Discover and share good practice for smarter working universities

Evidencing the benefits of a business improvement project from the start

Following the launch of the University of Strathclyde's Guide to Evidencing the Benefits of Business Process Improvement in July 2015, Nicola Cairns shares an example of how this approach can be seamlessly integrated into existing business improvement projects.
Children's drawings of people

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.
Heather Lawrence, University of Strathclyde

The cross-cutting themes of the ITF projects

Managers should witness first-hand how processes earmarked for improvement work before agreeing to those changes, Heather Lawrence of the University of Strathclyde's business improvement team writes. Her blogpost, focusing on lessons from the Innovation and Transformation Fund, also advises capturing feedback and communicating findings throughout the projects.

Why Universities Should Be Investing In Lab Sustainability

While there has been some criticism on how universities invest in their estate, there are also example of innovative practices to make buildings more ecological sound and effective. The Lab Sustainability Initiative at the University of Bristol is one of such examples.

Donna Kendall: striving for success, the Coventry way

Coventry University has been one of the star performers in recent university ranking tables. The university’s pro vice chancellor for strategic development, Donna Kendall, tells Rosie Niven the role she plays in building on this success for the future.
Spanish language books

Simpler processes to support students studying abroad

When the University of Sheffield's Global Opportunities and Engagement team realised that their various admin systems had become too cumbersome, they called for help. Rachel McAssey explains how her team of lean practitioners carried out a process review that has produced many benefits including significant time savings.

How you can engage people to evidence the benefits of business improvement projects

Following the launch of last year's guide to evidencing business improvement, the University of Strathclyde's business improvement team are now testing out a business exploration map tool. Nicola Cairns' blog explores how people can be engaged to ensure that the potential benefits that they have identified fully demonstrate the impact of their project.

Engagement driven approach to process improvement – University of Hertfordshire

This report describes a project to develop an approach to process improvement within Higher Education that focuses on people, acknowledges their different perspectives and uses these perspectives to enhance capability.

Nine projects to create ‘transformational change’ funded by LFHE

Nine universities across the UK have won funding from the Leadership Foundation for projects designed to bring about transformational change in higher education.
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Doing better knowledge exchange

With funding pressures increasing, universities are being asked to demonstrate the return they are delivering on HEFCE's funding for knowledge exchange. In this post HEFCE's Alice Frost looks at how the newly-launched McMillan group on technology transfer will support a culture of continuous improvement in university knowledge exchange.