How the University of Leicester Is Using AI to Improve Digital Engagement

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Well, Bill Gates once said, "Content is

king." Today, some might argue that AI

is fast emerging as the new kingmaker.

In today's episode, we're discussing how

the University of Leicester is using AI

and content to create more personalized

digital experience,

improve engagement, and lay the

foundations for the future. I'm Mark

Britain. Welcome to the digital lounge.

So joining me today is uh Stuart

Haynesworth, deputy director of

marketing at the University of

Leicester. Stuart leads the university's

digital engagement strategy spanning

digital channels CRM content and

marketing technology. Also joining me on

the show today is Nathan Smith, industry

practice director for higher education

at Crimson. Uh Nathan works with

universities across the UK on digital

transformation, AI and student

engagement initiatives. Welcome JENT uh

both to uh today's show. It's great to

great to have you on. Uh Stuart, if I

can uh first of all turn to you. Um

universities are are facing significant

challenges uh at the moment around

student recruitment, engagement and

financial sustainability.

what are the pressures and um that that

you're seeing right now and how are they

influencing your priorities?

>> Hi Mark, it's great to be here first of

all. Um yeah, I think the pressures are

are unprecedented. I think a lot of um

my contemporaries in higher education

sector have said the same previously and

I think this time um has has represented

kind of the uh the most macro and micro

challenges I think I've ever experienced

in my time in higher education. Um and I

think the pressure is no longer kind of

just on on student recruitment and not

just in terms of volume. I think it's

around um the the audience's um

expectation around um the the attention

that we need to give to them and and the

the content and the experience we need

to offer them. I think they expect kind

of relevant personalized experiences. Um

but I think as universities as a as a

sector we often have kind of kind of

fragmented content data uh and operating

models and I think it's um incumbent of

um me and kind of people like me within

universities to look at that and to to

to deliver uh value and and and

improvement. Um I think financial

constraints are are meaning that

universities have to prioritize kind of

efficiency and impact. I think that's

that's that's clear and I think we

accept that and that's fair. Um so we're

focusing on how we can use AI automation

and better use of data and content um to

help our teams um achieve more without

simply just adding in resource. I think

resource we'd all like more resource all

of the time. But when that's not

available, we um we we we have to think

um more clearly around how we can help

our colleagues add value in the time

that they've got to focus on on their on

their activities. Um plus there's the

opportunities there around income

generation that the um the challenges

that we that we face at the moment um

offer and how we approach them. So how

can we use the technology different ways

of working um to increase income as well

as saving cost because I think those two

together um are part of the answer. Um

and and and kind of our our priority at

Leicester is kind of building strong

foundations um rather than just chasing

technology. I think technology alone um

won't won't save us and won't won't kind

of deliver the value that we're looking

for. It's a partnership between the

technology and the people. Um and it's

important that we start with the people,

look at the solutions and the problems

they're trying to solve. Um and then

looking at things like content and data,

strategic assets, um improving that CRM

and and data capability and and creating

conditions where we can then use AI to

deliver meaningful value. Um and that's

at scale because we we we focus on our

certainly our student recruitment

activities. We're looking we're looking

at thousands and thousands of potential

students and right across our um our

operations university because we

obviously have a a high um highly

respected research aspect of what we do

at the University of Leicester. So how

do we engage and communicate uh that

audience? So I think CRM, data, content

and AI cuts across all of that and

that's why the university has been

investing recently and that's why we're

looking at it as a strategic um

imperative for us.

>> Yeah. And then you say I mean that

you've been investing heavily in digital

engagement, content and AI. What made

you decide to start making changes now

rather than maybe waiting? It's a it's

an uncertain time that that might be an

approach that some might choose to take.

>> Yeah. And and it's and it's a question

that I hear a lot. Um shall we shall we?

Um and by we the university, by we the

sector, by we by we as as as

marketeteers and and those that are

interested in digital um products and

strategy. I think it's clear that kind

of a high proportion of our of our

students are already using AI. I think

the the the research that we that we

that we get both in terms of higher

education and outside of that is very

clear on that. So, we need to ensure

that we're providing the tools and

support for our students and our staff

and and and the people that we work with

to be able to harness that technology um

and to use it to achieve their ambitions

uh and be ready to apply the new skills

that they learn at a university in in

their chosen careers. So I think it's

around um equipping those those students

that are coming through uh the

university with both the tools, the

support um to to make sure that when

when they when they do graduate and when

they do enter the the work the work

arena that they are able to use AI um

effectively um to to enhance what they

would already offer to the markets. It's

not around kind of removing um people

from jobs or or AI taking jobs. It's

around making sure that you're capable

and able to use those AI technologies in

a way that makes you even more

employable and invaluable to the um to

the employer. Um I think kind of the

environment around us is changing too

quickly for us for us to stand still. I

think um week by week almost day by day

I mean kind of the news this week about

kind of open AI and the challenges that

they've had um takes takes the

conversation on again and takes the um

takes the technology into a new

conversation. um as well. So I think the

student expectations around this

continue to change and like I say we we

we can't we can't stand still. Um so the

university's kind of seen the

opportunity um to kind of strengthen our

foundations um before we kind of scale

that innovation. Um and that's why not

only have we invested in in AI via

Microsoft co-pilot, we're also doing the

same in content CRM and other digital

platforms. So we want to create the

conditions for AI and personalization um

that deliver that that kind of real

value. Um and our focus has been on on

like I said being proactive rather than

reactive. We want to we want to

understand what our prospective and

current students and staff are are are

telling us um the challenges that they

have the opportunities that they see

because a lot of the talk and a lot of

the um conversation is all around the

challenges and the kind of the risks the

fears which are relevant and we need to

be aware of those but what are the

opportunities here and how can we use AI

how I see it as kind of that human AI

human sandwich almost to um to mean that

that colleagues and students can can use

it to deliver value in their roles,

whatever that means for them.

>> Brilliant. Um Nathan, if I could turn to

you, I mean, you're you're speaking to

universities all over the country.

Clearly, Stuart at uh University of of

Leicester. They're they're they're

proactive. They're they're they're

trying to stay on the front foot with

this this pace. Is that reflected

elsewhere in the market? What what are

you seeing? Are people reacting to

events or are they being a little bit

more strategic and and being on that

front foot?

>> Both.

Doesn't help when I say that. I think go

back to something I just pick up a few

of the points that Stuart's just raised

there. I I think look just just from a a

sector perspective

that the whether whether there's you

know sort of market conditions that are

actually have an impact there or or

actually what's the impact on actually

you know how you go through and deliver

the curriculum and and back to Stuart's

point there how do you get students

ready when they leave university to go

into a workplace where ultimately you

know industry is also investing in that

in that space as well so I I don't think

as a sector there is a what we're seeing

unities do is an acceptance an

acceptance that you know AI isn't

something or you know should should we

shouldn't we it's probably this the

should we shouldn't we is on specific

use cases rather than should we or

shouldn't we look at the opportunities

with AI yeah so I think that's the bit

it's actually where where we're seeing

working with other universities it's

still in that right where are those

opportunities and what approaches are

they actually taking to try and identify

where the opportunities are for

transformation and I think what's really

interesting again I know there's there's

some parallels with what with what

Stuart's talking about. There's that

approach whereby you've got to get it

out there and actually educate the end

user whether that be you know the the

the the you know faculty, staff,

academics, but also the students as well

because you you you want them to to

foster ideas and come up come up with

ideas for what you're looking for. But

you've also got to go and have a look at

where those big strategic opportunities

might be for a specific university based

around those market conditions or what

they're trying to do moving further

forward as well as sort of redesigning

the curriculum, thinking about some of

the things. So there's just a lot

there's just a lot of there's a lot of

things that the organizations have to do

and I think that's part of the

challenge. It's knowing where where

really to go and sort of how do we you

kind of said it there Stuart how do we

operationally need to change slightly to

tweak to support driving that through

not just driving it through but doing it

well and doing it successfully as well

when you don't always have all the

answers. So it's it's interesting, but I

don't think there's one there isn't one

university that we're or somebody you

know different stakeholders in

university we're speaking to that that

they're all doing something.

>> Yeah. I haven't come across anyone

that's going

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. Just approaching it from from

different angles. Well, Stuart, I I know

that you you've talked about the

importance of personalization,

personalized experiences.

How are you I'm curious. How are you

thinking about personalization and where

do you see the role of CRM and digital

channels playing in in delivering that?

>> I think that's interesting because when

we we talk about personalization, it's

been around for a long time. I think we

talk around personalization based on um

on personas and and what what we think

our audience um are looking for. And

then that's informed by CRM data. And

it's kind of um the sweet spot of where

we we know um we know enough to

personalize experiences for our

audiences without it being creepy, it

being over the line, without there have

been concerns around privacy and data.

But I think personalization

certainly in the last couple of years

because of the the rise in um LLMs and

and their use and and how um how

embedded they are now in in in a lot of

what our audiences are doing. I think

personalization now even more starts

with relevance not kind of technology.

Um I think students don't want don't

want more content. Um they got

advertising messages and uh content

coming at them from everywhere

constantly whenever they whenever they

open their eyes it seems. So they don't

want more content. They they want the

right information in the right place and

at the right time. I don't think that's

changed. I think that's always been kind

of what mark as marketers that's what we

do. That's that's what we that's what we

look to look to achieve. We don't want

to cram content into into a space where

either it's not going to be consumed and

or we we then have to pay for the

pleasure of it not being consumed

because we're paying for um you know

really high value spaces sometimes. Um

so we want we want it in the right space

at the right time and based on what what

students want as part of their journey

and I think content is is is the

foundation of that. I think if if your

content becomes or is inconsistent or

it's duplicated or it's difficult to

reuse or no one knows where it is or

it's just it's just created and just

left and we build and build and build as

part of our business as usual um then

personalization becomes kind of almost

impossible. I think that's why we're

focusing on that structured um and

well-managed content as a strategic

asset and treating content as um as as a

resource. Um and that will then ma mean

that we can we can scale um not so much

a pace but more um we can scale

strategically and we can deliver it uh

in a far more kind of um uh dynamic way

uh without having to rebuild the engine

all of the time. Uh I think CRM content

and digital channels

clearly need and obviously need to work

work together on this. Um, and that's

why kind of at Leicester, we're like I

said previously, we're investing in um

in our CRM, in our in our in our content

uh management uh and in our AI uh offer.

Um, and I think when those elements are

are connected, you can create kind of a

more relevant more relevant journeys. Um

and I think what's important in that

context is that we do it at scale

because of um how where how we recruit

and how competitive it is and how

rightly our our our student perspective

students audiences um are so demanding

of what what they want what they don't

want. I think there is no other choice.

We have to do this and we have to do it

well. Um and that's our opportunity and

that's what's exciting at the moment at

Leicester.

>> Yeah. And um you so you talk about

treating content as a strategic asset

rather than just something that gets

published. I mean

why is that why is that important? Uh

what needs to change in how universities

manage content in your view from maybe

what you're seeing elsewhere in in the

sector?

>> I think I think like like I say it's one

of it's one of our most valuable assets

because a few reasons really. I think um

content is the output of um many

colleagues valuable time as subject

matter experts whether they are our

academic colleagues whether they're

research active academics as well

whether they're professional services

colleagues um they're all subject matter

experts the time is very valuable uh we

ask them to do lots of things and when

they create content um it needs to be um

created with the support of uh of

insight and tools that allow ow them to

do it um to do it well and allow them to

to maintain that content uh in the most

efficient way that we can. Um the reason

why again that content is so valuable,

it shapes our recruitment. Um it shapes

our student experience. It um supports

our reputation. It is our reputation in

some instances. Um when when it's on the

website and it's there to consume and

LLMs are diving in and grabbing what

they what they think are the answers and

shaping those those experiences inside

inside those black boxes. it it's so

important but often it's kind of it's

managed on especially in a website

context it's managed on individual pages

rather than as an as as an institutional

resource. Um so so the shift that we're

making is kind of from publishing

content to truly managing content. So

that means um a lot of positive change

um uh so so better governance, clearer

ownership, structured content um and a

real kind of investment of focus on how

we support colleagues in maintaining

that quality um of content so we can

reuse it consistently across across

channels because we're focusing on the

website in the first instance which is

normally the kind of the first stop and

the last stop of any content management

project. But because content is that

resource and to use an analogy, if we

treat if we look at it kind of as Lego,

we can we can break it apart and build

it and reshape it however we want. But

um it has to be a quality and it has to

has to you know has to last. Um and then

with with AI in the mix that makes it

even more important. Um both in terms of

what the LLM are asking for but in terms

of what we can use AI for in terms of

supporting colleagues in how they choose

to create that content. So informing

them on what content might be more um um

effective in terms of the type of um um

content experiences that we give to our

our users. Do we need a 24page PDF

document? No, we don't. But if we need

that from a compliance sense, how do we

then present that information um in a

way that's um compliant um accessible

but also that converts? And a conversion

might be the content just gets consumed,

which is fine. It might be they read

some content and they book an open day

which is you know another conversion

point for us as well. So there's lots

converging at the moment and it's really

exciting um with the um conditions that

we're in in higher education with the

challenges that we face. I think um they

we need we need to meet them with that

excitement and with that um um curiosity

um but we can't get this wrong. So it's

important that we we focus on those

areas.

>> Yeah. And you you you talk about

curiosity. I think uh I think it's

really interesting how Leicester have

have taken a really significant step

with Microsoft Copilot

and um

from from what we were describing uh

before we went live on the show, it's

something that you're giving to all all

staff and students if I'm if I'm right.

C can you sort of explain what led to

that decision to sort of be be bold with

uh with co-pilot and where you see the

opportunities initially with uh with

that tool across the institution.

>> Yeah, I think I think like I say it's um

certainly our students and and our

colleagues are already using it. Uh it

it's it's it's there. It's ubiquitous.

um we also see around us and and and we

and I feel personally you know the last

kind of 6 12 months there has been a lot

of um okay this is great now what now

now what what can we do with it where

should we go with it what should we what

shall we do what shall we do um will it

take my job uh will it take uh my

relatives jobs and and generational jobs

in the future um but I think the thing

at the moment is to be more proactive

than than than respond I

Um it's a it's a it's a it's a clear

decision from the university to invest

in this area and I think we've we've

done the right thing. Um what um really

kind of was really important before we

did that is that we we we looked at what

the practical um applications of that AI

technology for the university would be.

So we did a pilot with around 60 uh

staff to look at uh how we would use

co-pilot in their day-to-day and in

their their group work and their project

work. Um and that brought us a lot of

feedback and a lot of um positive

signals around how that would work.

Obviously it it brought it brought us a

lot of areas that we need to focus on

around um what what will our policies

be? How will we support colleagues in

this brave new world and um how do we

make sure we've got the infrastructure

in place that means that when the

technology is there that uh colleagues

feel supported and feel empowered uh

without it being here's the technology

uh off you go. uh which is something

that I that we would never do. Um it's

something that we've thought a lot about

and there are uh hundreds of colleagues

in the university working on this. Um I

am just one of those and it's um it's

really exciting to see. Um what's

important for me personally is that we

have the human in the loop at all times.

So I I speak about kind of um the um

human AI human sandwich. Um and that's

how I like to think about it. It's a bit

it's a bit like data. if you were to use

data, you wouldn't just use it and

that'll be it because of anomalies,

because of um things that um um just

don't just don't make sense. And in a

way with AI and it's kind of

hallucinations and everything else that

we that we hear about, I think it's

important that if you think about um a

virtual team of uh four, five, six,

seven colleagues and you're working on a

project, if there are two empty chairs

in the room, if one's data, the other

one's AI, um that to me feels feels

appropriate. Um, but it doesn't replace

the the other humans in the room by any

means.

>> Yeah, it's a good way good way of

looking at it. And Nathan, just sort of

looping you in on this,

are you seeing sort of a similar kind of

feel in them across the the UK when it

comes to the appetite for for co-pilot?

>> Yeah, it's it it's out there. I think

again it's back to that, you know, what

what's it what's it being used for?

who's adopting it. I don't think that

it's embedding it's embedded a lot of

across there's there's lots of variants

of co-pilot right so it's it's embedded

across a lot of the Microsoft platform

capabilities you know Stuart's already

alluded to here as an example Lester

have got um you know CRM in play CRM

will have a Gentic AI capabilities

embedded within it as a platform you've

got it within u M365 you've got it so

you've got it across the board I think

the the bit there is are we seeing

people sort of turn it on try it yes we

are I think it it goes back to and and

you know I know it was you go everything

that Stuart's saying I was smiling as

you were going through there Stuart

because I think you know you've talked

about human in the loop there actually

you know making sure that you're

actually adding value and that it's

there to assist and you know being an

extension to the team not to replace and

if I go back to you know from a use case

perspective I I love what you're working

on because it's the first time I we said

this before it's the first time I've

come across it as a particular use case

starting with content looking at

information assets and then how you

manage it. Look, we've been trying to do

that with different technologies for a

very long time. You know, whether it be

sort of document management, information

management systems, but there's still

improvements that could be driven

through, right, around that whole

content management, information

management process and governance that

we need to do. And I think know what

you're looking at is going, okay, well,

I'm accepting that Aentic AI is here.

How can it come in and support what

we're doing? How can it make it better?

How can we improve what we're trying to

do anyway? So, you're not trying to

change necessarily the fact that you're

going, we need really good quality

content. and it's an enabler. We need

really good quality information assets.

What you're doing there, there's this

whole new capability that's come along.

Let's embrace it and let's see how it

can be applied for us. And I think

there's the same thing there, Mark. It's

actually where we're seeing people, you

know, turn co-pilot on. It's it's that

element of trial and saying, you know,

from bottom up, how how can it can it be

used? And again, that top down piece as

well. But yeah, it's definitely more as

I say there's definitely been a sh a bit

of a shift where if you'd have asked me

this question 12 months ago, I do think

there would have been certain

organizations that might have still been

sitting on the fence slightly around

where do we dip our toes or where do we

go? Whereas now that that's not the

case.

>> Yeah. Um Stuart, we've we've got a

couple of questions coming in. So I'm

just going to bring those in if I may.

I've just uh Charlotte Ridley is asking

specifically around who's producing the

content, the process of creating it. Is

there a a single source of truth for

that? And then uh is Copilot the home of

the internal knowledge bank? There's a

few questions here. I don't know whether

you might be able to uh address those.

I'm assuming you can see them on the on

your screen as well. Can you?

>> Yeah. Yeah.

>> Yeah. Yeah. I'll take them in terms. So

in terms of who's producing the content,

I think the content is um because we're

uh not right at the start of of our

project, but we're in we're in

relatively early early early days of the

of the university content management

project, which is one of one of the kind

of the drivers of the change. In terms

of who's producing the content, that

varies. So website content produced in a

in a traditional uh kind of monolith um

uh content management system at the

moment by um anywhere between 150 and

200 colleagues uh around the university.

Plus there are uh academic staff and

other colleagues that have people

profile um pages. Um we have content in

CRM, we have content in um in SAP, we

have content in lots of different uh

data areas. And I want to move to a

point where um the the data store is the

most appropriate uh for the for the

institution. So I'm not being

prescriptive around all the content

needs to go into the content management

system or we have to integrate wholly

with CRM and everything has to go into

CRM. It has to be single source of truth

but it has to be in the system that

makes most sense strategically and

practically for colleagues as well. Um,

so that's part of the um the opportunity

there to review that, not pick

everything and and start again and and

re remodel everything because u we're

not saying everything needs fixing by

any means. It's it's around um making

sure that we have the content in the

most appropriate place to be able to

integrate and manage effectively. Um so

in terms of the process of creating it

that happens in different ways as well.

So um in the content management system

um as part of system um updates and

records that we have on uh on different

different areas of the university. So

that that that sits in different data

source uh stores. So it's around like I

said previously it's around supporting

colleagues um to enable them to work how

they want to work to add the value they

want to add um and to create the

opportunities and the savings in their

context rather than dictating oh you'll

save three hours a week by doing it in

this way. It's what would what what

feels better for you and how do you

think this this could add value to your

to your role in your area. Um so it's

copilot at the home of the internal

knowledge bank. Um just reading through

that question as I understand it. So

internal knowledge bank if we're talking

about chat bots um we have a we have a

um um userfacing chatbot on our on our

website um which we're using we're using

copilot for um we're not at the point

yet where we're using copilot as a as a

master internal knowledge bank. We've

yet to roll it out to all of our uh

students and staff. So that will be

something that we'll we will look at how

do we manage the source of truth within

um within our own institution. How how

does that happen? Um and how involved

are academic departments? Yeah, in terms

of the AI roll out, uh it's it's

institutionwide. Like I mentioned

previously, it's it's involving

um many many colleagues and it has to be

that way. Um because if we don't do it

that way, then it won't be as effective

as we want it to be. And that's not how

we work at Leicester. We're

collaborative. We um we we have to have

um colleagues involved in shaping how

things affect uh their working lives

because there is no other way. You have

to start with the people.

Brilliant. Uh just for anybody that's

interested, we have got some content on

Crimson's website around using

SharePoint as a central hub for content

and using tools like Microsoft Purview

for for tidying up data as well. So that

might be of use. Charlotte, thank you

very much for the question. We do have

uh just one more question uh from

student engagement team a collective

there. Thank you for for joining us

today. Um, do you have formal a formal

training program for staff to use

co-pilot Stuart?

>> Um, I think we're working on that right

now. So, again, it's not been that long

since we announced uh the collaboration

with Microsoft. So, that's that's u in

the planning now.

>> Okay. Thank you. I'm going to move on

because we're we're fast running out of

time. Stuart, just thinking for for

universities looking at AI

personalization or digital engagement

initiatives. Is there what's the one

piece of advice you'd give them about

where where to start?

>> There's a few there's a few I think um

start with the opportunity. Start with

the person um and what what we're what

we're trying to achieve. Um it's not

always a problem. It might be an

opportunity. Um, but certainly start

with that. Um, I think looking at things

like user stories isn't a bad place to

start as we've traditionally done for

years. Um, so you know the what, the

when, the why, the who, um, and what

you're trying to achieve. I think, um, I

think you won't go far wrong if you look

at that. Um, then look at the

foundations first. Um, kind of, you

know, crawl crawl walk and and run is

isn't a bad analogy in that sense. I

don't think the these things have

changed too much over time, but I think

it's sometimes you can get distracted by

the the shiny new thing coming over the

hill and it's like it's AI and it's

great and it's and we're all in, but if

it's not delivering value and if you're

not focusing on the people and the

opportunity and um and all the opportun

and all the problem you're trying to

solve, then then you will go away and

you'll uh uh you become busy fools

almost because you'll be you'll be away

trying to do all of this stuff at the

same time and and nothing much will will

float to the top. So, I think certainly

piloting is definitely, you know, the

way to go. Um, but making sure your

pilots are focused, making sure they're

delivering on the value that you think

they're going to deliver before you

start scaling. Um, and I think, yeah,

think evolution, not revolution. Um,

look at how this can uh augment and add

value to colleagues who are subject

matter experts, who know what they're

doing. Give them the tools, the support

to use a technology to improve it how

they see improvements being made. Um, I

think they're they're principles that

that that that will serve serve most

people well.

>> Fantastic. And Nathan and I, you know,

uh, Stuart talks about shiny new things

syndrome. Uh, we've got a few workshops

that can help get some prioritization

around thinking is do you want to sort

of share a couple of bits around that?

>> Yeah, I think that well there's several.

Um so we we do things we do the possible

sessions when we we we come out but we

we focus very much around the outcomes.

So Stuart back to your point is going

back in and they're focused around

specific use cases or outcomes or you

know what people are trying to drive. So

yes we will showcase AI and different

technology capabilities in there but

it's not necessarily led around let's

just talk about the tech. It's very much

Mark to your point with the business

stakeholders going look we understand

your world and what you're trying to do

and what you're trying to achieve and

the outcomes that come through. uh we've

got different elements uh around AI

transformation again if you're thinking

about where you start and actually

making sure that you've got all the re

relevant component parts in place to

successfully drive transformation we can

cover that through uh and then the the

other one which again you you've you've

covered off uh quite a bit Stuart is

also kind of operationally and then even

from a governance point of view what do

you need to start thinking about in

those areas as well not just to start

but then you know if if you always go

happy path here you start you get those

early success and then you want to scale

what are the considerations that you

need to put in place and what are the

things you need to start thinking about

now because it's back to that that point

earlier Mark there's a big theme in here

and through the conversations you're

just going back to the basics around

what's good transformation what are the

foundations you need to go put into play

irrespective of now now my technology

kit my estate has grown yeah I've got to

educate I've got to let people know

around what's possible but ultimately if

it if we push this out here and it

starts to work how do we educate how do

we keep that going how do we support the

people process and measure the outcome.

And I I think we're seeing a shift back

into right, we're getting our head

around AI now. How do we get better at

transformation? Yeah. So, it's it's it's

it's both both in parallel.

>> Thank you, Nathan. Thank you. Uh and

just one final word from you, Stuart. I

I before we uh we went live with the

show um we were talking about the world

of work and you were saying talking

about a new initiative that Leicester

have around helping undergraduates with

work rellated experience. Can you share

a little bit about that? I think it'd be

of interest to our audience.

>> Yeah, I think I think um as as part of

what we're we're doing as in institution

focusing on the kind of that student

experience and the proposition, how do

we add value to where uh students went

want to get to? So they come to us with

an aspiration of studying a certain

subject to develop a career um in a

certain area. Uh AI will be part of that

in the coming years. I think something

that that we invested in as as I've been

through. I think um we've also launched

recently um uh 100 hours work rellated

learning for every undergraduate course

and I think that's so important in terms

of giving students the opportunity to

apply that to to to acquire those skills

uh and and and those working

relationships and those problem solving

uh elements of what that will bring. So

I think that's so powerful for us to to

add to that student proposition um and

and we're thinking about how we can

maintain that and how we can improve

that experience for the students all the

time. So I think that's something we've

we've launched uh for this year. Um that

coupled with AI and a few other things

that we we've got coming up. Uh I think

are going to make a big difference. So

we're really proud of that. Um and um

yeah, looking forward to how that rolls

out over the next academic year.

>> Fantastic. Well, Stuart, thank you so

much for joining us today. It's uh

really interesting to hear what uh the

your university is up to and uh we wish

you all the best with uh the the new

academic year. So thank you for joining

us. Nathan, you Nathan, thank you too

for for joining us today on the digital

lounge. So, uh that's it for today. Uh

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