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Student Services Excellence Initiative

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The Student Services Excellence Initiative (SSEI) aims to optimize the student and faculty experience, streamline processes, embrace change, and make data-driven decisions. SSEI covers a wide range of students, including those in undergraduate and graduate programs, credit-bearing and non-credit courses, and in-person and online programs. As we implement changes, we continually engage students and learners, staff, faculty, leadership and other stakeholders for input.

Learn more about our current initiatives, background, and guiding principles below.

Focus on the ultimate student/faculty experience

Create a climate for change by developing solutions focused on the ultimate student/faculty experience, impact on student/faculty experience takes precedence over jurisdiction; position our students and faculty to reap the benefits of being a part of “One University”

Streamline and simplify 

Collaboratively develop common student processes and data across JHU while still respecting the differences across schools and divisions, including respect for local decision making and service delivery; engage and empower various constituencies across the university throughout the project; make collaboration across schools and divisions easier; make compliance with legal/regulatory requirements consistent and easily achievable

Look forward, not back 

Just because something has “always been done that way” does not mean that is the way it should have been done or should continue to be done – no “sacred cows”; strive to implement processes and systems that enable us to best serve our students, both now and into the future; focus on how to improve while also being mindful of resources

Use objective analysis and best practices to drive informed decisions 

Make informed decisions by utilizing easy-to-use management reporting processes and technology; increase data availability and accessibility; openly compare ourselves to peers and learn from others’ best practice

Students at Johns Hopkins rely on a wide array of academic and administrative services from the moment they apply to the university through graduation and beyond. In 2016, the JHU launched the Student Services Excellence Initiative (SSEI), which focused on an assessment of six key administrative areas of student services: Recruitment & Admissions, Financial Aid, Billing, Registration, Advising, and Career Services & Alumni Tracking.

The driving factor for this project initially was to redesign and replace our student information system. The current system is challenged by functional weaknesses and is quickly becoming outdated, no longer meeting the needs of students, faculty, and staff in a world of rapidly changing, increasingly mobile, technology. Extensive pre-work and analysis prior to replacing the SIS revealed the need for process improvements and alignment across these six functional areas – a technology solution alone would not be successful at addressing the key underlying issues.

As more and more of our students are “digital natives” who have grown up in a world where information and services are easily accessible at the push of a button, we committed to an evolution to best meet their needs and expectations. Thus, the focus of SSEI shifted to an experience perspective rather than that of technology replacement – an emphasis on how people interact with systems, and how we might make process and technology enhancements to improve this experience for our students and those who support them.

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