Senior Administrators’ Forum: University Information Services.

1. Senior Administrators’ Forum: University Information Services. Summer AGM and Forum, June 2011. Welcome to the University of Sheffield Library. Keith Dean, Assistant Director and Head of Corporate Services. K.dean@sheffield.ac.uk 0114 2227223.

2. Workforce Development Planning at Sheffield Keith Dean, Assistant Director and Head of Corporate Services, University of Sheffield Library.

3. Workforce Development Planning • What are the issues, why do we need to do it? • What will it achieve? • What is it? • How do we do it?

4. What are the issues? • We don’t have the ideal workforce • Size • Costs • Skill sets

5. What will it achieve? • A workforce fit for purpose for 2015; to meet our key objectives and allow further development into the next planning period • More appropriate balance of expenditure • A more flexible and dynamic workforce to match the service we want to provide. • It could be VERY different to what we have now

6. What is it? • ‘having the right people with the right skills in the right place’

7. How did we start? • Recognition of the problem; first WDP 2011 • Mainly a financial exercise with an ambitious target. VSS ‘resolved’ a big proportion of it. • Phase 2; Workforce 2015; re-focusing (the Library in 2015), and crucial consultation • Alignment with Strategic Planning • There will be some easy solutions!

8. And then........ • A presentation to all Library staff with: • The right context • Clear aims, examples and outcomes. Followed by; • Continuous rounds of consultation • Retaining a tight grip on reinvestment • Resolving the more difficult issues

9. Workforce The University Library 2015

10. The planning context New services, new roles, new skills The financial context

11. The planning context • HE White paper delayed • Uncertainty around fees and funding of teaching after 2012 • Competition for students and for research income • University mission, vision, identity • Professional Services values and vision • University Strategic Plan 2010-2015 • Project 2012 • Space planning

12. New services, new roles, new skills

13. New services, new roles, new skills • Extending self-service • New customer service roles • Learning & teaching • Research support skills • New systems and digital architecture • Working smarter

14. Self service • We will have a much richer self service offer to customers on campus and remotely, and through mobile devices • Making new areas of services available on a self-service basis • We will have better systems to support self service

15. Customer services • Fewer staff handling face to face transactions • CS roles will be different • Logistics • Welcome • Customer account help • Learner support

16. Learning & teaching • Closer engagement with students and other L&T colleagues • More staff have educational qualifications • A better offer for our postgraduates • Better use of our learning spaces (inc IC) to support new approaches to L&T • Information skills remain a key area • Resource lists: more academic input, less in-Library processing

17. Supporting research • Better understanding of research • Content still central to our offer • Better skills to support researchers with research planning and management • Open access: continued development • New skills for data management and digital preservation • Digitising our distinctive (special) collections

18. Better systems • Open • Integrated • Interoperable • Resilient • Less bespoke • Shared/remote (“cloud”) not local

19. Working smarter • Better at academic policy engagement • Winning respect at Faculty level • More agile and responsive • Collaboration to share services • Encouraging professionalism • Work across boundaries • Faster, better, cheaper

20. The financial context

21. The financial context • Reduction in state funding of teaching • Undergraduate fees • Increasing Govt pressure not to charge maximum £9000 fee • Uncertainty about teaching funding from 2012 • reduction of up to 80% • Mechanism for controlling student numbers unclear • Rising energy costs • Loss of capital funding

22. Library factors • Continuing inflation in journals costs • Increasing demand for open access publication • Sector library data (benchmarking) show that we spend a low proportion of our budget on collections and information services

23. Information & staffing spend SCONUL 2008/09data Key staffing information/content excludes operating costs University of Aaaaa

24. Information & staffing spend SCONUL 2008/09data University of Bbbbbb

25. Information & staffing spend SCONUL 2008/09data University of Ccccccc

26. Information & staffing spend SCONUL 2008/09data University of Ddddddd

27. Information & staffing spend SCONUL 2008/09data University of Eeeeeee

28. Information & staffing spend SCONUL 2008/09data University of Fffffff

29. Information & staffing spend SCONUL 2008/09data University of Sheffield

30. Library factors contd • We need to balance our staffing and information/content spend • Recurrent IT spend will increase to support more advanced systems and services • Increasing need to demonstrate our value

31. What this means for us • We need to try and avoid the uncertainty of annual savings targets • Our recurrent staffing spend in real terms will be about 15% lower by July 2015 • Greater investment in information/content by 2015 • We will all experience further change in our jobs through to 2015

32. Looking forward • libraries will remain central to the academic endeavour for a long time • Our University Library and its people are among the best in the UK • The Library is very well regarded by the University • The University of Sheffield is a highly successful university (top 100 in this month’s THE survey of global university reputation)

33. Questions • How will we manage with a 15% reduction in staff by 2015? • Advanced systems • Investment in self service • Streamlining procedures & processes • Eliminating duplicated effort • Support for staff in new roles • Will there be another VSS scheme? • If the University can charge £9000/year in fees won’t it be better off? • Will there be a recruitment freeze?