Staff-led innovation reimagining student support
A pioneering initiative from UNE’s Student Services team is exploring how artificial intelligence can help tackle one of the university's most complex manual tasks. The project is a story of practical innovation, highlighting a journey of learning and discovery as staff partner with AI to build the student support tools of the future.Two prototype 'Progression Checker' tools are now in development, born from a staff-led effort to find a smarter way to work. The goal is to automate parts of the time-consuming student progression check process, freeing staff to focus on more personalised, high-value student engagement.
The challenge of manual progression checks
Previously, staff in the Student Journey team manually conducted 'Unit Selection Assistance' checks to help students navigate their course structures. This essential but repetitive task represents thousands of hours of work annually. The challenge was not just to find a technical solution, but to do so in a way that empowered staff. The team asked: how could we leverage technology to handle this complex, rule-based task and, in the process, build new skills? The answer was found in a dual approach, where two staff members, Student Progression Officer Sathvik Gopala Krishna and Senior Manager, Student Services Tim Bartlett-Taylor, embarked on parallel journeys using AI as both a tool and a teacher.
A dual approach to innovation: learning with AI
The project began by tackling the core data problem: making complex course handbooks and student records understandable to an AI. Initial attempts faced predictable hurdles, which became the first steps in a valuable learning process. With support from LabNext70 and the BI team, the team learned that the path forward wasn't just about using AI, but about learning with AI. They pivoted to a more sophisticated strategy: using code to transform complex data into a 'human-readable' format that an AI could easily interpret. With no prior coding experience, Sathvik used AI as a collaborative partner to build an AI-powered assistant. "Personally, I had no idea on how to write or read coding," Sathvik explains. "So I got AI to help me write the code and explain to me what it was created to do. "Tim’s journey took a different path, using AI to learn Python and develop a standalone software application from scratch. He treated the AI as a developer, providing it with natural language prompts to build the program piece by piece. "I asked AI some simple questions," Tim says. "'Can you create a GUI where I could load data?', 'Is it possible to compare one set of data to another?' The simple answer was, yes."
Building the future, one step at a time
Both the AI-powered assistant and the AI-coded application are early-stage prototypes. They are currently being tested with a 'human in the loop' to verify results, manage complex cases, and navigate the predictable teething problems that come with any new, complex system. The success of this initiative lies not in a finished product, but in the story of empowerment and the innovation process itself. It demonstrates how staff, without a background in programming, can partner with AI to solve significant operational challenges and develop valuable new skills along the way. Looking to the future, Sathvik is optimistic about the team's reaction. "I believe as further improvements are made to AI and our checkers, and accuracy is further improved, the fear will also turn to excitement and our teams will be able to turn their attention to other work."