Are students the consumers of higher education? Live chat best bits

Do students become the consumers of HE in a more market-oriented model? Our live chat panel considers appropriate terms and suggests ways HEIs can improve academic relationships
Are students being led to expect that higher education and life after will be perfectly gift-wrapped? Photograph: Andreas Kuehn/Getty Images

Melonie Fullick, PhD researcher in education, York University, Canada

Think of education as a process not a product: The more tuition students pay, the more they want to 'get something out of' their education. And who can blame them? Normally when one pays a high price for something, that transaction builds expectation. So we have to ask whether a metaphor of consumerism is giving people a helpful idea of what to expect from their educational experience and I don't think it is. Students engage in the process of education; they themselves contribute significantly to its 'outcomes'; they share responsibility for what they 'get' at the end of it.

Enter into partnership with students: Universities must talk to students about tuition fees and why these are so much higher than they used to be. Talk to students about how they they made the decision to go to university and the reasons why institutions can't just 'hand around a basket of knowledge' from which students can all take what they want. There must be good faith on both sides. Students need to see that we are doing everything we can to 'hold up' our side of the bargain. It is a relationship of exchange but not in the economic sense. Education is inherently about communication and relationship-building, not just the transaction where knowledge is somehow dished up by experts like a buffet from which you take what you like.

Measuring what a degree is worth could have legal implications: Assessing whether HE was worth the time and money spent presents a lot of questions; how can we measure whether education was worth it until after one's time in the university (as a student) is over? A graduate may be able to complain retroactively, but they can't return their education, they can't turn back the clock or somehow have their time and energy refunded.

Measuring value would require we also measure students' involvement in their education. How do we do that? How do we assign responsibility if and when they fail to get what they wanted? This is a question with very real implications considering that universities and colleges in the U.S. now face lawsuits because they created unrealistic expectations about employment for their graduates. The cases will set interesting precedents.

Marketing and advertising contribute to the sense of an HE marketplace: Like it or not, these forms of communication assume a certain relationship with students from the outset as they are about promotion, not necessarily information. Universities need to ensure that they are providing students with the information to make an informed choice and stay away from aggressive marketing.

Eric Bohms, managing director, Electric Paper Ltd, which automates module evaluation and reporting for HEIs

It is important to involve students as stakeholders in the process: Students need to be actively involved in improving the quality of their courses and modules. They need to see that real defined actions are being taken as a result of their feedback. The challenge for institutions is identifying feedback on specific courses and turning around 'you said - we did' reporting as a result of recent feedback from students while they are still at the institution.

Guaranteeing value is something business schools do well but institutions as a whole struggle with: The 'assurance of learning' is one of the key criteria to get AACSB or EQUIS accreditation for business schools. Business schools are very active at assuring quality at the course level - where institutions as a whole struggle or point more towards programme level satisfaction or league table results. If the student is indeed at the heart of the system, institutions need to have visibility and be able to attest to value across all modules.

The obsession with league tables gives students false expectations: League tables pointing to very satisfied students across the sector allow students to think that when they show up, they'll be 83% satisfied on every course. With higher fees and promises in the HE White Paper to focus more on quality, there is a danger that students expectations cannot be met - leading to an increase in complaints. This is a real concern - not just framing issue. Institutions need to be proactive and transparent in communicating excellence and quality initiatives to students and parents.

Resource: The latest research by Electric Paper: 'Effective course evaluation: the future for quality and standards in higher education' provides many helpful insights.

Anne Gwinnett, project sponsor for the Distinct Project

Recognise the need to ensure that we provide a good service to the student: This whole question has arisen because, whether we agree on the notion of student as consumer, or on the type of marketplace that we are in, we all have to recognise that recent changes in the sector mean that we will have to compete more than we have before, and this includes in the recruitment - and retention - of students. We must play our part in this relationship as well as we can.

Resource: Good marketing is not just about advertising and promotion - it takes great care to reflect the reality of your institution. What you claim to be has to be based on truth, or your audiences will hold you to account pretty quickly. Read this blog by John Rhys about the credibility of academic claims.

This discussion is about delivering good student experience and that relies on a particular attitude being embedded across the whole institution. See our practitioners' guide on exemplifying your values in what you do.

Francois Therin, dean designate, School of Business at a university in south east Asia

Think of students as customers: The definition of the words consumer and customer could help shape HE's approach to students. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a consumer as "one that utilises economic goods," while a customer is "one that purchases a commodity or service". Based on the definitions of the different words, education is not a product, nor only a process, but a service. And as with any service, the customer is an actor in the process of the service being delivered.

Though an understanding of the definitions should help shape our approach, we cannot run from a sense of economy in education. When an employer hires you because you have the needed skills thanks to your degree, what is the employer doing? The employer is buying your competency by giving you a salary. Economy is everywhere, even in education.

Resource: In defining the value of HE, we must accept that value is subjective and is linked to perception. I've written about how to translate the value of HE.

Sophie Richardson, elected exec member, National Executive Council, NUS

In order to manage student expectations, universities must recognise where students are coming from: Universities need to understand the backgrounds and previous educational experiences students have had. Many high schools and FE colleges now have far better facilities and on-campus services than some of our leading HEIs. If students are coming straight from this kind of environment to an institution that is years behind their previous institution with regards to facilities and environment then perhaps this is where our problems begin in terms of expectations?

We also must understand the previous academic experience of our students. Again, for those who have come straight from Level 3 qualifications they have quite often come from an environment which is modular and in which they have the power of choice and flexibility. For example, the choice as to whether they resit certain modules, not due to failure necessarily, but due to not doing as well as they had hoped, is present for many now.

Professor Janet Beer, vice-chancellor, Oxford Brookes University

Client should be how the HE sector views its students: The closest analogy to the relationship between the student and the university is that of a gym and its members: unless you turn up and sweat nothing will happen; there will be no change. So I prefer membership - or has been said - partnership. I think that the language of consumption is generally unhelpful in terms of the academic experience - of course we can use it when describing the service provided by other parts of our organisations like accommodation and catering. Students also expect a highly professional service - probably a client rather than consumer relationship - with learning resources like media and library. If there is a hierarchy of terms, it should have consumer at the bottom, customer in the middle and client at the top.

Carl Lygo, principal, BPP University College

Not all students are alike: For some HE is about getting a better job, so they choose to attend a career-focused professional higher education provider. Another student can attend a university that adopts an approach where the student is not a customer/consumer/client, in which they are equals in a rich research intensive environment which is not designed to get them a job at the end of their studies. Life would be so dull and boring if we all tried to be the same, charge the same fee - don't you think? The sector should embrace its diversity and deal with the student in a way that speaks to the students ambitions.

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