Day one hosted by Gavin Lee, Director of Strategic Planning and Development, University of the West of Scotland
Log in to our virtual conference platform Hopin (using the exclusive link sent to you via email) and use the chat features to say hello to us and your fellow delegates. You can watch our short video about the Hopin platform and its various features here.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speaker: Gavin Lee, Director of Strategic Planning and Development, University of the West of Scotland
We hear from HESPA Executive committee member Gavin, who will welcome you to the conference and let you know more about what's coming up during the day.
Speakers: Diana Beech, CEO, London Higher; Alistair Jarvis CBE, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Partnerships and Governance), University of London and Liz Shutt, Programme Director, Insights North East
This plenary session on the current political landscape will explore the external driving forces that are reshaping our sector. Our panel will shed light on key themes influencing the sector’s policy environment, including financial hostility, the tertiary education movement, the divergence of nations, an emphasis on place-based thinking, artificial intelligence (AI), changes to the research landscape and the urgency of achieving net-zero emissions.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speakers: Matt Atkin, Director of Strategic Planning, University of Manchester and Carol Prokopyszyn, CFO, University of Manchester
Speakers: Mark Gittoes, Head of Foresight and Insight, Office for Students; Naomi Jeffery, Head of Analytics, Scottish Funding Council and Hannah Falvey, Head of Statistics, Higher Education Funding Council for Wales
Discussion led by Laura Knox, Director of Planning, University of St Andrews.
In a rapidly evolving landscape, it has become increasingly vital to maintain a unified and coherent picture of educational trends and outcomes. Participants in this conference session will gain an understanding of the complexities surrounding higher education data divergence in the UK. They will learn about the underlying causes, the impact on policymaking, and practical approaches for maintaining a unified UK perspective on higher education data.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speakers: Dr Tine Blomme, Lead Consultant, Simitive and Bethany Smardon, Product Manager, Simitive
We observe that the current outlook for universities means that planning teaching and staff workload is of higher interest than ever before in the higher education sector. Our session will enable you to gauge the maturity of your workload planning practices, in comparison with other session participants as well as a benchmark from spring 2021. As workload and costing data are increasingly at the heart of implementing and information the education strategy, we will discuss further insight into effective processes to create an operational ecosystem that brings advanced planning data to decision makers.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speaker: Dr Tine Blomme, Lead Consultant, Simitive
Workload frameworks are one of the fundamental components of effective resource planning. Developing a workload framework with appropriate tariffs (i.e., time estimates for tasks), or reviewing existing frameworks, requires consideration of many aspects, including achievability, affordability, strategic alignment and staff culture. Workload frameworks are increasingly contributing to resource planning for the future and are therefore no longer solely a mechanism to support current or short-term workload management. In this context, this interactive session will provide insight into the building blocks for developing and reviewing workload frameworks and will drill down into some topical workload tariffs. Participants will obtain insight in other sector approaches and will gain knowledge about how to assess workload management in their own institution.
Speaker: Sarah Gordon, CEO and Co-founder Satarla, and Co-founder Responsible Raw Materials
Risk management has been traditionally regarded as a barrier to being innovative. Historically, no one has really looked forward to attending a risk workshop, or filling out their risk register. However, over the past decade, risk management has become a tool through which freedom to innovate and be creative can be ensured. It has increasingly been used as the method through which organisations ascertain how much risk they are willing to take, and allow those inside their organisations to take. Being able to articulate: “how much risk are we happy to take” is a key component in creating and maintaining an organisational culture.
This session will explore how risk management has evolved into a tool through which organisational culture can be nurtured. We will discover how different perspectives are welcomed, and uncertainties that may pose a threat to one team, yet an opportunity to another, objectively explored and acted on.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speakers: Gavin Lee, Director of Strategic Planning and Development, University of the West of Scotland in conversation with Professor James Miller FRSE, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of the West of Scotland
This conference session will explore the impact of the current political landscape on HE providers, including how they must respond and comply, and also the way in which strategy development and implementation has been affected by change and transformation, as well as key themes such as risk, organisational sustainability and other things.
Day two hosted by Laura Knox, Director of Planning, University of St Andrews
Log in to our virtual conference platform Hopin (using the exclusive link sent to you via email) and use the chat features to say hello to us and your fellow delegates. You can watch our short video about the Hopin platform and its various features here.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speaker: Laura Knox, Director of Planning, University of St Andrews
We hear from HESPA Executive committee member Laura, who will welcome you to the conference and let you know more about what's coming up during the day.
Speaker: Ester Ruskuc, Vice-Principal (Strategy, Policy and Planning), University of St Andrews
This session will offer a concise historical overview of the development of strategic planning as a role in higher education. It will also examine contemporary expectations universities have of their strategic planners’ cohesive influence.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speaker: Mike Baxter, Founder and Director, Goal Atlas
Session synopsis: In this session, we will start by exploring the vitally important distinction between strategy and business-as-usual. In workshop sessions, we will then look at specific University Strategies to see how well they keep business as usual out of their strategy documents. We will then review how a checklist could be used to try to keep future university strategies more strategic.
Speaker: Alex Favier, Director, Favier Ltd
Join Alex Favier, Founding Director of Favier Ltd, for an interactive session that will explore an area of increasing importance to UK universities: how to coordinate the wielding of influence, partnership management and stakeholder engagement. The session will provide a series of reflections and practical tips from Alex’s decade of experience working in university government relations, public affairs and global engagement roles. How can planners and strategists professionalise this area of practice in institutions that, in some cases, recognise the importance of this improvement whilst at the same time actively try to prevent this from happening?
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speaker: Archie Pollock, Senior Analytics Consultant, Studyportals
Session Synopsis: Taking a case study approach, this session explores the University of Glasgow's journey through data-driven insights and how the utilisation of services from Studyportals ACT team have played a pivotal role in shaping their international student recruitment strategy. As a result, this session aims to show how they adeptly adjusted to the evolving dynamics of the global education sector. It underscores the enduring partnership between the University of Glasgow and Studyportals, with a specific focus on the institution's remarkable role as a leader in adopting data-driven decision-making processes.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speaker: Andy Youell, Executive Director – Digital and Regulation, University College of Estate Management
Session chaired by Paula Keys, Director of Planning, Performance and Transformation, University of South Wales
Speakers: Bridget McNulty, Regulatory Compliance Manager, Imperial College London; Kirsty Jenkins, Head of Compliance Assurance, University of Warwick; Ellie Smith, University Secretary, Buckinghamshire New University and Carole Porter, OfS Compliance Manager, University of Central Lancashire
From the development of frameworks and compliance risk monitoring, to assurance reporting and horizon scanning of the evolving HE regulatory landscape, proactively managing policy and compliance is critical to strategic success.
This session explores how policy and compliance can be managed across institutions.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speakers: Laura Knox, Director of Planning, University of St. Andrews (chair); Anita Jackson, Director of Strategic Planning and Performance, University of Kent; Simon Lewis, Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Business Intelligence, University of Greenwich; John Pritchard, Director of Strategy, Planning and Insight Office, Durham University and Sally Turnbull, Interim Deputy Director of Planning, Performance and Quality, University of Wolverhampton.
In this session, we will hear from a panel of planning directors from a diverse cross-section of the sector. Colleagues will share their experiences and insights into navigating the complex web of planning intersections. The discussion will explore who directors work with and how they collaborate with various key stakeholders and functions within their organisations, offering case studies and perspectives on fostering effective cross-functional partnerships to drive success.
Day three hosted by Shabana Akhtar, Associate Director - Planning and Insight, University of London
Log in to our virtual conference platform Hopin (using the exclusive link sent to you via email) and use the chat features to say hello to us and your fellow delegates. You can watch our short video about the Hopin platform and its various features here.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speaker: Shabana Akhtar, Head of Business Intelligence and Management Information, University of London
We hear from HESPA Exec committee member Shabana, who will welcome you to the conference and let you know more about what's coming up during the day.
Speaker: Kate Ayres, part-time doctoral student at Durham University Business School and also, the College Accountant for St John's College, Durham
In an era of growing standardization and homogenization within the UK higher education sector, this conference session aims to investigate the critical importance of maintaining institutional integrity and leveraging distinctiveness. Attendees will gain valuable insights into strategies that can help universities preserve their unique identities and missions while adapting to evolving trends and demands.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speakers: Dr Julie Leeming, Director of Planning, St George's, University of London; Matt Hiely-Rayner, Director, Intelligent Metrix; Alastair McCall, Editor and Compiler, Daily Mail University Guide and Dr Andrew Hindmarsh, Lead Consultant, Complete University Guide.
This session will offer a behind-the-scenes look at UK-based university league tables from compilers for the Guardian University Guide, the Complete University Guide, the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, and the new Daily Mail University Guide. Representatives from each of the tables will be offering information on latest developments, timescales, methodologies, and key insights that shape the league tables. Particularly given sector-wide uncertainty over higher education data within the new Data Futures model, compilers will talk through any refined criteria, data sources, and evaluation processes that contribute to the rankings. Following initial updates from each speaker, we will invite questions from the audience. Please do engage in this discussion to get the most out of this opportunity.
Speakers: Miranda Routledge, Director of Planning, Loughborough University; Dawn Matthews, Strategic Planning Officer and Strategy Engagement (workstream lead), Loughborough University and Stewart Leverett, Head of Strategic Change, Loughborough University.
Session synopsis: We asked ourselves… How can we utilise the expertise and skills of different people from across the organisation to build organisational resilience and help us to realise our strategic ambitions? Working together our strategic planning and organisational development teams have designed and developed a strategic portfolio management approach which is currently being implemented. In this session, we’ll take you through our journey so far, the positive impacts of this collaborative partnership and challenges we have faced along the way. This will be followed by an opportunity to ask questions and provide reflections of what you’ve heard.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speakers: Richard Hewitt, Director, Higher Education | Global, Lightcast; Abbie Loney, Assistant Head of Future Students and Marketing Operations, Market Insight, Loughborough University and Carrie Willliams, Account Director, Higher Education, Lightcast
Session Synopsis: In this session, Loughborough University and Lightcast will discuss how skills and employment data insights can be shared beyond a Market Insight’s teams investigations to better serve key stakeholders across an institution.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speakers: Andy Beggan, Dean of Digital Education, University of Lincoln and Kevin Pasco, Senior Business Intelligence Officer, University of Lincoln
Session synopsis: In this session we will cover the following topics:
Speaker: Professor Christothea Herodotou, Professor of Learning Technologies and Social Justice, Open University UK
In this session, attendees will be treated to a showcase of real-world HE case studies that demonstrate the transformative power of AI. Specifically, this talk will present the award-winning Early Alerts Indicators Dashboard, designed at the Open University UK and used across the university to identify students at risk of failing and provide timely support. Beyond the design of the tool, evidence of impact will be presented and discussed, alongside future directions.
An opportunity for refreshments and catching up with colleagues via the Hopin platform. Please see the information video about Hopin to learn how to use direct messaging, arrange video calls and use the conference chat features.
You can also network using the Hopin platform's networking carousel, where you spend 3 minutes chatting to someone, before you are whisked off to meet someone new.
Feedback from previous delegates using this feature has been overwhelmingly positive - it is more fun and less stressful than it sounds, we promise! Come and give it a try!
Speaker: Dr Baba Sheba, Director of Digital Education, St George’s, University of London
Session Synopsis: Generative AI has certainly prompted us into action in the past year. Join Baba Sheba, Director of Digital Education at St George's, University of London, for a session on "Generative AI in Higher Education: Beyond Tools to Strategy." The session aims to provide insights into aligning AI integration with broader educational strategies, ensuring coherence, and maintaining competitive edge in the evolving educational landscape. We will explore Generative AI technologies, use cases and implications for education, and delve into the strategic integration of generative AI across higher education. We will also address crucial ethical and practical considerations, preparing educational leaders for informed and strategic adoption of AI technologies.
Speaker: Shabana Akhtar, Head of Business Intelligence and Management Information, University of London
Our host for the day, Shabana Akhtar will reflect on the conference, thank our wonderful speakers and look to upcoming HESPA events.
