Discover and share good practice for smarter working universities

Giving students power over their learning data

Universities are investing time and money in creating learning analytics systems, but Ed Foster of Nottingham Trent Universities says these systems are only as good to the support given to staff and students who use them.

Sir Ian Diamond: ‘We can improve… by sharing best practice’.

In an interview with Efficiency Exchange, Professor Sir Ian Diamond reflects on how universities have adapted to become more efficient.

Meet Heidi Plus, HESA’s new business intelligence service 

A new business intelligence service has been launched by Jisc and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to support university staff in making the most of the data available to them. HESA's Jonathan Waller explains how it will benefit the sector.
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Using students to help stop students dropping out

Who better to ask about why students drop out than students themselves? Jamie Rawsthorne was in his first year at the University of West of England when he met with vice chancellor Steve West to see how he could help prevent students leaving before the end of their courses. The result was the start of his company Unique Insights. Jamie explains why and how he took on the retention challenge.
Taken from an equipment.data poster

Efficient sharing of university data is closer than you think

Open data is enabling higher education institutions to discover and make the most of opportunities to collaborate, share equipment and expertise. Adrian Cox, project manager at equipment.data, writes about how how this kind of collaboration is helping to achieve efficiencies.
Overall view of the Mission Control Center (MCC), Houston, Texas, during the Gemini 5 flight. Note the screen at the front of the MCC which is used to track the progress of the Gemini spacecraft.

What happens when the dial turns red?

When the data shows that a student is struggling, how should universities respond? Brian Hipkin issues a plea to academics and their professional services colleagues to work together more to understand the student lifestyle from the student's perspective.

Data footprints: three steps along the path to data innovation

A recent report by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) highlights how Jisc, HESA and Universities UK could advance data innovation through collaborative activities. The good news is they are already making strides in this area, says Ian Powling of Universities UK.

Boosting wider participation by using business intelligence tools

The University of East London has been using data analysis to study widening participation trends and foster collaboration with boroughs in east London. Gary Tindell explains how UEL is applying these techniques at a national level as part of the Heidi Lab project sponsored by the Higher Education Statistics Agency and Jisc

HESA launches bid to remove barriers to the reuse of its datasets

A five year plan to open up higher education data was unveiled on Thursday by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Rosie Niven reports on the agency’s key recommendations.

The rise of the new academic advisor

Could the advent of the TEF see the emergence of a new breed of data-empowered academic advisors? Student experience consultant Brian Hipkin says the growth in student-generated ‘teaching excellence’ metrics could herald the introduction of this role.