Consolidation in focus: insights from the RSU Study Department and Student Services

Half a year has already passed since 1 July 2024 when Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) and the Latvian Academy of Sport Education (LASE) started on their joint path of development, creating a unified health and sport science ecosystem that will ensure high-quality, internationally competitive, research-based higher education and good governance.

'A lot of work has been done in a short period of time,' says Lielā. 'We had 11 people working on information related to LASE students in Student Services. In total, we read and evaluated about 60 LASE internal normative acts. New contract forms and agreements for existing students were created and approved, new ordinances on the study process were created, and evaluation sheets were adapted. At the beginning of the consolidation, the personal data of 823 LASE students and the Rector's order on the transfer of students were imported into the Student Information System. We manually entered all personal and student data for 205 students who are renewing after withdrawal. After data extraction and quality checks, work continued and is still ongoing to integrate LASE students into the study process and information systems, e.g. for changing qualifications and specialisations, creating tuition fee invoices, grouping students, processing applications, etc.'

Student Services is also responsible for informing RSU LASE students and creating information campaigns on RSU account activation, sending photos, using RSU systems, processing applications with sent photos and printing certificates, identifying and making decisions on differences in the study process, processing applications for studies and resuming studies, preparing academic certificates, calculating unused budget places, organising applications for state grants, granting tuition fee discounts, as well as solving various problems.

'For the first time, we also organised and implemented a common admissions process. Recently, on 7 February, the first RSU LASE graduation took place,' says Lielā.

'I think that the majority of RSU LASE students (currently 1028 students) have successfully integrated into the RSU study and administrative process.

Students use both the MyRSU portal and e-study, as well as the Student Services e-services. Just like other RSU students, RSU LASE students receive monthly Student Service Newsletters, which inform students about current events in their studies.

We have received a lot of positive feedback from LASE students both about the quality of studies and about our work, communication and attitude as Student Services.'

Treija describes the cooperation between the Study Administration Department and the LASE during the consolidation period: 'When we took over the administration of the study process in the summer, we encountered several challenges. However, through close collaboration with our colleagues at RSU LASE, most issues were quickly and successfully resolved. As a result of the consolidation, the majority of the information necessary for the study process is now integrated into RSU’s systems. This allows for a digitised and high-quality administration of the study process, covering course descriptions, study programme plans, and lecture and class timetables. RSU LASE programmes are now administered in the same way as any other RSU study programme.'

RSU LASE staff were trained to be able to use the systems necessary for study administration on their own.'

In the future, plans include integrating RSU LASE student enrolment for Part B and Part C courses, as well as making RSU LASE Part C courses available to students from all RSU study programmes. From the next academic year, RSU LSPA lecturers' work records are expected to be incorporated into RSU systems, and the RSU LASE study time allocation will be aligned with RSU’s existing framework.