BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
tend to withdraw from everything. Monitoring how engaged students are with our virtual library, for example, gives us an indication of when they are withdrawing, and we can check they are alright. We have counselling available for students – they can be referred directly by their programme director. One of the things we’re wrestling with now that we are creating completely online programmes, in some cases with partners, is that we’ve got students based all over the world, so what kind of access do they have to the university’s counselling services? And that gets into the partnership deals but also the volume of resources we have. If we have 1,000 students online on a programme, how are we going to cater for their mental health and notice when they’re struggling? We’ve introduced compulsory training on mental health awareness. All staff members must do this, not just for the benefit of students, but to help them look out for each other as well. Digital natives pose challenges as well as opportunities and the pandemic accelerated the digital disruption of how Business Schools position themselves and operate. The shift to a digital world unveiled the possibility of reaching everyone at every time, everywhere, unlocking new possibilities to establish a direct and personalised relationship at a global scale with candidates, students and alumni. Our stakeholders expect that we know their distinctive motivations and expectations and provide an individual and empathic relation. It's not just about customer service anymore, it’s also about ‘caring' service. Now, data, process automation and AI can help us, but at the end of the day technology is a means, not an end. It is important to understand that a student is also a customer, a person who is investing time and money, putting his/her future Maria José Amich, Executive Director, The Lisbon MBA Católica/Nova
where participants leave to go to consulting companies or big corporations. Technology is also becoming much more important at our Executive School where we have just launched a new EMBA in leadership and technology in partnership with ETH Zurich. We are seeing more and more people who are thinking about growing their own businesses. They are going into startups and tech companies, and this could be an interesting shift for where technology comes in. But here in Switzerland, it’s not so much about salary increases, its more about taking an holistic view of the programmes and about personal development. In terms of wellbeing, it seems to me that often in Business Schools (but also in universities) we can become distracted with technology rather than keeping students at the centre. We think that if we bring in this technology or different platforms, and we can connect them in an efficient way, we’re going to deliver a great experience, but sometimes we might be leaving behind the whole point of pedagogy. Why? What is the end purpose? What are we trying to teach, or how are we helping those individuals to learn? Are students learning concepts or are they learning or developing skills? These two things are different. Javier Yanez-Arenas, MBA Director, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow It’s very hard for us to get the right balance because I believe that online education has been designed around part-time programmes rather than full-time programmes. We must rethink how we’re going to deliver full-time programmes, leveraging more technologybut recognising the challenges students face. I don’t know whether Business Schools have the answer yet. Chris Saunders, Associate Dean for Postgraduate Education, Lancaster University Management School When students are dealing with mental health issues they
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