Questions governors should be exploring – a digest.
Many university governing bodies and their committees will be meeting over the coming weeks for the final governance meetings of the 2018/19 academic year. The Augar review and Brexit will be key features of these meetings. For lay governors digesting the sheer volume of information available, understanding the implications for their particular institution and knowing what questions to ask will be key.
Augar’s implications for international student recruitment
The instinctive reaction for many universities when there is a threat to domestic fee income (whether triggered by a reduction in price, a demographic dip or some other factor) is to look to international student recruitment to ‘plug the gap’. There are no caps on numbers and no caps on fees to worry about. But it’s important for leaders to take a step back and ask some searching questions rather than launch into a ‘knee-jerk’ international student recruitment drive.
A balanced approach to portfolio reviews
We aren’t the only ones to notice the Augar Review’s attempt to redraw the lines over institutional autonomy. There is now an expectation that universities will no longer have complete freedom over their own portfolios, but instead be expected to focus on courses that create valuable outcomes. Given that much of the sector’s income is funded one way or another by taxpayers, this is probably inevitable.
Augar inadvertently reveals HE’s failure in marketing on access and participation
We are spending more than £1,000,000,000 pa on highly local campaigns run by individual universities, often with a focus on teenagers and with Access Agreements that are to be polite, thin on the ground when it comes to KPIs and real achievements.
The Augar Report reveals the failure of marketing in universities
Amongst the many analyses, insights and recommendations in the Augar report, the evidence of the sector’s failure to adopt professional marketing practice becomes all too clear. Many universities appear to think that marketing is about short-term promotional tactics designed to fill places. Reputation. Reputation. Reputation. It’s (nearly) all that matters. Slow to build, quick to destroy.
Augar Review – 7.5 is the new 9
Whilst the details and potential ramifications of the recommendations in the Augar Review are fascinating, I fear there is only really one simple piece of news: £7.5k.
Guest Post: Are your family policies reinforcing stereotypes?
Whilst changes in leave entitlements and family structures have taken place, can the same be said for the diversity of policies and procedures, or are universities reinforcing stereotypes of an outdated nuclear family? If so, is that practice unintentionally inhibiting institutional culture and inclusivity?
Kindness – the perfect guide to fundraising?
What if we reimagined fundraising using the guiding principle of kindness? Kindness means we can trust one another, and that trust will allow us to try new things and challenge the norms. Our profession needs to regain trust and we have to start with one another.
Richard Sved joins Halpin’s Consulting Fellows
Halpin is pleased to announce the addition of Richard Sved to its group of Consulting Fellows. Richard is an experienced professional with a strong track record of strategic and operational excellence in the voluntary sector stretching well over two decades.
OfS views on potential threats & opportunities to the HE Sector
The OfS Board report from the Horizon Scanning Panel discussion of potential threats and opportunities to the Sector may be useful for Council members, but as they are unlikely to see the report, it may worth drawing attention to it here.
Shakira Martin joins Halpin Advisory Group
Halpin Partnership, a management consultancy specialising in higher education, has welcomed Shakira Martin to its Advisory Group. In addition to this, Shakira has also joined Halpin’s pool of Consulting Fellows.
5 smart reasons to review your portfolio
If there was a bingo list of the phrases that university managers would least like to hear, I suspect “portfolio review” would be near the top. But the size, shape and substance of the courses on offer is at the heart of a university’s purpose, and it is neglected at your peril.