John Burke and Clive Alderson

1. EmbeddingBusiness & Community Engagement John Burke and Clive Alderson

2. Aims of Today’s Event • To promote the Business and Community Engagement (BCE) agenda • To give an overview of others’ activity in the Business and Community Engagement (BCE) arena • To identify the BCE Landscape – what activities are YOU involved in? • To introduce the Embedding BCE resource • To discuss a methodology for reviewing supporting functions • To report some of the common findings of interest to the sector in general • To show the benefits of undertaking a review of BCE activity in FE and HE

3. Embedding BCE

4. The BCE Landscape What activities are you aware of that your college or university engages in with the business, or wider communities?

5. The BCE Landscape • Employer Engagement • CPD Courses • Work-Based Learning • Knowledge Transfer Partnerships • Student Placement • Knowledge Exchange Forum • Public lectures • Conferences • Public performance and Festivals • Museums • Consultancies • Bespoke training • Applied Research • Public services e.g. hair & beauty • Shared resources or facilities • Community learning • Community surveys • Clinical trials • Business incubation • Spin-out companies • Knowledge licensing • Collaborative working • Staff placements • Voluntary work • Raising aspirations • Partnerships

6. Supporting The BCE Landscape • Central co-ordinating units • Finance • HR • IT and Information Systems • Facilities Management • Libraries

7. Case Studies • Presentation

8. Embedding BCE

9. The Nature of Embedded • What would demonstrate that Business & Community Engagement activities were valued and that they were embedded as a normal way of working?

10. The Nature of Embedded • Any necessary alternative ways of working have been identified • BCE processes are not seen as unnecessary or an annoyance • BCE work and practitioners are valued as much as T&L and Pure Research • BCE practitioners have clear routes to progression

11. Aims of a Review • identifying the key business processes and system implications • developing the level and nature of engagement between central functions and BCE operations • identifying areas for process improvement and existing pockets of good practice

12. Stakeholder Interviews • One-to-one interviews • Impartial, open and frank discussion • How BCE is supported by core business functions and processes • Balance of agenda • Perceptions not necessarily reality • Case study production

13. Embedding BCE

14. The Review Structure • Policy and Strategy • Processes and Systems • Partnerships and Resources • Roles and Skills • Customer Perceptions • Key Performance Results

15. Policy and Strategy • Strategies exist or are being written • Lots of activity is taking place • Planning is undertaken at middle or lower level, with an eye to strategic direction • Senior Management are given overall responsibility • Not all areas perceive themselves involved

16. Processes and Systems • Central co-ordinating units • Finance • HR • IT and Information Systems • Facilities Management • Libraries

17. IT – Specific Issues • Academics did not mention IT until prompted • Access to systems off campus • The IP issue • Information Systems • Little or no use of Web2 • Little or no differentiation between core and BCE within IT teams (same as HR & Finance)

18. Partnerships and Resources • Funding Partnerships • Strategic Partnerships • Commercial Partnerships • Knowledge Exchange Partnerships • Knowledge Transfer Partnerships • CPD Partnerships • Collaborative Training Partnerships • The Public

19. Roles and Skills • Language and The Fear Factor • Attitudes to Commercialism • Marketing is 2-way • Internal Communications and Engagement • Placing a Value on Knowledge

20. Customer Perceptions • Measuring Participation Rates • Qualitative Measurement • Who did you say you were...?

21. Performance Measurement • Statutory Returns • Problems of Measuring Impact • External Benchmarking and Evaluation • Working to Standards • Setting the Targets

22. Embedding BCE

23. Self-Evaluation Workshop • Half-Day discussion-based workshop • Workbook tool based on EFQM Beta Model • A managed conversation • Scoring - dealing with pockets of good and less good practice • Strengths, weaknesses, areas for improvement

24. Embedding BCE

25. Development Planning • Prioritisation of Areas for Improvement • Identifying resources and risks • Setting the timescale • Meshing with existing development work

26. Links and Contacts • http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk • j.burke@northumbria.ac.uk • follow johnburke1 at Twitter • http://jbep.blogspot.com (John Burke’s Education Project blog)