Universities in 2018: Riding trends to drive change
Globalisation, digitalisation and advanced knowledge-based economies, the three mega trends Professor Dr Maurits Van Rooijen discusses in this opinion piece, questioning universities positioning to serve the needs of the modern economy. Opening doors to new opportunities and embracing new higher educational provision is the future of learning.
Developing student and staff personas: a practical guide
If you want to be sure you're meeting the demands of your stakeholders as they use your services, creating personas to identify their needs will help sharpen your focus. As consultant Jean Mutton explains, it's a technique that's becoming more widely used and it needn't be a difficult process.
Is the diversity of terminology used by HE change practitioners diluting our shared goals?
A sector-wide survey was launched in April by the University of Strathclyde's Business Improvement Team to capture feedback on how its Guide to Evidencing the Benefits of Business Process Improvement in Higher Education has enhanced their delivery of change initiatives and how the guide could be improved. Nicola Cairns shares her insight into some of the survey findings.
Service design for universities
Sometimes solutions are under our noses - you just need the right approach to unlock them. In this post, consultant Jean Mutton explains service design, which she says is for anyone who often thinks "there must be a better way".
Discussion: restructuring a research office
Restructuring can help to achieve many efficiency benefits for universities - but it is never an easy option. In this discussion, Richard Bond of the University of the West of England and Julie Northam of Bournemouth University share their experiences of restructuring a research office.
How we are speeding up the PhD admission process at Brunel
Postgraduate admissions at Brunel University London have plunged by 48% since 2013/14 so Brunel took action to change how prospective PhD students apply. Jeung Lee says their new process should cut application times by over 50%.
How Participative Process Reviews can nurture conversations and deliver efficiencies
After taking part in workshops run by the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, teams in Oxford Brookes University have changed their practices to make them less complicated, more streamlined and more cost effective. As part of a series of posts by the nine ITF-funded projects, Ian Whiting explains the aims of the Participative Process Review programme.
Evidencing the benefits of business process improvement – what do you think?
Following the success of its guide to evidencing the benefits of business process improvement projects in higher education, the University of Strathclyde wants to develop the guide to make it even better. In this blogpost, Dr Nicola Cairns introduces a survey that will help to make the guide a valuable tool for use across the sector.
Five enhancements to help universities evidence the benefits of change
Following publication of their guide to evidencing the benefits of business process improvement in higher education, the business improvement team at the University of Strathclyde have responded to users’ feedback with an updated version. Nicola Cairns shares some new insights gained from collaborating with colleagues across the sector.
Engagement driven approach to process improvement
When University of Hertfordshire staff were invited to review a frustrating process to change a key academic document, the energy generated by the engagement process was channelled into something positive. Gill Sadler explains how this engagement-driven approach is being embedded in the university’s process improvement work.
