A Case Study of Development following a JISC-Funded project to examine how well Business and Community Engagement (BCE) was embedded within the core business processes of the College

 

Context

 

The Embedding Business and Community Engagement through Business Process Review and Internal Engagement project (2008/2009) undertook a series of interviews and workshops to identify both strengths and areas for potential improvement within the context of how Business and Community Engagement work was supported by the core business processes of the organisation, such as HR, Finance, Marketing, IT, Estates and Facilities and Libraries etc.

 

The outputs of this initial project were a case study of perceptions of people from managers to practitioners within both the core processes and those engaging with businesses and the wider community sectors and a list of potential developmental activities to address issues identified.

 

This case study follows on from that original activity to document the implementation of developments at the University of Glamorgan and to further identify good practice and any common issues faced by organisations within the Further and Higher Education sectors seeking to implement cross-institutional development.

 

Prioritisation of Potential Development Work

 

The Engagement Project of 2008 /2009 reinforced many of the areas that were already in development and /or identified for development through the planning processes in place.  The original engagement project successfully engaged with many of the support services that traditionally had either not seen themselves as having a stake in BCE activities or as being peripheral to their activities.  The awareness raised of the issues facing the institution has certainly had a positive impact in the way that many of those support services have responded to this area.

 

The development Ideas as identified by the project were presented to the management of the University and were again broadly welcomed as supporting the thrust of the activities that were either already being assessed or had been noted for development.  Given that the Commercial Services Office has a central part to play in the engagement of businesses and outside organisations it was passed to CSO to incorporate the development ideas into their forward plans.

 

The engagement project therefore informed the prioritisation of activities taken by the university and delivered through the most appropriate service to take forward that area of activity.

 

The Agreed Development to be Implemented

 

• Strategic review of partnerships and base lining conducted – the engagement project highlighted the need to understand better our strategic links with partners in the region.  Funding was secured (Welsh Assembly Government) in order to allow us to undertake the above.  This area of work was driven by the Commercial Services Office in conjunction with the Business School.  The benefits of the review have included greater engagement with a number of partners and a clear understanding of areas where we need to do more work.  The work carried out in 2010 involved a number of members of staff engaging in both desk research and contact with partners to inform further work.

 

• A4B – Early Stage Development Fund – The work done on this area addressed a number of issues highlighted in the original project.  The work funded by Welsh Assembly government was aimed at ensuring that the University was better placed in understanding the work that a number of academics were doing with companies and organisations and also to ensure that the fruits of that work was properly captured and protected.  The work involved departments across the University including the Faculties, CSO and the Research Office in identifying where work was being conducted and ensuring that proper processes were in place to protect the IP of the university and to better value the work of individuals.  The consequences of not doing this work at the University is that potential work is “lost” with little benefit or impact being seen.  

 

• SIPs (Strategic Insight Programme) - The Strategic Insight Programme predated the engagement project but fits well with the conclusions of the project.  The SIP programme allows staff at the university to make initial contact and to conduct a short placement with companies in the area to scope out how the organisations may benefit from further engagement.  The programme was run in conjunction with two other Institutions and was funded by HEFCW.  Over 120 placements were conducted bringing in new practitioners on a low risk activity and cementing relationships with a number of key partners.  Whilst this activity predated the engagement, the feedback from staff through this process reinforced the need for such activity to be continued and supported.  The current programme comes to an end in June 2011 but further funding is being sought to continue with this activity and to extend the number of partner institutions.   Examples of the impact of this programme include;

 

• £2m early stage projects
• £120k commercial income
• 1 collaborative research project
• 42 student placements
• 24 guest lectures (= 480 students with real world insights)
• 4 exhibitions/performances
• 4 short KTP applications
• 1 MA validated for launch in Autumn
• 1 Fashion Blog launched to promote industry links and development of Fashion @ ATRiuM

 

The consequences of this kind of activity being curtailed or stopped within the university would undoubtedly lead to a number of staff being unable to take their “first steps” in Business and community engagement and /or a number of potential projects / links not being made for lack of time to develop proposals.

 

Engagement of Stakeholders

 

Throughout the period of the engagement a number of formats were used to gain feedback – from the initial discussions and through use of the online forum (Inform) to faculty / commercial centres.  In addition the finalised report was circulated to stakeholders for comment and was broadly welcomed.  The overwhelming response from those involved was that they valued the opportunity to influence the direction of travel of this area of work.  There was a particularly good response from those areas that had not traditionally been seen as peripheral to BCE work.  It is probably true to say though that some areas were initially sceptical regarding why they were being asked to be involved typically citing that they would have “little to contribute” however, the process of engagement has resulted in there being a more positive view of this work.

 

Planning for Sustainable Solutions

 

The University of Glamorgan is seeking to extend its ability to engage with more and more organisations throughout the region.  The new vision adopted for the university states that;

 

“By 2015, the University of Glamorgan will be unrivalled for its professional, employment-focused education and research-informed innovation and business engagement.”

 

It is clear that many Institutions are in the process of assessing how their BCE activity can become more mainstream and more focussed on delivering impact and Innovation.  The economic background is driving institutions to assess all of its activities to see how they can deliver the needed impacts often with fewer resources.  The University is committed to extending this area and will be ensuring that the structures of the institution allow us to deliver on our vision.

 

There are also areas of work that have yet to be addressed in full that would need to be understood in how they are still impacting on our ability to deliver impact.  One of the major areas highlighted in the process but not yet fully resolved involves the use by the institution of one system that captures all / the majority of our engagement activities.  High level discussions continue to see how we can deliver this outcome and the report has ensured that this need has again been highlighted.

 

One other area that has also yet to be addressed is how we can bring practitioners together in an active network to share best practice, develop cross institutional links and offer space for professional development.   Initial scoping of a network has been completed but further work is envisaged before it is launched.

 

Issues and Issue Management

 

The engagement work highlighted the complex nature of HE institutions with many different departments and centres delivering on different aspects of this work.  The engagement work clearly raised the profile of this area with many areas of the university that had not been engaged before in assessing their contribution to this work.

 

The danger of raising expectations and then allowing that enthusiasm to whither is real.  The University is attempting to ensure that those areas are kept warm by continuing to highlight this work.

 

Impacts/Benefits Identified and Achieved

 

Benefits have been identified above in a number of the programmes taken forward.  It is however difficult to attribute all of  those impacts directly to this work but it is clear that the engagement has certainly contributed to these impacts and has been crucial in identifying further areas for development.

 

The Future

 

The Embedding BCE methodology certainly proved fruitful for the University and allowed a number of issues to come to the fore.   As stated earlier the enthusiasm created was real and raises the need to harness that enthusiasm.  It is quite possible that the University would again engage in this or similar activity to assess whether there are new areas for development and to cement the status of this work.   The benefit of using outside facilitators was also welcomed in brokering the process and ensuring that the feedback and analysis was not captured by any particular interest within the institution.