Improving Macquarie University with lean
Case study: An Australian university has been applying lean to streamline and improve its processes, discovering along the way how big a change the methodology can effect in the organisation's culture.
Lean: taking the strain out of admissions
Middlesex University has boosted staff confidence, reduced mundane tasks and produced a better student experience, simply by improving their admissions system. Karolin Arvidsson sets out how they did it.
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 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%.
Lean in and change your mind about change
Change is a sensitive subject. Great if it’s change you want to have happen and rubbish if it isn’t. In either circumstance Sonya Johnston from Universities Scotland suggests good sources of support, information and guidance can be helpful as well as inspiring.
How to convince the process mapping sceptics
Encouraging people to try different ways of working is a big problem for many HE institutions. While taking advantage of a powerful resource, the continuous improvement team at the University of Winchester also learned some valuable lessons about bringing reluctant staff on board.
Lean: seeking a shiny new process
One of the hardest steps to make in business process improvement is to move from a defined process map of the current situation to a shiny new process. So says Ollie Jones, who describes how his team is applying the lean range of tools and techniques at Leeds Beckett University.
Making campus safety more efficient
A government code regulating CCTV stimulated Aston University to take a fresh look at their surveillance technology. Mark Sutton explains how complying with the surveillance commissioner's code has resulted in efficiencies and savings.
If not lean, then what?
Lean is just one method of continuous improvement and there are a range of others that are commonly used in higher education (HE). We close our lean series with three viewpoints from HE professionals and consultants on different ways of applying lean and its alternatives.
UCD Agile: the start of a continuous improvement journey
University College Dublin (UCD) is seeking to weave continuous improvement into the fabric of the university. Its director of agile, Michael Sinnott explains the university’s approach.
