Here’s a quick roundup of efficiency related comment on the blogosphere in April.
Vice chancellor Nick Petford and Andy Davies, director of LUPC, suggest that Improved procurement could be the secret to balancing the sector’s books in tough times (£).
By 2016, it is expected that 30% of non-pay spend should be through effective collaborative procurement arrangements, according to the Diamond Report on Efficiency and Modernisation. That’s a tough target and it raises a number of questions, says Peter Hinton, chair of ENP.
Are universities as open as they should be? wonders David Matthews of THE – when it comes to their internal business, competition may be a stumbling block to transparency (£).
Outsourcing at the University of Sussex prompted some lively debate. John Duffy, registrar and secretary of the University of Sussex, says It is morally wrong to deny University of Sussex students 24/7 support from flexible, professional campus services (£), and Gurminder Bhambra, professor of sociology and director of the Social Theory Centre, University of Warwick, supports the students and staff contesting the hollowing-out of the University of Sussex’s collegial ideals (£).
Events
Business Intelligence in Higher Education: Experiences from the Sector
Webinar: 11.00 – 12.30 on Monday 13 May 2013
This webinar from Jisc infoNet will mark the launch of the latest version of their Business Intelligence (BI) infoKit. It has been fully revamped and updated to incorporate the experiences of 11 Jisc-funded projects exploring differing aspects of BI within different institutional contexts. The webinar will provide:
- An overview of the infoKit and a tour of its main features
- The opportunity to hear from the University of Liverpool about how they have progressed BI within their institution
- Details of a new BI Maturity Model for Higher Education developed by colleagues in the Oficina de Cooperacion Universitaria (OCU) in Spain and featured in the new BI infoKit
- Information about Jisc’s plans in this area and how you can get involved
Bookings: www.jiscbiwebinar.eventbrite.com
Further information: steve.bailey@northumbria.ac.uk
Leading across professional boundaries
Three day course Wednesday 15 May 2013 in Cardiff.
The Leadership Foundation has launched a new programme aimed at new and established managers working in libraries, finance and procurement, information and digital, and student service areas of HEIs.
The programme will be particularly valuable to colleagues with the ambition and potential to move into assistant director roles or similar in the future, and who wish to explore in detail the challenge of ‘stepping up to leadership’.
Leading Across Professional Boundaries aims to give participants the insight and perspective required to respond with agility to the rapidly changing demands of the higher education environment.
They will deepen their awareness of their leadership style and learn new ways to be effective in challenging situations, ambiguous circumstances and when working with others across professional boundaries.
Participants are given the structure, inspiration and insight to do this in their own organisations by looking at their own personal leadership development. During the programme, participants will explore and question their leadership style by using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and also their management and leadership role with experienced professionals.
They will also tackle a problem-solving challenge in a dynamic interactive simulation based on the kind of real-life scenarios participants encounter and receive individual feedback on their approach.
Care to share?
You are welcome to share any news or comment of interest to the efficiency community by commenting below or contacting me at ian.powling@universitiesuk.ac.uk
