alumni students to events, facilitates the event management process, sends event reminders, monitors events, and sends accompanying notifications;

• measures the return on investment, provides insight into marketing activities, promotion channels, and determines what exactly brings revenue, and how.

The services covered in the work process by applying the comprehensive e-service model are as follows:

• providing service information (notices, news, current events, and other important information on relevant activities);

• management of student files (monitoring and recording of complete student files);

• administration of the study program (support for organizing and conducting classes, organizing and monitoring exam terms);

• monitoring, planning, and keeping records of teaching staff, their engagement, and workload;

• generating the necessary documents, certificates, and other reports for students;

• administration of employees (their personal identification data, contracts, salaries, records of attendance at work);

• online learning environment;

• accounting activities;

• monitoring and recording scientific research work;

• financial statements;

• preparation of various statistical reports on enrollment, student achievement, and other reports necessary for state bodies, the University, or the governing bodies of the college;

• ALUMNI portal for relationships with former graduates;

• different forms and reports necessary for self-evaluation and accreditation of institutions and study programs;

• monitoring, procurement, and records of inventory, materials, and fixed assets.

4. e-Services examples overview

This section presents the functionalities of the comprehensive e-services system through the user interface and explanations of the logic behind it. As an integrated system, it can be logically divided into three parts: e-teacher module, e-student module, and supporting departments module.

4.1 e-Teacher module

This module enables teaching staff to manage a wide spread of activities:

• informs teaching staff about ongoing exams and details (Figure 2);

• gives an overview of students who registered for an exam within the given term (Figure 3);

• gives an overview of subjects for which grades were not supplied (Figure 4);

• allows teaching staff to add students’ grades for the appropriate exam period and the appropriate subject (Figure 5);

• archives previously held exams for the appropriate subjects (Figure 6);

• shows the records of those students who have registered for the relevant exam within the appropriate term (Figure 7);

• shows an overview of teaching staff engagement across subjects in the study program (Figure 8);

• provides an overview of published scientific results for each employee within the teaching staff (Figure 9).

Figure 2.

Overview of ongoing exams.

Figure 3.

Overview of students who registered for the exam within the given term.

Figure 4.

Overview of subjects for which grades were not provided.

Figure 5.

Adding students’ grades for the appropriate subject and exam period.

Figure 6.

Archive of the previously held exams for the appropriate subjects.

Figure 7.

Students details for those who have registered for the exam within the appropriate term.

Figure 8.

Shows an overview of employee engagement in the relevant study program.

Figure 9.

An overview of the employee’s scientific results published so far.

4.1.1 Ongoing exams

In the Ongoing exams section, teachers and associates have the opportunity to review registered students, within the given term, for the subjects they are engaged in (Figure 2).

Students registered for the selected subject can be displayed by selecting one of the subjects from the table (Figure 3).

4.1.2 Grades entry for previous exams

In the Grades entry for previous exams section, grades are added by selecting the appropriate subject from the table (Figure 4). The list shows all subjects for which grades in previous exam terms have not been added.

If the teaching staff wants to leave the entry for later, the teacher can temporarily save grades that have been added and later continue with the entry and confirmation of those grades, or they can do so immediately by clicking the Add grades button (Figure 5).

The Previous exam terms page lists all exam terms that the teacher or associate is currently engaged in. The teaching staff user is presented with the date of the exam and the number of students who registered for that exam (Figure 6).

Clicking on a certain record in the table gives a more detailed presentation of the respective exam term, which includes a list of students who have applied for the exam within the specified term, grades, and the date of the exam (Figure 7).

4.1.3 Subject engagement

In the Subject engagement section, the teacher has the opportunity to see the list of subjects, teaching format per subject (lectures or practices) as well as the number of teaching hours (classes) in which they are engaged (Figure 8).

4.1.4 Scientific research activities

The Scientific research activities section provides an insight into the scientific publications of the teaching staff, that have been published so far (Figure 9).

4.2 e-Student module

This module deals with relevant student data, viewed from two perspectives:

1. Students’ data managed by higher education institution.

2. Students’ data accessed through students user accounts.

4.2.1 Students’ data search

Students’ data are accessed through the Student Search section (Figure 1), whereby adding Surnames, Names, or Students’ Index Numbers, all students whose data match the ones added are displayed (Figure 10).

Figure 10.

Search form for students by several different parameters.

By selecting one of the students from the table, the Student file and more detailed data are accessed (Figure 11).

Figure 11.

Student search results.

4.2.2 Basic student data

The section assigned to Students contains personal identification data of students, data on schooling or enrollment in the following years of study in the study program, an overview of all details related to exams taken by students and not passed so far, as well as data on the final paper, diploma supplement, and diploma export opportunities (Figure 12).

Figure 12.

Page with basic student data and the possibility of updating them.

4.2.3 Student’s exam lists

In the section with Exams, all the data on passed and failed exams are shown (Figure 13). These data are added on the other page, that is, in the module for teachers, who are obliged to add grades for each of the students after the exam period. By clicking on the appropriate row in the table, a new page opens in which it is possible to change the data on the held exam.

Figure 13.

Report with the list of passed exams.

The second Tab with failed exams shows data on the subjects left for the student to pass in order to complete his/her education (Figure 14).

Figure 14.

Report on the second Tab with a list of failed exams.

4.2.4 Student’s ongoing education

The section Ongoing education shows the movement of students through the study program and years of study with details of the date of enrollment in the following or the same year of study, and the number of ECTS credits earned for each of the school years (Figure 15). By clicking on one of the records in the table, it is possible to change the existing or add a new record.

Figure 15.

Overview of the student’s education so far - managed by higher education institution.

In the section on the Final examination, after the student has successfully defended it, data on the topic of the final paper, the date of the defense, the grade as well as the members of the commission are added (Figure 16).

Figure 16.

Page with student’s final examination data.

4.2.5 Previous exams terms

The Record of exam terms gives an overview of all exam terms held so far by school years and months with data that include the beginning of the exam application period for students, the end of the exam application period as well as the beginning of the exam term itself and the end of the term (Figure 17).

Figure 17.

Archive of previously held exam terms.

By clicking on one of the entries in the table, it is possible to change the existing or add a new exam term.

4.2.6 Students accounts

Students can access their files using their user accounts, which offer an overview of all relevant data concerning the students. Among the information offered to the students are notices intended for students (Figure 18), data on their previous education, a list of passed exams, the ability to apply for and cancel exams, and an overview of their personal identification data.

Figure 18.

Notices for students created in the system.

In the section Study year, students have an insight into their previous student education, that is, enrollment by school years, and the number of ECTS credits earned (Figure 19).

Figure 19.

Overview of the student’s education so far - accessed by student.

In the section Passed exams, students have an insight into all previously passed exams, which includes an overview of the grade obtained, the exam term in which the exam was passed, the date of taking it, and the data on the subject teacher with whom the exam was passed (Figure 20).

Figure 20.

Overview of the exams passed so far.

At the same time, the student has an insight into his current average grade and the current number of ECTS credits earned in the given study program.

In the Exam application section (Figure 21), students can select the exams for which they want to apply for the given exam term. Similarly, after applying for an exam, if they change their mind, they can cancel it, no later than 24 hours prior to the start of the exam (Figure 22).

Figure 21.

Exam application section.

Figure 22.

Section for canceling previously applied exams.

The My Data section provides an insight into the student’s basic data, for which the student may request a change through the student service if he/she deems them to be incorrect (Figure 23).

Figure 23.

Overview of general student data.

4.3 Supporting departments module

This module represents the core of the e-services system. Supporting departments module is intended for all other business departments, supporting their processes (with the exception of teaching process that is covered with previous modules). It allows employees, administrators, managers, and decision-makers to gather the information they need.

There are several functions provided by this module:

• Human resources data management (employees’ contracts, specializations, sick leaves, and similar data management);

• Teaching staff engagement overview;

• Financial data and analytics;

• Scientific research results management;

• Institution’s publishing activity overview;

• Institution’s assets management.

4.3.1 Employees master data

This section shows the records on master data of employees (Figures 24–26) and the records of inactive or former employees (Figure 27). Records contain data for full-time employees as well as for employees with other types of contracts. The functions available here are:

• search by any of the parameters or employees data,

• data sort for each of the columns,

• exporting data in .xls format,

• showing/hiding certain columns for easier and more clear viewing if necessary.

Figure 24.

Overview of employee master data.

Figure 25.

Overview of master data on employees, filtered data.

Figure 26.

Overview of master data on employees, hiding certain data columns.

Figure 27.

Records of employees who are no longer employed at the institution (former employees).

Clicking on one of the employees from the table displays a page from which employees’ data can be edited.

The section dedicated to editing employee data enables the revision of master data as well as the entry of various types of contracts and details related to them (these are treated as data objects). Administrators can add data on employment contracts, absences (due to sick leave, maternity leave, paid or unpaid leave), and academic advancement. Also, it is possible to record the termination of employment and to add a new employee with relevant data. In that way, the basis for the orderly and accurate keeping of records on teaching and non-teaching staff has been established, which will be further used for planning human resources policy and other services that use the given data.

A Former employee section archives data on employees whose employment contract was terminated for a certain reason (retirement, termination of employment, and similar) to systematically store that data on all employees who were part of the institution at some point. In addition, if there is an intention to rehire employees whose contract was terminated earlier, it can be done easily by clicking on the Activate button, so that there is no redundancy and reentry of the same data.

4.3.2 Teaching staff engagement

The Teaching staff engagement section shows the engagement of teaching staff in study programs, for each of the subjects and for each type of teaching—lectures and practices (Figure 28).

Figure 28.

Teaching staff engagement overview.

In addition to engagement by subjects and employees, it is possible to summarize engagement in the entire study program, with additional data such as academic promotion dates, period of retirement approaches, and similar (Figure 29).

Figure 29.

Summary of the engagement of teachers and associates at the study program level.

4.3.3 Financial data

The Financial data section contains an overview of financial data (Figure 30), for instance, changes in the compensation of employees data (Figure 31) and records of previous changes in compensations. This module is fully compliant with the accounting norms and relevant legal regulations. This part of the system also has a role in planning and managing the institution’s finances.

Figure 30.

Financial data for employees overview.

Figure 31.

Change of financial data for employees.

4.3.4 Scientific research results

The Scientific research results part of the system enables administrators to fully manage scientific publications results and prepare data for future use. The results can be easily searched and sorted by various inputs—authors, categories, years, and journals. Published scientific result records are shown in Figure 32.

Figure 32.

Overview of the scientific research results published by teaching staff.

Prior to adding the scientific publication record to the system, it is necessary to ensure that a certain scientific journal or conference against which this record can be added is already in the system. To make it easier for users to add scientific publications results, asynchronous JavaScript calls have been implemented (Figure 33). By starting data entry, results are obtained in real-time, so users can have an insight into previous entries that may be related to a given record. In this way, feedback is received immediately on whether it is necessary to add publication data only or whether a journal or a conference record must be added previously.

Figure 33.

Adding a new scientific research publication.

If a given journal does not already exist in the database for a given publication, it must be added first by selecting the Add new journal option. A journal can be added easily by filling in the appropriate fields in the pop-up window and clicking the Add Journal button. After adding, the user receives a message on the successful (or unsuccessful) database transaction. Analogously, it is possible to add a conference meeting.

The next important feature of this section is the ability to export publication records in .docx format, based on several different parameters (Figures 34 and 35). The scientific research activity is an important aspect of higher education institutions’ work, and as such serves as a basis for the accreditation of scientific research activity. Given the volume of work on collecting documentation for application in the mentioned process, if the system is kept up to date, this section can be of significant help. It is possible to export all publications for a certain period amd filter publications that originate from doctoral dissertations or those from scientific research projects. Data can be exported in accordance with different needs, so publications can be sorted by authors, by relevant categorization, or by publishing date.

Figure 34.

Exporting scientific publications.

Figure 35.

Data exported in .docx format.

The appearance of the obtained data exported in .docx format is shown in Figure 35.

4.3.5 Publishing activity

In the Publishing activity section, a summary overview of the textbooks can be found, as well as an overview of the status of the selected textbook, and, an option to add a new textbook is also available.

The textbook overview contains basic information about each textbook issued by the institution—its name, code, and value generated by its distribution (Figure 36). Selecting one of the entries from the table proceeds to the status display for the corresponding textbook.

Figure 36.

Summary overview of the textbooks published by the institution.

4.3.6 Institution’s services

The Institution’s services section contains all the information on services provided to external clients. It enables monitoring of the service activities of the educational institution departments. The following reports can be generated on different levels:

• Service-level overview;

• Department-level overview;

• Institution-level overview, grouped by departments;

• Comprehensive review at the institution-level.

The system records all services provided by the institution (Figure 37). By selecting a specific service the system displays detailed information: the number of services performed by months, service revenue, and comparison with the specific period (in terms of frequency and revenue) (Figure 38).

Figure 37.

Reports for the selected service.

Figure 38.

Reports on services provided for the selected department.

Given that each service belongs to one of the institution’s department, all of them can thus be grouped and presented in the report on Services at the department level (Figure 38). By selecting one of the departments, we move on to the next page, which includes services performed at the level of a given department in the current period. This page shows all the services performed in the current period, for the selected department. The data can be compared with the previous period, and there is a review of the scope of work of the department since the recording started.

The last type of report is a summary of the services provided at the level of the institution (Figure 39). All services provided since the beginning of monitoring are recorded here, so the overview is very practical for comparing different periods. Also, the numbers of performed services and clients are shown tabularly and graphically, across the time.

Figure 39.

Summary reports on services provided at the level of the institution.

4.3.7 Assets management

Keeping records of the institution’s assets and inventory is possible through the provided section in the system that offers data review, entry of new data, and export of lists of assets and inventory (Figure 40).

Figure 40.

Overview of the institution’s assets and inventory.

Data on the equipment of the institution can be sorted by columns and quickly filtered through the search. Also, there is an option to export lists of assets and inventory, that is important for classifying assets in an appropriate manner, thus making it easier for those responsible to keep records.

4.4 Automated communication system

By integrating a comprehensive e-service model with the REST program interface, one of the instant messaging applications, a system for direct communication with students has been established, which immediately provides the necessary transactional notifications, service information, and reports to the most important stakeholder group of the higher educational institution.

One of the most commonly used instant messaging applications on a global scale today (Rakuten Viber) allows programmers to develop their own bots whose purpose is direct communication 1-1 with users who are subscribed for this type of service.

The following elements are required for the implementation of the Viber REST API [29]:

1. Active account on the platform that supports bots.

2. Active bot that has to be created beforehand.

3. Token for account authentication used for account validation. This token must be included in each individual API request sent to the service.

4. One-time Webhook request during initial setup that defines the types of responses that the bot wants to receive from users.

Viber Chatbots enable free communication with users, but only with those who first contacted the business account, that is, who subscribed to the service. Also, API does not enable downloading information about the user’s phone number, but each of the users has its own identification code (User ID).

The flow of message exchange between a Viber business account and regular Viber users is shown in Figure 41.

Figure 41.

Diagram of the flow of messages sent between the user and the public account.

Once all the prerequisites have been met, a one-time Webhook registration for the public account is required. A webhook is a type of application programming interface which is event-based. It can be defined as a service that enables one application to send data to another when a certain event occurs. Webhook works practically one way, unlike classic APIs whose essence is to a get response based on a previously sent request.

Webhook can be configured programmatically or by sending a POST request with the appropriate parameters in the Header and Body, to the URL https://chatapi.viber.com/pa/set-webhook. The parameters required for sending are shown in Table 1.

Name	Description	Validation
url	Required. Account webhook URL to receive callbacks and messages from users	Webhook URL must use SSL Note: Viber does not support self signed certificates
event_types	Optional. Indicates the types of Viber events that the account owner would like to be notified about. Do not include this parameter in your request to get all events	Possible values: delivered, seen, failed, subscribed, unsubscribed and conversation_started
send_name	Optional. Indicates whether or not the bot should receive the user name. Default false	Possible values: true, false
send_photo	Optional. Indicates whether or not the bot should receive the user photo. Default false	Possible values: true, false

Table 1.

Parameters required for sending in order to arrange Webhook requests.

Depending on the type of event that can be registered through the callback function, different types of responses to the user can be defined. The following is an example of the Python code which is in charge of sending a response to a user according to whether the user started a conversation or signed up for the service:

from viberbot import Api

from viberbot.api.bot_configuration import BotConfiguration

from viberbot.api.messages.text_message import TextMessage

from viberbot.api.messages.data_types.contact import Contact

from viberbot.api.viber_requests import ViberConversationStartedRequest

from viberbot.api.viber_requests import ViberFailedRequest

from viberbot.api.viber_requests import ViberMessageRequest

from viberbot.api.viber_requests import ViberSubscribedRequest

from viberbot.api.viber_requests import ViberUnsubscribedRequest

from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt

viber = Api(BotConfiguration(

   name = ‘UniversityChatBot’,

   avatar = ‘https://example.com/avatar.jpg’,

   auth_token = ‘universitytoken’

))

def hook(request):

   logger.debug(“received request. post data: {0}”.format(request.get_data()))

   viber_request = viber.parse_request(request.get_data())

   if isinstance(viber_request, ViberConversationStartedRequest):

       viber.send_messages(viber_request.get_user().get_id(), [

           TextMessage(text = “Welcome!”)

       ])

   elif isinstance(viber_request, ViberSubscribedRequest):

       viber.send_messages(viber_request.get_user.id, [

           TextMessage(text = “Thank you!”)

       ])

   return Response(status = 200)

This type of communication is used for sending information about the grade students received after successfully passing an exam. The teachers add the grades that the students receive at the exam and the e-service simultaneously sends a notification to the students to their instant messaging accounts through which they previously establish communication with the University bot. In that way, and at the same time, they voluntarily applied for the service. It is possible to establish this type of communication for any needs so that personalized communication 1-1 with each of the university students can be achieved at any time. In addition to information on the grades obtained, it is possible to establish communication for all other types of information and needs, both with students and employees.

5. Conclusion

In the uncertain forthcoming days, institutions must be prepared for new technological challenges that may appear. It is of the utmost importance for an institution to investigate what can be done about the creation of high-quality relationships with interested parties in order to not only maintain but also enhance the relationship with them. In such circumstances, proper ICT application can be of inestimable value for the leaders of higher educational institutions, deans, decision-makers, administrators, and others who are to make important strategic decisions.

In addition, there is another very important fact in the future that should not be ignored—as the years go by, new generations of students come with increasing knowledge, higher previous formal education, and, most importantly, the expectation of ICT presence in their “student life.” Prospective students will need to be provided with an easier way of learning (including various types of distance learning systems), but also the opportunity to quickly and easily complete all their obligations outside the classroom. They should be provided with all relevant information at their fingertips. From a technological point of view, only the adequate application of modern technologies can provide a basis for meeting these conditions.

Students’ expectations regarding the presence of various forms of technology within student activities are today at a much higher level than they were until recently [30]. The availability and proper use of digital technologies in the portfolio of a higher educational institution were especially evident during the coronavirus pandemic, which imposed a completely new way of interaction and communication between students and higher educational institutions [31].

Adoption of the correct use of digital technologies could lead not only to greater student satisfaction but also to the improvement of the technological reputation of the institution. Today, digital technology has become an essential part of students’ daily lives and plays a key role in their studying and extracurricular activities. We are living in a new digital reality [32] and educational institutions will have to adapt to it quickly. The proper use of digital technologies could play an important role in the sustainable development of educational institutions in the future [31]. Future generations of higher education students will have more and more prominent previous experience with the significant use of digital technologies in their primary and secondary education [33].

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.