Student Administration Product Governance

This page summarises the arrangements for how the University governs the approval of change requests for student administration products that support related business services.

Product Catalogue

The University maintains a Product Catalogue of the live products and services offered to users (students and staff) in the area of student administration. All student administration products delivered through SITS:Vision, MMS and Scientia are within the scope of this Catalogue and follow the same change request process.

Product ownership

The University recognises the need to have clear ownership of products in the Product Catalogue. Named members of the user community act as Product Owners and convene Best Practice Groups to ensure products are fit for purpose and use.

Governance

Improvements and enhancements to existing products, as well as requests for new products, are governed by SAGB and SAAG, which together make up a two-tier change authority:

The Student Administration Governance Board (SAGB), chaired by the the Academic Registrar, comprises senior managers within the University and takes a complete and comprehensive view of areas of improvement to provide the best user experience to staff and students. The Business Transformation office may be asked to assist where resource requirements exceed capacity and when requests meet BTB budget thresholds. SAGB is responsible for:

• setting and reviewing priorities.
• approving change requests that have been sized by ITS at greater than two days of build effort.
• approving or escalating changes based on resource or business requirements.

The work of SAGB is supported by the Student Administration Advisory Group (SAAG), which meets on a monthly basis. This cross-institutional group of stakeholders provides expert advice on change requests and is responsible for recommending changes and priorities, conducting benefit reviews, requesting resource and escalating risks to SAGB.

In addition, the Student Administration Operations Group (SAOps) provides a fortnightly forum where members of the user community can meet with Product Owners to:

• provide periodic updates on active change requests.
• gather business and IT advice on the feasibility of proposed improvements.
• clarify where necessary in overlapping areas.
• discuss the effort, intensity or details necessary to deliver a proposed change request.

Submitting a change request

Requests for new products or product improvements should be submitted by proposers to serab@st-andrews.ac.uk in the first instance. A standard change request template is available online and submitted requests are first considered by SAAG before being recommended to SAGB. Members of the user community, especially those wishing to propose an improvement idea, are encouraged to attend SAOps to discuss feasibility with colleagues or to seek advice on best practice.

Approval of change requests

Change requests presented at SAAG are recorded on the SAAG Change Request log (Word, 19 KB), which gives oversight of requested deployment dates, SAGB approval (where relevant) and actual deployment dates.

Getting involved

Membership of individual Best Practice Groups is extended to all business areas currently using products in the Catalogue. Colleagues should contact the relevant Product Owner for further details.

SAAG normally meets each month at the Students’ Association, Committee Room (1st floor) on Thursdays, 10-12 noon. Meetings are scheduled in such a way that timely feedback can be provided to SAGB.  Membership of SAAG includes representatives from the following business areas:

• Academic Schools (School Managers and School Administrators)
• Admissions
• Careers
• Dean’s Office
• International Education Institute
• Finance
• IT
• Library
• RBS
• Registry
• Students’ Association
• Student Services
• Timetabling

For further information please contact serab@st-andrews.ac.uk

SAAG and SAGB meeting schedule 2024