Developing and Supporting Strategy: A Faculty Case Study

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Developing and Supporting StrategyA Faculty
Case Study
Rowena ArmstrongPlanning Resources Officer,
SMLCPaul MarshallFaculty Administrator,
Faculty of Arts
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(No Transcript)
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Presentation Outline

• Introduction
• Setting the Scene
• Faculty academic administrative structure
• Faculty Planning prior to 2006/07
• Developing a Faculty Planning Process
• Key Principles
• Agreed Process
• Changes for 2007/08
• Supporting Faculty Strategic Planning
  Implementation
• Role of Faculty Administrator
• Role of FSAG
• How is it done in other Institutions?
• Questions

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SETTING THE SCENE
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Faculty Structure

• Faculty of Arts Federal Faculty with five units
• Two unitary Schools English and History
• Two federal Schools SMLC and Humanities
• One research institute Institute for Medieval
  Studies
• Approx. 400 staff (200 academics 16 of
  University)
• Approx. 5000 students (20 of University)
• Federality means little or no consistency of
  internal admin or academic structures

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Faculty Planning prior to 0607

• Financially-driven - loose connection with
  academic strategy
• No systematic appraisal of performance or gap
  analysis between current and aspired positions
• Loose objectives with little sense of
  prioritisation
• Done to satisfy the University
• Focused on redeveloping strategy rather than
  updating or evolving it
• Indistinct support structures at Faculty and
  School level

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DEVELOPING A FACULTY PLANNING PROCESS
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Key Principles

• Avoid annual essay crisis - continual approach
  to monitoring and evolving strategy through year
• Dovetailing with requirements of University
  Process to limit duplication of effort
• Supporting Schools overcome strategic barriers
• Encouraging Schools to prioritise objectives
• Aligning School strategies with Faculty and
  University priorities
• Use of management information to analyse gaps in
  key areas

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Agreed Process

• Integrated process agreed in February 2007
• Templates provided structure and helped HoS and
  School management teams identify clear, aligned
  objectives
• Away Day in early April 2007
• Designed to foster buy-in amongst Faculty
  Executive and senior administrators discuss
  responses to Faculty-wide challenges
• School Review meetings held in mid-April 2007
• Half-day meetings with each School discussing
  successes, plans and barriers to achieving those
  plans
• University documents submitted mid-May 2007

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Changes for 2007/08

• Calendar agreed in Sept templates released in
  Jan
• Series of away days with different constituencies
  and places within Faculty planning calendar
• Faculty Executive (Sept.) Faculty Board (Jan.)
  Faculty Executive Senior Administrators Group
  (April)
• Changes to Templates pre-filling by Faculty
  Office
• Schools reporting progress vs. objectives set in
  2006/07
• Specific prioritisation assigning of resources
  against initiatives
• Initial work looking to bespoke balanced
  scorecards

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SUPPORTING PLANNING IMPLEMENTATION OF FACULTY
STRATEGY
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Role of Faculty Administrator

• Responsible for developing and evolving process
• Templates, away days, format of School meetings
• Support for functional reviews, e.g. in research
• Management Information provision including
  benchmarking balanced scorecard
• Mapping School submissions to Faculty submission
• Project management support for strategic
  initiatives in Schools and Faculty
• Chairs senior administrators group

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Faculty Senior Administrators Group

• Responsibility for considering operational
  implications of policy decisions taken at FEC
• Initial work primarily discussing areas of common
  interest, e.g. student number planning
• Recognition that FSAG has key role in terms of
  sharing and implementing best practice
• Range of areas that could be considered
• Focus should be on those that will better enable
  the Faculty achieve its key strategic priorities
• Use knowledge and experience of key functional
  School-based experts to increase buy-in

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Student Number Planning
IPE
VCEG Mtg
Fac Board Away Day
FEC/FSAG Away Day
FEC Away Day
School Review Exercise
Student Number Planning
Induction Registration
Examinations
Exams
Admissions
FTE Loads
School Strat Review Mtg
Online Enrolment
Timetabling
Confirm Priorities Agree Sub-Groups
FSAG Away Day
FSAG Away Day
3-weekly Meetings
Sub-Group 1 Consultation Consideration
Sub-Group 1 Implementation
Sub-Group 2 Consultation Consideration
Sub-Group 2 Implementation
Sub-Group 3 Consultation Consideration
Sub-Group 3 Implementation
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How is it done at Your institutions?
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Any Questions?Rowena Armstrong
r.armstrong_at_leeds.ac.ukPaul Marshall
p.j.marshall_at_leeds.ac.uk