Education abroad has shaped Linda Rust’s life in ways she never expected. From a shy 15-year-old on exchange in Kentucky to a mid-career study tour in China, those experiences set her trajectory and cemented her passion for helping students see the world.
In this conversation, Linda shares why the University of Melbourne signed up to miXabroad, what the pilot report revealed, and how national and global benchmarks are already influencing strategy, marketing and student support.
1. How has education abroad shaped you and your career?
I’ve had a couple of opportunities to undertake education abroad. Back in the 90s I went on a high-school exchange to Kentucky for a year when I was 15, and it was really life-changing. It changed my trajectory in terms of what I wanted to do academically, but it also changed me as a person. I was really reserved before I went. And when I came back, I was so much more willing to try new things and to put myself out there.
Then I did it again in my masters. In my 30s I went to China for a two-week program and, in many ways, that was even more impactful than the first experience. I still keep in touch with the group I travelled with. Both experiences were very different at different points in my life, but both have shaped my career.
I ended up working in education abroad because I saw how much it impacted me, and I wanted to deliver that for other students and have it shape their lives too.
2. What prompted the University of Melbourne to sign-up for miXabroad?
I was really excited when I heard about miXabroad. As part of our new strategy, we need to demonstrate the impact of our programs and understand the types of experiences students are having. miXabroad felt like a great opportunity to develop our programs and measure the impact they’re having on our students.
3. What insights have stood out from the pilot report?
The pilot report has been exciting. Even on first read, the takeaways around how we market our programs stood out. It’s been really interesting to see students’ motivations, and they’re actually quite different from the way we’ve been trying to recruit students. That’s a key change we’ll take into next year, so we can speak to those motivations in our promotional materials and events.
The same day I received the report, our marketing team contacted me asking how early students start thinking about global learning. It was incredibly helpful to have the data showing that students are hearing about global learning before they even arrive at the University of Melbourne. We were able to use it straight away.
4. How important are the national and international benchmarks?
The national and global benchmarks have been really interesting. It’s eye-opening to see how University of Melbourne students are similar to their peers nationally and internationally, but also where they differ. We can use those differences to improve our programs.
5. What gaps and challenges are you hoping to address?
A key challenge for us is measuring impact. We want to understand how students are developing as global citizens through our programs. The miXabroad survey really addresses that by asking students how they feel they’ve developed, so we can measure that impact in a meaningful way.
6. miXabroad gives you an option to add your own custom questions. How helpful has that been?
The miXabroad survey is fantastic in itself, but it’s been great to tailor a couple of questions. We added some additional questions around pre-departure because we want to redevelop our materials and make sure students are getting the support they need before they go.
7. And you’re now using miXabroad as your standard post-program survey?
Yes, we’ve now implemented it as our standard post-program survey. We’ve built it into our system so that when students return, they automatically receive an email inviting them to complete the miXabroad survey. From there they go on to complete a returning module. It’s now simply part of our process.
miXabroad has been a fantastic tool for helping us understand the student journey, learn students’ motivations and preferences, and continually improve the student experience.
Interested in how you can leverage your student voice to improve programs and promote value with miXabroad? Get in touch.