Regional TAFE turns to TechnologyOne as student needs grow across disability, counselling and more

Wodonga TAFE has transformed its approach to student support, establishing a unified, secure and compliant case management environment to provide its growing number of students in need with more coordinated wellbeing services.

The regional TAFE introduced Australian Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider TechnologyOne’s Student Wellbeing module to its existing OneEducation suite in April this year. It replaces the legacy ticketing and recordkeeping tools that failed to provide a comprehensive picture of hundreds of active cases being managed by Wodonga TAFE’s five-strong student support team.

Kelly Dwyer, Student Administration Systems Coordinator at Wodonga TAFE said, “We knew we were getting more requests for help from our students, but we had no single source of truth to quantify where the support was going or how much. A student referral could require a ticket to be logged in one system, notes stored in another, and then additional documentation captured elsewhere. Everything was duplicated. So, when the Office of TAFE Coordination and Delivery (OTCD) began requesting detailed reporting on student wellbeing services we couldn't produce that data.”

TechnologyOne’s Student Wellbeing centralised all post-admission referrals for disability, counselling, First Nations support, and general wellbeing into one platform, enabling smoother handovers and saving hours of time previously spent manually transferring information between the platforms.

Dashboards provide real-time access to operational and statistical data, giving managers and executives a clear view of student support activity, helping leaders make evidence-based decisions.

“Now, we can see in an instant that 670 hours of support has been recorded this year to date across 400 active cases, which not only justifies our current position but also helps us make a strong case for increased funding, particularly in high-demand areas like disability support,” continued Ms Dwyer.

“Student Wellbeing has made life much easier and enables support officers to provide that continuity of care. We’re not telling students to go see the councillor in response to an issue they’re facing if they’re already doing so. We can see what services a student has used and which medical reports that they've already provided - that information is readily available in the system. It’s early days but we are really excited for the future. The more we can free our people up to provide actual support, the better outcomes for students, meaning more people will complete their courses and achieve their career aspirations.”

Working closely with TechnologyOne, Wodonga TAFE developed confidential note types within the Student Wellbeing module to maintain a single source of truth while protecting student privacy. Counselling and disability records can now be securely restricted to relevant support officers, offering students greater assurance about how their sensitive information is handled.

“It’s important that students are confident that the information they’re providing to a certain person won’t be shared with everyone else,” she said.

TechnologyOne Executive Vice President of Education Mark Jones said, “Wodonga TAFE’s digital transformation demonstrates the true impact of purpose-built technology. By establishing a unified approach, students facing complex challenges can receive consistent, timely and coordinated support. We are thrilled to be working alongside Wodonga TAFE in creating systems that help facilitate this level of service, which can make the difference between someone dropping out or going on to graduate, get a job, and change their life.”

Leveraging more than 37 years' experience partnering with leading education providers across Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, TechnologyOne's OneEducation, is purpose-built to meet the unique requirements of the higher education sector.